[Below is a link to another post about Larry Crane on Rip-off Report. Notice that someone named Lawrence Crane makes a response and simply tries to blame the customer, and even calls his former client "extremely disturbed". The person posting as Lawrence Crane also states that he has not had other complaints in 30 years? Meanwhile there are many many complaints about what he is doing to people].


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[www.ripoffreport.com]
Rip-off Report: Lawrence Crane Enterprises, Release Technique, Abundance Course. Live Class Larry Crane
Category: Seminar Programs
Lawrence Crane Enterprises, Lester Levenson, Release Technique, Release Technique, Abundance Stole my money. Police report filed Sherman Oaks California, Lawrence Crane Enterprises, Release Technique, Abundance Course. Live Class Larry Crane

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EXCERPT
After requesting refund he said 'you will never get it' I called cops. But quickly left when saw who I was calling. Name? Larry crane 70 year old crook.

I signed up for live class for us $395.00 in Chicago Radisson hotel des planes. From the first day it was obvious he was full of s**t. By the last day I asked for a refund-denied

Let's start with Larry Crane. Claims to be 'self-made millionaire businessman, author and teacher to Fortune 500 executives and partner to billionaires.' yet there is no record of his name ever being anywhere near stardom. Just do the research and there is nothing behind it.

At the class he showed up wearing a suit that looked like he had pulled it out of a Kleenex box. Completely unacceptable for a speaker. He wore the same outfit all 3 days. You might argue that a humble serene person does not try to impress as he is very happy with himself, believe me this is not the case. I saw him impatiently chewing on candy as the class progressed. This from a guy who claims to have reached 'the ultimate'.

He claims he hasn't seen a doctor for 25 years. Well the second day he was sneezing and coughing just like many other people in the audience. I thought he knew how to let go of that?

Here is a guy selling off the work of 'Lester Levenson'. Editing his material where necessary, to refer to the originally called Sedona method as “the release technique". Making outrageous claims the same which are disclaimed off on the website. And I quote from the website “NO GUARANTEES ARE MADE THAT YOU WILL ACHIEVE RESULTS SIMILAR TO OURS OR ANYBODY ELSES, IN FACT NO GUARANTEES ARE MADE THAT YOU WILL ACHIEVE ANY RESULTS FROM OUR IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES IN OUR MATERIAL." (releasetechnique.com/disclaimer.htm)

Now I have read 3 books by Lester and he is no joke. It's Larry the one trying to get some bread teaching a technique he knows nothing about.The class itself was nothing more than him reading 'the abundance course' aloud which you can just listen by getting the original course.

At other times he would just play a Lester Levenson recording and let people listen to it. These recordings are either available for free on the website or are included in the abundance course

About 60% of the class was just Larry crane promoting his numerous other products which he claims where made by Lester. But I now know all of these where adapted by Larry to make it a more marketable package.

At the class whenever someone rejected his information he simply asked them to see it as a wanting of “approval control or safety" so any question that didn't serve him was turned away in that manner. He also claimed “his work" was better than the movie “the secret" and that the secret was a load of crap

At times he would run out of things to say and just tell stories… or waste time asking people stupid questions.

At the second day he asked for $25 dollars in singles for “a fun exercise" in wich people would roll on top of 1 dollar bills and pretend to be billionaires.

[...]

After the course ended the third day I waited until Larry was alone. And told him nicely I think this is a load of crap I would like my money back"
He replied “there are no refunds. I said I needed the money for the buffet and the money I paid for the course back“There is no refunds" said he I said fine and contacted the local police.

Before the police got there he gave me 25 for the buffet but took off with the remaining 395.00 He left for California before police got there; they suggested I took him to court. Me?

I did the abundance course religiously 4 times over a period of 4 months. I had high expectations to say the least. But when I saw Larry I knew he was everything but a teacher I would want to learn from. Gave him 3 days and proved it to me.The $395.00? They will come right back to me.

Had I seen a report like this one I would have never signed up for the class. Hope someone sees it and saves themselves the trouble.

youknowhoiam
Glenview, Illinois
U.S.A.
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I have used the Sedonda Method & found it a very useful tool in helping me deal with the death of my brother, along with Holosync & EFT. It has helped me with my relationship with my husband & family members has helped me accept aspects of my work I didn't like & has helped with my own personal development.

At the risk of coming off as a "soft-apologist" for The Sedona Method, I would like to offer a little balance to the discussion here. There are some painful stories, no question, but there are also some outright militant positions that dismiss both the seminars and all associated content as worthless trickery.

I'll start by saying that I am not a seminar-lover. I've never really understood why people feel compelled to shell out hundreds (or thousands!) of dollars for a short course, when a whole world of incredible books, DVDs and audiobooks are out there for a fraction of that price, and with far higher quality information! Now that I've read some of the LGAT articles listed here, I kind of get what sort of person is attracted to group sessions, and why they find it so intoxicating.

Without writing an epic, my personal growth story began 4 years ago with my recovery from life-long depression. I became completely dedicated to resolving the problems and behaviours that had manifested that condition. This journey now has its own momentum and has become something of a path of spiritual recovery.

At one point, I read a book about letting go and found the concept highly resonant, as well as producing some early results. Eventually, I decided to investigate other letting-go resources and that's how I encountered The Sedona Method (SM).

I've listened to the course as an audio home-study course, as well as glancing through the handbook. By the way, I acquired all of these for free, so no-one was monetarily enriched :) At first, I was really struck by how well the basic concepts fit into my Buddhist-inspired model of the mind, emotions and intenionality. As others have pointed out, the principle idea is a practical exercise for non-attachment to emotions. Contrary to what some people have posted, I found the home-study course to be quite steeped in what Krishnamurti calls "observation without evaluation". I did not sense that SM was ranking the emotions on a scale of "bad" to "good".

I thought that this simple, practical exercise - the 3-step core of SM - was actually very useful. I applied it in a number of daily situations and found it very beneficial. The other concept I really connected with was desire as a state of lack. This is another basic Buddhist precept. I liked the Resistance Breaker method, which encouraged me to recognise the duality contained within every emotion, a process that added a lot to my growing philosophy of consciousness. And lastly, I also found great use in their non-intellectualisation stance ("are you trying to figure this out?"). This was a good trick for getting quickly out of the mind and back into the feeling space.

That's about where my positive thoughts end. The most disturbing message I heard in the audio course was "Feelings Always Lie". OMG! This perhaps captures best what I really object to in SM. Feelings are important signals in our bodies that tell us whether we are actually meeting our deep needs or not. To deny them is to essentially deny a huge spiritual portion of our lives, as well as denying ourselves empathy.

I'm the kind of reader who collects metaphors and ideas the way a child collects seashells. I trust in my own instincts for truth and I don't need to invent metaphysical explanations to construct meaning in this world. I am an unashamed atheist, although it always seems strange to me to define myself as the opposite of a patently-kooky philosophy. It would make much more sense IMO if theists called themselves "non-existentialists"! I say all this because I am comfortable panning for "gold" in any of the systems or philosophies I encounter. I'm quite happy to keep the little precious granules and throw away all the other dross.

Anyway, I wanted to offer this message as a way of providing a more balanced view for those who are looking to see past both the glowing testimonials and the LGAT demonisers. Would I recommend Sedona Method or any of the related teachings (like Release Technique)? On balance, no. For an eclectic seeker like me, it's an interesting stop along the journey, if you are willing to sit with the ideas for a time, explore them and then move on. But for anyone who is looking to this system as their new overarching philosophy of life and as the solution to their problems, then I think you could do better elsewhere. At the very least, try to limit your expenditure to the inexpensive Sedona book, which should in theory contain all that you need. The seminars and courses are a waste of time and money. If you can't make the book work, then you aren't going to make the system work for you in general.

I do want to offer some defense of Disconnect, who I felt was a genuine poster who like me had derived some benefit from this method. It was obvious to me that he had integrated the good bits of SM into his own world view and had found it particularly helpful. I think that's a quite valid reality, that can co-exist with the harmful view of the Larry Crane LGATs themselves.

I'd love to talk about "ego-death" but this post is already long enough. I want to close by publicly thanking Ellen for the awesome reference to Miriam Greenspan's book, "Healing Through The Dark Emotions". I'm only part-way through it, but I can already see it will be one of my all-time favourite self-help books! It's about how we can grow by experiencing our negative emotions consciously. That's a counter-intuitive approach that no LGAT will ever espouse, because it simply won't sell to a no-responsibility, quick-fix culture.

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QuestionEverything
So, back to being a mere ego-driven mortal with all my feelings - positive and negative. And my problems. Reality is very underrated by those who would have you trade it for metaphysical realty, wishful thinking, and many of the other new age/spirituality concepts. Reality is really being in your skin and experiencing all the people and creatures in the world with all your senses. There is truth, substance, and safety in reality (not necessarily a physical safety, but an emotional one), a quiet awe and wonder, which is much more nourishing to me in the long run than all the airy, fairy new age promises which turn to dust when you examine them closely.

Excellent description, QE. What you call "reality" is what is normally thought of as authentic spirituality - as opposed to the co-opted version that the New Agers and their ilk proclaim.

To quote Miriam Greenspan on this point: "Denial is present in a different way in a great deal of New Age literature on healing. Here an airy spiritual focus offers a healing path that often bypasses the reality of suffering on the ground - avoiding or denying the social roots of our pain and dissociating itself from the darkness in our world."

epyx-

I didn't attend SM "seminars" but I just want to say that I think what you get from a book on your own is not the same as what particpants in a group training get. In the presence and experience of a group of people, group psychology and dynamics come into play and lgats use them to manipulate and indoctrinate participants. And while some of the "philosophy" might be "valid" on the surface of it, there are unethical, covert mindgames going on underneath. It's like the wolf in sheep's clothing; the mindgames are dressed in the philosophies. Things look good on the outside but inside there's something dangerous.

Regarding desire as a state of lack, I attempted to bend my brain around such ideas at one time. I now think that being alive means being fullfilled AND being in lack. That's the state of things. Like there's night and day. To cast desire as problematic is to cast who we are as problematic. What's the point in these kinds of exercises? They lead to more denial of who we are by asking us to be more than human or to be inhuman. The goals and standards are not real. At least not for the vast, vast majority of us regular folks. I decided to stop trying to attain something unattainable. Then I had one less reason to feel like I wasn't "succeeding". I failed at being desireless (neutral). For me, it was just another mindgame. Having desires and emotions and other human experiences is what gives life its texture. Why strive to "transcend" it?

My opinion.

-skeptic



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2009 08:41AM by skeptic.

Skeptic:

I'm sensing that the crusade against the evils of LGATs is the prevailing current at Rick Ross. Can I just say straight off the top that I didn't really come here to debate about seminars. I do hear you when you say that group psychology and environmental manipulation can turn a relatively innocuous idea into a dangerous experience. (btw: I've only just remembered now that my wife and I attended a LGAT seminar about 15 years ago. Some friends had recommended it to us highly and we trusted them. It cost us $1200. Thirty minutes in, we started to realise that their basic philosophy was "off" and was violating my wife's religious boundaries. We clarified the issue, found they were intractable and walked out on the spot.)

My concern is that some of the militant positions in here (e.g. Anticult's) are an ineffectual message to those who have somehow found benefit in the Sedona materials. The middle ground needs to be discussed too i.e. how much merit is there in these ideas?

About desire: I should probably explain something else about how I construct my philosophies. I had a "dark night of the soul" experience a few years back, not unlike the one Eckhart Tolle describes at the start of Power Of Now. It forced me to abandon most of my ideas and start over, including my idea of who I was. My aim became to find out how to live a contented life. From first principles, I deconstructed depression into anxiety, anxiety into attachment, attachment into fear, fear into existential annihilation. I later discovered that Buddha himself had worked this all out a long time before me :)

Still, that doesn't make me a Buddhist and I have no intention of trying to bend my ideas to a school of thought. What works works, and what doesn't I discard. The only yardstick I hold is the level of contentment and fulfilment I experience each day.

It may well be that you and I hold similar beliefs about "desire", but I think we are probably using our words differently. To me, contentment comes from acceptance - in particular, acceptance of an imperfect world and imperfect hedonic experiences. Desire is certainly a human impulse, and I don't seek to squash it. But I notice in myself that to attach to desire is to create the roots of unhappiness in myself. It instantly formalises my "lack", which is just a construct. I then face a choice - attachment or acceptance? Once I am conscious of it, I willingly make the latter choice, having been burnt badly by a life in the other (unconscious) lane.

I don't pose and make these choices to set impossible standards for myself. I only seek to maximise my joy and peace in this world, so my philosophy has to serve that purpose. It affirms that my life is here and now, and that I don't need anything extra to happen. I only need shed my life-denying attachments to reclaim my peace and joy.

I don't think a personal philosophy can be effective if we perceive it as a 'mindgame'. That's just never going to work. Our spirits will always reject coercion. If we get our cognitive framework right to start with though, the correct ideas will slot in and we will be able to feel their truth and validity without recourse to an external authority (be it a philosophical system, scripture, god or guru).

The ultimate goal for me is authenticity of spirit. How can I be the realest me I can manifest? How can I stop all my mindgames and ego defenses and just be that person at the core of me? And how can I know others as their realest selves too?

I ordered the Release Technique Abundance Course in 2006. I remember listening to the first CD and going through the technique and then when I got up from the chair, I realized that my chronic back pain (that I had for over a year) had disappeared. Just like that, gone. I was thrilled. So I kept going with the course. There were a few signs that some things weren't right, but I was getting really good results with physical things, especially pain. I got rid of headaches and stomach aches quickly by practicing the technique so I was pretty sold. Among the things that didn't sit well with me was when Lester said you have to "eliminate the emotions". That seemed quite strange to me. But I dismissed all the doubts and was hooked.

So maybe six months later, I got the next course, the one about Goals. It is basically just a recording of conference calls with Larry and his students. And another workbook. This time, more doubts. Some of the ideas just seem crazy to me, like the mind is the enemy. HOw can the mind be the enemy when without the mind we would not be alive? And the whole concept of "beingness" didn't make sense either, like there was this place above the mind that was supposed to be better than the mind, but where was it if not in the mind? It just seemed ridiculous to me. Then there was the part about Lester acquiring supernatural powers and being able to move objects with his mind. Huh? It was hard to reconcile what I liked with what I didn't. It was tough!

Finally, the idea of always having to release sort of got to me. Since I had always suffered from anxiety disorders, I really wanted to release these feelings and not feel anxious anymore. But wouldn't you know, it worked the opposite. The more I tried to release, the more anxious I got. I started having panic attacks again, the very thing I wanted the release technique to cure permanently. But it made it worse.

That's when I sort of came to my senses and realized the technique that had worked so well for me in the beginning was simply a very effective relaxation technique. The rest of the course, the whole pseudo-Buddhist philosophy was just crap added on to get people hooked into a sort of religious-like experience where they to keep going higher and higher until they get to some point, I can't remember what they called it. It's where nothing and nobody can ever bother you again and apparently you never have any negativity or whatever. All you have to do is think about something and there it is. But if you desire something. you'll never get it. Only when you give up desire will you get it (of course why would you bother then).

I could go on and on with the outrageous claims Larry makes repeatedly. It's sort of embarassing that I fell for something like that. I know I got benefits from the technique itself, but just the technique alone would only take about 15 minutes to learn, and that's it. Can't build an empire and a whole string of seminars all over the country on a simple 15-minute relaxation method.

I cured my panic attacks finally, not by eliminating my emotions, but by understanding them better. And I firmly believe that negative emotions are a teaching mechanism. Now when people speak of fear or sadness as "low consciousness" emotions and happiness as "high consciousness" I know where they are coming from, but they are just wrong. That is not how it works. Usually people feel pretty bad right on the verge of a breakthrough in growth. It's a pity that instead they are taught to "eliminate" those emotions because they are lower in consciousness. Jeez.... Now if I'm feeling upset, depressed, anxious, etc., it's OK because I know that I'm on the verge of learning something valuable. I just wait for it... So far it hasn't failed me.

Well I know this was long and boring but I hope it might help someone!

Lori

LoriW - THANKS for your message (of hope?) ... I wish my wife would ultimately reach this realization ... but she seems so caught up in what you describe as the "pseudo-Buddhist philosophy" aspect .. the spirtuality, the religoniousity it seems to offer? .. the path to having it all and doing nothing??? It confounds me ... her TOTAL investment, intellectually, emotionally and financially, just does not make sense to me ... I have read the Sedona Method book 3 times -- I have tired to listen to the Crane releasing tapes ... Indeed, as you say there is that thread of good common sense and good advice re. positive thinking, about 15 minutes worth??? ... but it quickly broaches past that?? With a certain amount of prespective and skepticism I suppose there are benefits ... But SM & Crane's RT are businesses out to make money .. you have to keep people hooked as long as possible ... give them the high of a tent revival seminar ... selling them that with a little more help & work the elusive summit of .. total awareness, total beingness, of having EVERYTHING ...etc. will be reached! And look at all that is left in the wake of such "seeking" ... BUT something MUST be driving the seeker to such complete committment & belief? There must be something the seeker is feeliong a need to discover or fill? That is life I suppose?

I'm going to attempt to be as honest and impartial as I can regarding the Release Technique, although that will prove to be a challenge, as my life has been affected in different ways by the method, both positive and negative. I'll share how it's affected me and why I decided to leave the methodology behind. I believe it is important for people to know what it is before getting involved in it, why there haven't been nearly as many complaints about it compared with glowing testimonials, and how it ultimately fails to deliver on what it promises.

First, a brief history of me and where I was coming from. This is a very long post, but I hope you'll be patient and stick it out for the read.

I've always been into self-improvement, because I believe if you improve yourself, you improve the world. I learned about the release technique towards the beginning of the year 2000 through an email which led me to one of the earlier discussion groups on the subject on Usenet. I went to the website (not nearly as sophisticated as it is now) and read the information they presented. Whomever was the owner of this site was promising that you could have it all "easily" and "effortlessly" - it was the lazy man's way to riches. At the time, I was very interested in wealth and abundance. Since I was into self-improvement and wanting to gain more financial security, the website's message naturally attracted me.

After searching the site, I found a man by the name of Larry Crane.There was just one solitary picture of him and his phone number was beneath it. In that day, I was curious, but not nearly as cautious or skeptical as I have become. I gave the number a call to ask how the technique worked, thinking I would reach some generic customer service rep. I wanted to ask some questions in order to gauge what it was all about.

To my surprise, Larry himself answered. I don't remember the exact conversation, but he convinced me to buy the course and try it out. I ordered the Abundance Course and it came about 10 days later. As a small side note - I called him into about day 5 of waiting for it to arrive and was met with a very aggressive "IT TAKES 5 TO 10 BUSINESS DAYS to arrive." I didn't know it at the time, but his aggressive (and sometimes outright rude) behavior would confound me as I became immersed in the Release Technique products and jargon. The whole point of the method is to become "imperturbable", yet Mr. Crane has demonstrated many times that he is not. I'll get back to that later.

Back to the short history. I received it and listened to the tapes. By the time I was done with tape 4, I was confused. Essentially, all of the tapes were Larry speaking about feeling a "clutching" in your stomach or your chest (which I didn't feel) and letting it go... and more... and more... and more. He repeated the same thing over and over with little variation over 10 tapes. And that was the technique in a nutshell. You feel a feeling and imagine a tube or door over your chest or stomach. You open up the door or tube and "allow the feelings to leave." That's pretty much it. Or, you can get your feeling under one of the "three wants" - the want (lacking feeling) of approval, control or security, and let those feelings go. That was the gist of the technique. And this was the fast way to riches.

I didn't understand it at all. Since I was puzzled (I thought there had to be more to it), I called Larry. When I asked my questions or raised objections, he would immediately interrupt and tell me I was into "wanting to figure it out", which was just another feeling I had to release. It made sense to me at the time, since I WAS feeling stressed out about not being able to release. I can see with great clarity now that this is where the mind-numbing effects of releasing come into play. It's a low-level technique for brainwashing and spacing people out. It has a deleterious effect on your ability to REASON. In the release technique circle, reasoning (and even thinking) are the minions of the #1 enemy - the mind - which I now see is a bad thing to teach.

It was a bit hard for me to type that out - admitting that it is a mind control device. I had to go back and re-edit and rewrite that a few times. But there it is in all it's glory. I confess it after 10 years. The release technique is largely a brainwashing regimen that takes your money and leaves you on a cloud, and not necessarily cloud 9.

I mentioned I would attempt to be impartial - or at the very least, fair - in this post and I'd like to honor that. The release technique DID have some major benefits to me and others, and to this day, it still has given me some measure of "freedom", if you want to call it that. Here are some of the benefits I've gained from using it:

1) More efficiency
2) Better able to handle my emotions
3) Can see things more objectively
4) Not as reactive as before
5) Calmer
6) Can relax, usually at will

7) In the past I've had some very blissful experiences after releasing, all of them unforgettable. There was one moment where I felt like everything was simply perfect. I can't really describe that feeling because it was so beyond the intellect (not to sound presumptuous, please don't take it that way). It was just this magnanimous feeling of deep peace and "being okay". It was like everything was where it needed to be. When I hit that state, I knew that that was what I was looking for. It was those experiences that kept me going. I'll get to what got me OUT of releasing later.

8) I had a windfall of $6,000 after making a releasing goal that I would have $5,000 by releasing only. It is easy to chalk this up to coincidence now, yet it is still a bit interesting.

9) Was generally happier for short stretches of time.

So I have to admit that it did benefit me in the emotional arena in some ways. In other ways, it seemed to kill parts of me that were resounding with wit and charm. If I visited myself 10 years ago, I would be greeted with a much funnier person who didn't take life so seriously. Now, I'm recovering to get back to that caring, charming person.

After releasing for so long, I feel like a woolen cloth has been pulled over my awareness and that the better parts of me have been grayed out. Any releaser would immediately tell me it's just a feeling and to "let it leave". I'm only recently seeing how much of a trick I've played on myself. The liabilities of the release technique (in my experience, and in much higher magnitude than it's benefits) are as follows:

1) It doesn't deliver on the financial front as it advertises. I haven't become a millionaire or increased my net worth by even $10 ever since I started it in 2000. In fact, any money I allegedly earned "by releasing only" (as they say you should do in the course) was spent on more books, tapes, and seminars. I essentially broke even.

2) I've become callous, uncaring, stoic and prideful. I feel almost "stale" or vacant at times.

3) I wasted 10 years of my life believing in grandiose dreams that I'd hoped would materialize "simply by releasing only" as they teach in the courses. They actually teach you to use the "Butt System" (another set of CDs I bought from Larry), whereby you sit on your butt, release your "I can'ts" and just "allow it to happen", whether it's becoming a millionaire, getting a new car, etc. Essentially, you THINK your goals into existence without any action whatsoever on your part. It's a sophisticated form of WISHING. And these wishes never came to fruition.

4) I've become too clinical with emotions. Whenever someone had a problem, I would tell them to "just let it go." I now see that this isn't always appropriate or even desirable.

5) I would look down on people and disassociate from their dramas. While I still think most dramas are ridiculous, I no longer tell people to "Just let it go." Sometimes these things need to be processed in order to be released.

I've realized that the prior 5 liabilities are much more far-reaching and have deeper implications on a psychological and financial scale than the first 9 benefits I've listed.

One major thing that really nagged at me over the years was Larry himself. He's essentially the protege of Lester Levenson, the man who "invented" the RT, and someone who supposedly found total inner peace. The whole point of the release technique is to become loving and peaceful like Lester claimed to have done, or "imperturbable" as the course teaches. I can't count the number of times I've heard Larry yell, be rude or domineering to people who are raising questions in learning the technique.

I was once a target of his wrath when I asked a simple question about what Lester Levenson proposed regarding reality and the mind. I pointed out on a conference call something Lester had said. He said "Every thought materializes in the physical world." To anyone with a brain, that's a huge claim to make. I saw plenty of proof to the contrary, so I asked Larry "If that's true, then why can't I materialize pink panthers dancing on my ceiling?"

I wasn't attempting to be cheeky or dry. It was an honest question. Larry's response? He immediately flew into a rage on the phone. I don't know how many people were on the call that night, but there had to be hundreds. Not only that, but it was being recorded for sale later, which was highly embarassing for me at the time. "Why are you asking me dumb questions that have nothing to do with anything?" he roared. "It's a jerkoff question. I'm not going to waste the time on it! Who's next?"

So much for questioning wild, unverified claims. Even though I was pretty deep into releasing at the time, it's something I wasn't able to "let go" of after all these years, but not due to being hurt, but because I have a very, very low tolerance for hypocrisy. Larry, the student of the imperturbable Lester Levenson calls himself a "Master Teacher". If he's a master teacher, it means he's mastered releasing. If he has and is so imperturbable, why would he need to scream at people to get what he wants?

That wasn't the only incident. There were countless others (not all targeted to me) on other recordings they have on their website. He's teaching everyone how to be "hootless" yet gets his hair in a knot when someone asks him a question steeped in common sense. I was puzzled at the time, but since I was supposed to be able to let go of whatever was bothering me, I dismissed it. I now see his rapacious yelling as a subtle form of instilling compliance in releasers so there IS no disagreement. If he can't get you to do what he suggests, he'll just intimidate. Total hypocrisy. The scary thing is not one fellow releaser ever mentioned this one puzzling habit of his - yelling to get what he wants, yet telling everyone else to "release".

I'm not trying to make Larry look bad. I'm just telling you what I've witnessed first hand. To his credit, he did answer some questions that seemed ridiculous, but for the most part, he gets cranky and cantankerous if someone persists in asking a question that doesn't help someone "release". In other words, no analysis or thinking allowed, only "releasing".

It all built up over time, but becoming more financially secure was the #1 reason I left the releasing crowd and the hypocrisy was #2. The promise of the course is that you can become rich if you just release your feelings that you can't be rich. Well, I felt I did and I gave it a fair shot of 10 years. I hope people are letting that sink in. TEN YEARS. And the only person who benefited financially was Larry. I'm not rich after using the technique and that's all the proof I need. If there is any one thing releasing has shown me it's how to be much more skeptical when any system comes along and claims that you can be rich simply by sitting in a chair and letting go of feelings. What nonsense. Why did I fall for such tripe for so long?

I'll tell you - the testimonials I was getting from other people. There were dozens of people on the conference calls and in seminars detailing how they'd gotten $30,000, $100,000 and more "by releasing only". Those testimonials made me salivate and hunger to achieve the same, honestly.

What I refused to see was that these people who were earning those amounts of money were ALREADY IN POSITION TO RECEIVE IT. In other words, they had real estate deals going, were doctors, lawyers, successful business people. Naturally, big money comes to them! How many homeless people do you think could materialize $600,000 overnight by releasing only? If we are unlimited as the course claims, why can't I materialize a suitcase full of $100 bills right before my eyes? If the technique worked consistently and effectively, why aren't most of the releasers millionaires? Nothing metaphysical about it. It's just a crock.

I don't mean to sound harsh. And perhaps there are some releasers reading this right now who still believe it can benefit you financially in the long term. If so, understand that I'm not judging you, nor condemning you. I'm not coming from my "ego" nor am I trying to limit you in any way. Heck, the technique is very effective on some emotional issues if you embrace it and do it correctly. I'm only condemning the hypocrisy and lack of results. I know if you are a releaser you'd say I'm holding in mind lack of results or I'm "wanting". Well, that may be, but don't you think giving the technique 10 years of practice would yield some more tangible or lasting results than the ones I've experienced?

Also, releasers - I'd just invite you to think - have you truly gotten what you wanted from releasing? Are you a millionaire? Can you materialize things at will just by a "mere effortless thought" as Lester puts it? How much money is in the bank? Look at the proof - "take it for checking" as the course states. This is what I did and is why I've left releasing behind forever. I've finally realized for myself that it isn't what it is cracked up to be in the least. If it were, I'd be a billionaire by now and floating around with the greatest of spiritual masters.

I've spent countless hours releasing. Tallied up, I'd guess it sums to several months of pure non-stop "releasing". I've purchased nearly all of Larry's products, gone to 4 weekend seminars and 2 week long retreats. I even helped find two locations for some of the seminars. When I asked Larry if I could go to one of the events for free in exchange, I was denied. Wow. So much for abundance.

The thing that puzzled me for a while was why weren't more people noticing the inconsistency and non-efficacy of the technique and posting about it? I looked it up on Google many times, but found little to nothing but glowing testimonials (until I found this forum). So how could it have such a low-profile?

I have a theory - there aren't many complaints showing up because it's a LOW LEVEL cult. I hate to use the word "cult", because there really isn't a "release technique crowd." There aren't any members, expectations or beliefs that you need to adhere to. The only expectation is that you release when you are at the seminars or on conference calls. There is no allegiance and everything is voluntary. That's what makes it so hard to classify it as a cult.

As I've said, "cult" would be too strong a word. It's not so much a cult as the technique is deceptively presented as a magic bullet to end all problems without taking any action. If Scientology were the most nefarious cult with a 10 on the 1-10 scale, then releasing would be probably about a 2. But that 2 can be a 10 to the most trusting (or gullible, if you will). That is what makes it deadly in the long term. It locks you in with promises of a blissful existence, but doesn't create enough immediate and consistent pain for you to want to leave it. When you are releasing, you are convinced you are creating your reality and mastership is just a matter of "letting go", that the abundance is right around the corner, even with plenty of evidence to the contrary staring you straight in the face.

I'm glad I have finally woken up. I feel more like myself now. I am unashamed and feel liberated now that I have dropped it. Ironic, don't you think? I've let go of releasing itself and I feel freer than ever before.

I've attempted to be fair, balanced and honest in sharing my experience. I may not have come off that way. Please note that the technique is not ALL rotten and that Lester's original message of loving others and yourself is a good one. It is apparently working for some people. And some of the events I experienced were unforgettable as I listed above. I have also gained a great measure of emotional control that genuinely helps me in many areas of life. But all in all, it does NOT deliver on what it promises in the financial or happiness realm, and if it does, it does so in a highly inconsistent manner. I will NEVER spend one cent more on any of Larry's materials and will caution (but not stop altogether) anyone who is thinking of buying any of his products.

I hope this has helped someone to see things a bit more clearly. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to write me or update this thread with a response. I will respond uncritically.

That is quite a detailed post, but it does appear that the Release Technique, and Larry Crane have been causing a lot of problems for people, for a long time, as shown in this thread, and elsewhere.

Of course, for people who really believe in this stuff, it does seem somewhat complex.
But for those who have looked at this type of thing for a long time, its not that complicated.
Its simply sales 101.

They make a Big Claim, so they can charge lots of money for their programs and products.
The programs do NOT work as they claim, so people keep coming back for more.
They then sell them more stuff, in a vicious circle.
If you ask questions, they try to throw you off-balance and confuse you. (Confusion Technique).

Its a scam, simply to make money.

And don't forget, these so-called Testimonials in the "conference calls", those can all be rehearsed shills, that is, people who have been set-up to make those false claims.
There are a lot of sleazy so-called Life Coaches, etc, who will literally say ANYTHING to make a sale.
So there are people who also sell the Release Technique programs for a liviing, and here is ugly reality.

They will lie lie lie lie, about the supposed benefits they are getting.
They might start out naive, and be honest, but they don't get any sales.
Then they exaggerate a bit, and they start making sales.
Then after a few months/years, they start to tell wild LIES about getting $500,000 by "releasing" (or whatever they are selling), and some people eat it up. The Wishful Thinking of the miracle cure.
That is just reality.

Those who tell the biggest lies, the most outrageous bullshit, are the ones who make the big sales.
If a salesperson tells a client it MIGHT work a little bit...no sale.
But if they just lie, and say they made MILLIONS, lost all the weight, found LOVE, have 6 houses, Rolex watches on their dogs, and now travel, and blah blah blah, sadly, some people eat it up.

To the trained-eye, its simply a sales-scam, taking advantage of wishful thinking and human vulnerability.
Unfortunately, it seems most if not all humans, have to go through the school of hard knocks a few times, before they learn how they got duped.

One good way to learn how one got duped, is to study books Advanced Sales one gets from the library. (for free!).

Larry Crane is simply an old-school sales warhorse at this old game, sitting at his phone all day selling his products, and over the years he's clearly gotten more and more blunt, blatant, and crude in his application of the old-school sales techniques.
And somehow he still seems to make sales?

It might seem very complicated, but all of these Sedona Release Techniques seminars and products, are simply a scam. They are just pandering to the human weakness of Wishful Thinking and magical thinking.
And its been done 1000x before, and will be done 1000x again.
"The Secret" was identical, in that sense.

What's the next one?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2009 02:15PM by The Anticult.