I just received this book by Steven Pressman that profiles "THe Dark Journey fo Werner Erhard from est to Exile." After reading only the Prologue and first two chapters and skimming the rest I cannot believe ANYONE would follow the teachings of such a person!!!!! I am now even MORE outraged!!!!
How do the LEKKIES explain the background of their founder?
If you are even thinking about getting involved with the forum you MUST read this book and if you have loved ones involved it is also a must read. I am hoping this book will offer insight and help in getting my loved one out.
Question: Was there a lawsuit over this book?

We believe what we are capable of believing. We disbelieve what we are incapable of believing. There are, as we live and breathe, those persons who are incapable of believing in the theory of evolution. There are those who are capable of believing that the Holocaust did not happen. When cleverly packaged for mental absorbtion, there is almost nothing that a group of humans, somewhere on the face of the earth, cannot be gulled into accepting as the literal truth, or, conversely, convinced wholheartedly to reject as falsehood. In India women used to climb on the funeral pyres of their husbands, Sutte it was called, and allow themselves willingly to be burned to death, so they could accompany their husband into the afterlife. Would they have contemplated such a thing if they were not absolutely certain of their beliefs in this matter ? Of course not. But they were. They were committed to taking a stand for the possibility that roasting themselves alive would be an opening for the possibility of reconstituting their manifestation of Source on a higher plane of existence.... oh, wait, sorry, wrong thread, we aren't discussing Tony Robbins and the firewalk ?

Quote

How do the LEKKIES explain the background of their founder?

Quite simply either they dont explain it because they don't know or they are taught by landmark what to say, Anyone who does the introduction leaders programme is supplied with a list of common questions and answers to learn.

The reality is that most people who do the landmark forum are not aware of how landmark came about. Many people do the courses because they trust the person who introduces them and they do not investigate. only a small portion of people actually investigate before they sign up

Quote
looking for help
I just received this book by Steven Pressman that profiles "THe Dark Journey fo Werner Erhard from est to Exile." After reading only the Prologue and first two chapters and skimming the rest I cannot believe ANYONE would follow the teachings of such a person!!!!! I am now even MORE outraged!!!!
How do the LEKKIES explain the background of their founder?
If you are even thinking about getting involved with the forum you MUST read this book and if you have loved ones involved it is also a must read. I am hoping this book will offer insight and help in getting my loved one out.
Question: Was there a lawsuit over this book?

Yes.

[www.culteducation.com]


"...In still another action, brought in 1998 against Werner Erhard biographer, Steven Pressman, Landmark spent months attempting to compel Pressman to respond to deposition questions aimed at obtaining the confidential sources he used for research on his book, Outrageous Betrayal. Although the suit was brought under the pretext of compelling discovery for use in the then-active Cult Awareness Network litigation, Mr. Pressman concluded that the suit was brought primarily to harass him. Notably, the discovery commissioner, who entered an interim order in the matter, commented that “it does not appear that the information sought [from Mr. Pressman] is directly relevant or goes to the heart of the [CAN] action, or that alternative sources have been exhausted or are inadequate.” The action against Pressman was dropped after the Cult Awareness Network litigation was settled. Both Kevin Garvey and the late Margaret Singer reported to have been similarly harassed with depositions subpoenaed by Landmark in connection with the Cult Awareness Network litigation."


You might be interested to read the "reviews" on Amazon. Many Landmarkers were happy to share their thoughts in cyberspace. It'll be easy to spot the shills.


Ellen

Yes Ellen it is easy to spot them.
I added my own review. Again this is a must read if you or anyone you care about is involved in Landmark Education. The facts of Werner/Jack's life give some understanding of how he was/is able to bamboozle so many. One would think if the allegations were untrue there would have been a tremendous libel verdict against the author.
More unbelieveable is that many involved in this group do not know how the Forum originated or when confronted with facts dismiss them. Can we say "snake oil salesman?" :roll:

sure.... what CAN you say about your Fearless Leader when confronted with :

"Undaunted by the mountains of criticism, Erhard and other Hunger Project officials planned a promotional "relaunching" of the project in the fall of 1987, to celebrate its tenth anniversary. "Well, folks, I don't know about you," John Denver said at the time, "but when you listen to Werner articulate what it is that we're about, you truly have the sense that we're participating in something historic."
A UNICEF volunteer in Portland, Oregon, had a different reaction to the lavish celebration that marked the completion of the Hunger Project's first decade. "For what they spent on that production," he told a local newspaper reporter, "I could feed the nation of Ethiopia."
Erhard and his fellow Hunger Project enthusiasts had little patience for such complaints. Instead, they continued as they always had to spread a fuzzy message about "taking responsibility" for ending hunger while collecting millions of dollars in the process. Between 1977 and 1989 the Hunger Project collected more than $67 million from around the world while claiming to have "enrolled" some 6.5 million people into its ranks. During that time it gave less than $2 million to other organizations directly involved in antihunger efforts. The rest of the money remained inside the Erhard network, paying for glossy publications and other promotional campaigns to keep expanding the Hunger Project."

Outrageous Betrayal, The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile, Steven Pressman, pages 166-167.

Sixty five million dollars for PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS and "EVENTS".... can you wrap your head around that number. ???... $65,000,000. is a LOT of money... and what did it accomplish ? Who did it feed ? What suffering did it alleviate ? Was ANY accounting EVER given for the uses of these monies ? Did ANYONE ever have to answer to any external authority about the dispensation of this Hunger Project ? Where the hell did the Hunger Project go ? Where did the money go ?

Quote
looking for help
More unbelieveable is that many involved in this group do not know how the Forum originated or when confronted with facts dismiss them.

This was one of the hardest things for me to grasp -- they just don't care about how it originated or any facts about it's abuses. To use their lingo, they make it mean what they want to. For all their talk of "filters", it seems to me they come out with intricate filters that protect their "experience" from facts.

If the Lekkies I know are typical, experience rules, facts drool. They've have a great experience, and that's all that matters.

I think it would be a good read for someone BEFORE they go to the forum. For someone who is already involved, I wouldn't give it to them unless they were SERIOUSLY doubting. Otherwise, it's a waste of my money and their time.


-lightwolf

Filtrers.... filters... filters....

Where HAVE I heard that term used before ???.... ah yes... the NLP trainings.... ya know, the people who know all about Eriksonian Hypnosis and Belief Shifting and "covert installation".... now, will all this high fallutin' blather about Acknowledging Source, you'd think they'd be so kind, so full of their bubblin' hi standard INTEGRITY that they might, perhaps, cite where this concept originated... but then, you might think a whole lotta things....

The difference, as in the difference that made the difference, was that the NLP people made a conscious effort to understand filters and make conscious choices regarding filters....

Quote
lightwolf
This was one of the hardest things for me to grasp -- they just don't care about how it originated or any facts about it's abuses. To use their lingo, they make it mean what they want to. For all their talk of "filters", it seems to me they come out with intricate filters that protect their "experience" from facts.


-lightwolf

Yes. Funny when you think about it. Here are all these people thinking they've disabused themselves of biases, perceptual limitations, skewed ways of thinking, emotional baggage - achieved the Landmark equivlent of "Clear" - all the while they've actually traded in their own set for a new, more horrific, terribly distorted, dumbed-down, and contrived set concocted by that sleazo, Werner Erhard.


Sad.




Ellen

lightwolf,

i was just reading through your comments about landmark people and caring about the experience and not the facts.....

"They have a great experience, and that's all that matters."

Me, "So what's this thing all about?"
Lekkie, "I am having great experiences, and that's all that matters! (gush!)"
Me, "Is that a fact?!"