Editing Heaven's Gate (religious group) (section)

=== Techniques to enter the next level ===

According to Heaven's Gate, once the individual has perfected himself through the "process", there were four methods to enter or "graduate" to the next level:{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=193}}

# Physical pickup onto a TELAH spacecraft and transfer to a next level body aboard that craft. In this version, what Professor Zeller calls a "UFO" version of the "[[Rapture]]", an alien spacecraft would descend to Earth and collect Applewhite, Nettles, and their followers, and their human bodies would be transformed through biological and chemical processes to perfected beings.{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=31}}
# Natural death, accidental death, or death from random violence. Here, the "graduating soul" leaves the human container for a perfected next-level body.{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|pp=123–124}}
# Outside persecution that leads to death. After the deaths of the [[Branch Davidians]] in Waco, Texas, and the events involving [[Randy Weaver]] at [[Ruby Ridge]], Applewhite was afraid the American government would murder the members of Heaven's Gate.{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=184}}
# Willful exit from the body in a dignified manner. Near the end, Applewhite had a revelation that they might have to abandon their human bodies and achieve the next level as Jesus had done.{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|pp=123–124}} This occurred when 39 members died by suicide and "graduated".{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|pp=171–172}}
Animals were said to have souls, and a soul in an animal could enter the next level, a human soul, if it becomes a servant of humans, such as in a [[guide dog]], and "sees itself as a family member in that human family".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Last Chance To Advance Beyond Human |url=https://www.heavensgate.com/misc/lastchnc.htm |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=Heaven's Gate |language=en-US}}</ref>