Scientologists have been trying to block the release of the documents, which they consider secret and sacred, and about 1,500-church members crammed into three floors of the Los Angeles County Courthouse Monday, effectively blocking public access to documents.

But the Los Angeles Times had already obtained access to the documents and reported their contents Tuesday.

The documents were submitted as part of a civil case brought by former Scientologist Larry Wollersheim, before lawyers for the Scientologists requested that they be sealed.

Wollersheim charges that the organization defrauded him by promising him higher intelligence and greater business success through Scientology courses that cost thousands of dollars.

In arguing to keep the court documents sealed, the church has told its members that it could be physically and spiritually harmful for them to learn about the upper levels of Scientology before they have mastered the preparatory courses. Scientology attorneys have argued that disclosure of the materials violates the group's religious freedom.

Details of the upper-level teachings have been published in the personals columns of The Reader, a weekly Los Angeles newspaper, and the daily Clearwater (Fla.) Sun. But Michael Flynn, a Boston lawyer who has battled Scientologists in court for years, said, "There's never been a major (journalism) piece on it."

Scientologists base their beliefs on the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, the reclusive science fiction writer who in the early 1950s published the best seller "Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health."

However, Hubbard's secret teachings are rarely discussed. They disclose his thoughts on why mankind has been plagued by problems through history.

Generally, the documents suggest that a major cause of mankind's problems began 75 million years ago, when the planet Earth, then called Teegeeach, was part of a confederation of 90 planets led by a tyrannical ruler named Xemu. Then, as now, the materials state, the chief problem was overpopulation.

Xemu, the documents state, decided to take radical measures to overcome the overpopulation problem. Beings were captured on Earth and on other planets and flown to at least 10 volcanoes on Earth.

The documents state that H-bombs far more powerful than any in existence today were dropped on the volcanoes, destroying the people but freeing their spirits, called "thetans."

After the nuclear explosions, according to the documents, the thetans were trapped in a compound of frozen alcohol and glycol and, during a 36-day period, Xemu "implanted" in them the seeds of aberrant behavior for generations to come.

Before a Scientologist can learn about thetans and how to eradicate them, he or she must go through a progression of costly programs.

For hours Monday, Scientologists swamped workers in the court clerk's office with hundreds of requests to photocopy the documents.

Superior Court Judge Alfred L. Margolis, over strong Scientology objections, had issued an order Friday making the documents public at 9 a.m. Monday — on a first-come, first-served basis. But by snaking the line through three courthouse hallways, Scientologists made sure they were the only ones to buy copies of the materials.

Shortly before noon, Margolis, at the request of Scientology lawyers, resealed the materials, pending a hearing later this week.

Church President Heber T. Jentzsch said Tuesday that news accounts of the documents were distorted. He contended that such piecemeal, out-of-context reporting tends to hold his religion up to ridicule in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Contending the materials were stolen, he said in a telephone interview, "Any access to these materials is illegal." He said the church had obtained an injunction in Great Britain against disseminating the materials. He said he had filed suit against those he viewed as responsible for the theft.

"We know the psychiatrists are behind it; they've been after us for a long time," he added.

Jentzsch also said the Times had "altered, corrupted and denigrated and twisted" the materials.

Noel Greenwood, Times deputy managing editor, said Tuesday that the paper faithfully reported details as they were contained in the documents.

"If he (Jentzsch) wants to show us the original documents to show what's been altered we would be happy to receive them," he said.