The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume completed an internship and have demonstrated and proven ability in the skills they have been trained in Scientologists believe that material must be learned in a definite order, never skipping to material which is overly complex before it is called for The Church of S cientology publishes a particular sequence of study which must be followed in progression of Scientology A Scientologist must receive the newer and higher levels only upon completion of the previous level Scientology calls this concept a “gradient: breaking down a complicated idea into smaller pieces so that someone who could not grasp the whole idea at once can learn it piece by piece.” Scientologists say that approaching information on a gradient keeps people from becoming confused.22 The Church of Scientology holds that at the higher levels of initiation ( ሻ, teachings are imparted which may be considered mystical and potentially harmful to unprepared readers These teachings are kept secret from members who have not reached these levels The Church states that the secrecy is warranted to keep its materials’ use in context, to protect its members from being exposed to materials they are not yet prepared for.23 The OT level teachings include accounts of various cosmic catastrophes that befell the thetans Hubbard described these early events collectively as “space opera.” The ighest level, OT VIII, is only disclosed at sea, on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds It was released in the late 1980s Since being entered into evidence in several court cases beginning in the early 1980s, synopses and excerpts of these secret teachings have appeared in numerous publications In Scientology, founder L Ron Hubbard used the science fiction term space opera to describe what he said were actual extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in past lives It is a basic belief of Scientology that a human being is actually an immortal spiritual being—termed a thetan—that is presently trapped on planet earth in a “meat body.”24 Hubbard described key incidents on the “whole track: the moment to moment record of a person’s existence in this universe in picture and impression form” in his writings and lectures ~ 409 ~