Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
Scriptures & Texts

The Operating Thetan Materials

New Religious Movement Scriptures

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The Operating Thetan (OT) materials are the confidential advanced level course materials of Scientology, studied by members who have completed the earlier Bridge to Total Freedom and been admitted to the upper levels. The materials set out auditing and training procedures said to address a person's spiritual state beyond the point reached in Dianetics and the lower Scientology grades, and the church treats them as both a trade secret and a copyrighted, unpublished work. Copies entered the public record through litigation and unauthorized postings in the 1990s, most notably Religious Technology Center v. Netcom, which turned on whether the church's copyright and trade secret claims could stop online distribution. The atlas records what the OT materials are without reproducing their wording.

Facts
Status
Canonical Status
Canonical 1
Confidential advanced-level doctrine studied within Scientology's own practice; this classification records canonicity only and reproduces none of the materials' content, matching its own record, which already states the atlas records what the materials are without reproducing their wording.
Current Status
Held confidential by the Church of Scientology and the Religious Technology Center as a trade secret and unpublished copyrighted work; portions entered the public record through 1990s litigation over unauthorized online posting. 2
Status Today
Living tradition, practised today 1
Structure
Structure
Confidential advanced-level course materials studied after completing the earlier Bridge to Total Freedom, setting out auditing and training procedures said to address a person's spiritual state beyond Dianetics and the lower Scientology grades; held as a trade secret and copyrighted, and the atlas describes what portions entered the public record through 1990s litigation without reproducing the wording. 1
Origins
Language
English 1
Attributed Author / Compiler
L. Ron Hubbard 1
Text
Literary Form
Manual 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Belongs to Tradition

Sources
1. The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion
Hugh B. Urban, Princeton University Press, 2011Scientology's upper levels and the OT materialsView the Source
2. Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communication Services, 923 F. Supp. 1231 (N.D. Cal. 1995)
United States District Court for the Northern District of California, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 1995copyright and trade secret litigation over the OT materialsView the Source
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