Talking about CULT SPEAK, here are some recent examples of how PSI groupies talk to each other. Thought you might find it interesting. I added some side notes as well, as to how they handle their relationships.


team437@yahoogroups.com
oncallhelen@yahoo.com
Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:29:39 -0700 (PDT)
team437] HelloTeam 437
Hi Everyone-

I'm having an AWESOME PSI day. I'd be a TAKER if I don't share it with all of you.

My day did not start "ohsowell." My asst. gave me 2 weeks notice and my boss told me he wouldn't be able to attend all 4 days of Basic. (Gee, that is too bad). The class starts tomorrow. On top of that, my parents left last night (went back to the Philippines for good) and I may never see them again. And that is the worst story I'ver ever created....the never see them again part).

First of, thanks to everyone who sends emails. I wonder if you guys create the same stories I do when no one replies to your email. Mike CHALLENGED me today to work on this particular "PROGRAM."

Mike- thank you so much for the call today. YOU ARE ON FIRE!!! From Basic to 7 to staffing and now PLD!!! Your goals are AMAZING. I was so inspired today after talking to you. PLD 8 is next in my agenda. Btw, thank you for that kick on the butt. Yeah, I do have PROGRAMS I need to work on. And yay!!!!! I talked to Thomas earlier. We had a great conversation. And you were so right!!!! I'll tell you more about that this weekend.

Thomas- we love you. Pls. call me anytime if you need anything. Your name comes up usually when I talk to Mike or chat with Sharan. It would have been great if you made it to ACK (what the hell is ACK? Anyone?) night last weekend. Your friends in Vancouver wished you were there. Our best to you...on your health and career. I'll be thinking about you a lot!!! Let's do group IM sometime. (when Sharan is not asleep... l o l ). Sleep tight.

Robert- Aha!!! I HEARD THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU TODAY. I was BLOWN AWAY actually. I can't wait to talk to you this weekend. Yeah, I really thought I'm the only one... people tell their "shit" to. I smile whenever that question of yours popped in my head. How dare you burst my bubble!!!

Jacci- got your email. Thanks for the quick reply. He sounds arrogant alright....that' s why I forwarded his email to you. He called when I did not respond to his email this morning. He was nicer...laughing and all that. You're right...I should not be the "go between" these 2. I'll call you on my way home.

Alex- my favorite guy in Vegas. My weekend is not the same when we don't chat on the phone. I cry myself to sleep when you don't return my phone calls. You don't want me Sleepless in California, do you? Actually, I can't complain. You are very thoughtful. Very few guys are. Whoa....is that statement PC? I just heard a few guys in our group said..."TAKER" .

Amie- how was your romantic weekend? Ooppsss....am I allowed to ask that? WHAT'S THE LATEST WITH MR. EX? MINE IS A DONE DEAL. I'M HAPPY AS CAN BE....MY CHOICE! (could be another marriage or marriages were destroyed by the Piss and Shit Institute). I'll see you this weekend. How about lunch?

Miche- how are you feelin? The last I heard, you'd be out of town this weekend. If not, pls. join us for lunch. I'm buying. Btw, they have 10 staff for 50 (plus) STUDENTS. (they didn’t say enrollments). Pretty good ratio...don' t you think?

Jean- so nice talking to you today. I am seriously considering your invite for Thanksgiving. That's so thoughtful of you. I'd like to meet your sister before the next Basic. If I could help her with the election in November; pls. ask her to give me a call.

Denise C.- I'll call you next week. You'd be fine. I've been thinking about you. Monday, right?...did you say Tuesday?
Denise D.- thanks for the update on your friends' status. I'm glad they're ok.
Jeanie, Sharyn, Tina, Alex- so nice to hear about your party on labor day weekend. They had something like that in Hawaii 2 weeks ago. I heard Mel is a fantastic host when it comes to BBQ parties. Rob and Jacci told me Mel is so gracious. Too bad I missed out. I'll be sure to call him ahead of time when I go back there.
Rick- are you going to RE-AUDIT this weekend? Do you have friends attending Basic? Half of the class, right? Rob has 3. I ALMOST HAD ONE....DARN IT!

Well, time to go home. I forgot to eat lunch and dinner. Now I know why I'm hungry.

Goodnight everybody.

Helen

lorenzanaluna@advanceoffice.com
Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:55:55 -0700
Team 437,

Well sometimes when you think all is well in you life something will hit you right in your face. My huband of almost 15 years and I are have some challanges in our marriage right know. I am WORKING HARD IN MY WORKSHOP and in life to get things back on track. This is rough water for me because we have always been such a strong couple. PLEASE SHINE SOME BRIGHT LIGHT OUR WAY. I still have not decided if LS in October is the wises chose for me at this time. Although ticket and hotel are paid for I not sure if leaving the problems at home is a good idea. (sounds like someone is coming to her senses, I hope.) Hope all is well, I miss you all and hope to see or talk to all of you soon.

Lorenzana Luna
Advance Office & Janitorial




Okay, a voice from the past...This is Steph O'Brien remember me??? I decided it was a good day to check my e-mail so here I am. I am currently playing PLD on Team 21 GET IT DONE! Yup, I attended WLS ummm hmmm last month???? It's been such a WHIRLWIND from the basic in June to PSI7 in July to WLS in August...ah, that's it, then PLD in August as well.

My contract: I AM AN AUTHENTIC GROUNDED FOCUSED LEADER FEARLESSLY CREATING A LIFE OF BALANCE AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE MOMENT BY MOMENT.... I ALMOST GOT TAGGED WITH SENSUAL, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN APROPO (SP). AND TRUE.

I have some BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS and I am taking them on like my life depends on it...which to me it does. I would like your prayers and well wishes on these:

1. Physical- cleansing, eating right, exercise and massages.... this is actually a BIG deal, though it doesn't seem like it written so simply there. I am following the Dr. Christopher' s 3 day cleanse and Mucusless diet. I have been doing the exercise and destressing and massages leading up to the 3 day weekend...IM SO EXCITED IM SO EXCITED IM SO EXCITED....

2. RELATIONSHIPS- DATES WITH EVERY TEAM MEMBER OF MY PLD TEAM...(this was changed from 6 dates), I will check with my team mates to make sure what I consider a date and what they consider a date is the same. I want to make sure I'm IN INTEGRITY ON THIS ONE. 6 dates with my son Jacob (and my other children as things progress)and 3 with my ex husband...he even attended my coffee with his wife...it wasn't exactly as I anticipated, however, he did show up!!! I currently have had 3 dates with him and have dates scheduled every wednesday. 6 dates with myself....Yup, i've had 4 Real good dates with a dinner and everything. This is HUGE for me. (this one needs to make dates to be there for her children? What kind of lame excuse is that? What woman leaves her children for this BS?)
3. Spiritual- MY MAIN GOAL HERE IS SEEING MY EX HUSBAND AND CHILDREN IN THE BASIC AND MY CHILDREN ATTENDING TEEN EXPERIENCE NEXT SUMMER! I want to see this happen within the next 60 days, the earlier the better. 25 total enrollments, I have 11 to date 3 have attended the basic in August and 1 is attending tonight and this weekend in San Francisco! PLEASE HELP WITH LIGHT AND LOVE to follow through and see them all attend the classes.

4. Mental/Wealth/ Liberty: I AM FULLY EXPERIENCING THE COMPLETION OF MY MARRIAGE AND CREATING A NEW AND EXCITING LIFE NOW! This includes completion of all remaining outstanding legal issues, properties, money, taxes, and custody/visitation schedules. This also includes at least one new deal moving forward to create sustainable wealth and liberty. MY MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO CREATE THE VACCUM SO THAT THE UNIVERSE MAY FILL IN MY WISH WITH ALL THINGS NEW AND EXCITING. (I wonder what will happen when life bites her in the ass?)

That's my update, other than asking for support, mainly prayers, however, I TRULY NEED HEALING FOR THE FEAR I FEEL IN CREATING LOVING AND LASTING RELATIONSHIPS. I want a lot more evidence that I can maintain relationships and follow through and that I DESERVE TO HAVE amazing relationships in my life and that I CAN MAINTAIN THEM LONGTERM...whatever that looks like. (Like PSI is going to help her maintain her relationships, doesn’t she realize that PSI probably destroyed her relationship with her family friends?)

Thank you. Please remember I'm here and that I miss you and I truly want you in my life, I am simply GETTING BIGGER THAN MY FEAR/PROGRAM. So, please help in gentle loving ways. I appreciate you all and thank you to those people who have continued to contact me regardless of my phone and e-mail stuff...it's a bit of a trick, huh? I will have one service and am figuring out how to forward so all the email goes to one e-mail address. That would be a big help to have that happen. I haven't even opened the bulk mail/spam folder as yet to see if anyone got snagged into the black hole. It seems that I have thousands... .yes, i'm weeping. it's just ridiculous!

okay, MUCH LOVE AND LIGHT to you all and thank you for holding me in your hearts and thoughts, I miss you and you have been in my heart and thoughts!

Much love to you!
Steph O'Brien
aznativegirl@ gmail.com

[b:c239d40da4][/b:c239d40da4][b:c239d40da4][/b:c239d40da4][b:c239d40da4][/b:c239d40da4][b:c239d40da4][/b:c239d40da4]

Quote
Samuel
Talking about CULT SPEAK, here are some recent examples of how PSI groupies talk to each other. Thought you might find it interesting. I added some side notes as well, as to how they handle their relationships.


[b:0a9913c193] MY MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO CREATE THE VACCUM SO THAT THE UNIVERSE MAY FILL IN MY WISH WITH ALL THINGS NEW AND EXCITING. [/b:0a9913c193] (I wonder what will happen when life bites her in the ass?)

Did I hear that correctly?...........

[b:0a9913c193] MY MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO CREATE THE VACCUM SO THAT THE UNIVERSE MAY FILL IN MY WISH WITH ALL THINGS NEW AND EXCITING. [/b:0a9913c193]

Hoooooo boy...... [i:0a9913c193] res ipsa loquitur [/i:0a9913c193] .... Latin for "the evidence speaks for itself" .....

One might find it in one's heart to be annoyed with talk like this if it wasn't so damn pathetic......

Nutrino,

I didn't change a word of those emails, incase anyone was wondering. I did add comments. and I agree with you, it is damn pathetic... God help these people.

For those of you who have been 'there' and back, you realize now that
it is challenging for us outsiders to communicate with those still involved?

Do you have any advice on this matter?

More from [u:4dde4ee963]The Sociopath Next Door[/u:4dde4ee963]. There's some interesting things in the chapter titled, "The etiology of guiltlessness: what causes sociopathy?"

Stout says "there is credible evidence that some cultures contain fewer sociopaths than do other cultures." For example, studies in rural & urban areas of Taiwan show a low prevalence of antisocial personality disorder, ranging from 0.03 percent to 0.14 percent, while the Western world's approximate average is 4 percent! And, sociopathy seems to be increasing in the U.S.

"The 1991 Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, reported that in the fifteen years preceding the study, [i:4dde4ee963]the prevalence of antisocial personality disorder had nearly doubled among the young in America[/i:4dde4ee963] [emphasis mine]. It would be difficult, closing in on impossible, to explain such a dramatically rapid shift in terms of genetics or neurobiology. Apparently, cultural influences play a very important role in the development (or not) of sociopathy in any given population."

She discusses how cultures may foster or inhibit the development of sociopathy in those born with the predisposition to it. She writes that theorists propose "that North American culture, which holds individualism as a central value, tends to foster the development of antisocial behavior, and also to disguise it. In other words, in America, the guiltless manipulation of other people "blends" with social expectations to a much greater degree than it would in China or other more group-centered societies." She contrasts America's me-first attitudes (which are "devoted to the pursuit of domination") with cultures that "dwell theologically on the interrelatedness of all living things."

Feeling connected/interrelated is what sociopaths lack, according to Stout.

Are lgats contributing to the increase in sociopaths? From what I've seen and experienced, I think the answer is a definite "yes".

Quote
nutrino

Quote
skeptic
I'm halfway through [b:bc6138ee5b] "The Sociopath Next Door" [/b:bc6138ee5b] by Martha Stout, and I see even deeper how lgats teach sociopathy. The lgat I was conned by programmed us not to say/think certain words/concepts.

An excellent, if modestly flawed introduction to the subject... and yes,
the New Age/Human Potential/LGAT milieu draws the [b:bc6138ee5b] sociopathic personality [/b:bc6138ee5b] like flies to shit.... or trainers to training rooms for a little mind massage....

How flawed? I'm learning, so I'm interested.

I agree, Skeptic.

So often people who have been through LGATs might do something that is generally regarded as poor manners. But now, to get past taking responsibility for their poor behaviour, they use what they are taught in the LGATS: "That's your interpretation".

They say we must change how we interpret the behaviour and then there is no problem. What simplistic thinking!

To quote Ash from another thread:

Quote

*Posit that there are "two parts" of any event: the facts of the event, and your interpretation of them.

*Your interpretation contains 100% of the actual "meaning" of the event. The event in and of itself is neither good nor bad; right or wrong; beneficial or hurtful.

*Therefore, "good" and "bad", being nothing more than your own interpretations, are nothing more than impressions driven by feelings.

My own grandstanding: this is moral relativism driven to a dangerous brink. I'm not sure if I agree with moral absolutism, but I do think that there are certain actions that humans can take which, for very good reason, have been almost universally identified by society as being "wrong". Mass murder would be a great, black/white example. A real warning sign is if you talk to someone who can't agree with you that mass murder, in any form, carries with it the taint of evil (however you choose to define "evil"). The gray areas come when you try to define whether war is mass murder...etc...etc...hence I'm not sure I believe in straight-up "moral absolutism". The point, nevertheless, is that critical thinking is in play with any such conversation!

*Once LF has gotten you to this point, they can then start to rah rah rah you into believing that anything bad that has happened to you in your life was nothing more than your own impressions. Since you control those impressions, they can change! Voila, the raped woman finds happiness! Hurray, the man abused by his father can forgive his Dad! It all meant nothing! We're free to live our lives without fear because fear is nothing more than our impressions; there is no reality actually behind the fear!

*While those who fall into this line of thinking with Landmark can be accused of forsaking critical thinking and being, in some way, intellectually dishonest, they cannot be faulted for eagerly accepting what the Landmark Forum is telling them. In many ways, Landmark is offering the ultimate "return to childhood", where everything is made right by a benevolent figure (even if they exist only in your fantasies). It's just so easy to want to believe that there is nothing hard and evil in the world. All we have to do is change our internal perceptions and "bam!", we can never be truly hurt again. we can now be fully "authentic" and embrace life, living each day to its fullest because no longer will we let ourselves be hurt.

This ultimately will have the effect of insulating us from everything that is wonderful in life. Everything that can produce the greatest joys, the deepest fulfillments. Because life is about vulnerability, and vulnerability is about admitting that pain, suffering, and madness (evil, even) is decidedly real. Yes, even your own internal disillusionment and/or pain is real, and was caused by real things happening. I'd even posit that fully admitting this to yourself is one of the first steps towards a REAL "authentic" experience. Bottom line, real life carries with it the potential for danger and for preciousness...all at once.

Only when you can be vulnerable to the reality of life are you capable of really appreciating the precious moments (time with your children, with your parents, with loved ones in general...time alone as well, enjoying what you love/like the most).

*Even more disturbing, Landmark Forum's "reprogramming of your moral compass" results in some very disturbing ambiguity. I began to suspect this in my wife, and confronted her with the classic example. I said to her "so, answer me this one simple question: when Hitler embarked on a campaign of genocide, was what he did right or wrong?" Her immediate answer was "well, for those affected, it was..." I retorted "no, that's not what I asked, I asked if it was RIGHT, or WRONG. Plain and simple, today, right now, for you, was it right, or wrong?" ........"well it happened in the past".....etc.

She couldn't face it. At the core of my being this hurts me. I know that if I'm to stay with this woman we have a long road to trod, but as it stands, we can't even face the REAL relationship issues we have until some of these fundamental LF tenets are challenged.

Anyone else have any success working through this?

That's where it all falls down. Black and white thinking, simplistic thinking, doesn't work!

Quote
Brad69
I agree, Skeptic.

So often people who have been through LGATs might do something that is generally regarded as poor manners. But now, to get past taking responsibility for their poor behaviour, they use what they are taught in the LGATS: "That's your interpretation".

They say we must change how we interpret the behaviour and then there is no problem. What simplistic thinking!

To quote Ash from another thread:

Quote

*Posit that there are "two parts" of any event: the facts of the event, and your interpretation of them.

*Your interpretation contains 100% of the actual "meaning" of the event. The event in and of itself is neither good nor bad; right or wrong; beneficial or hurtful.

*Therefore, "good" and "bad", being nothing more than your own interpretations, are nothing more than impressions driven by feelings.

My own grandstanding: this is moral relativism driven to a dangerous brink. I'm not sure if I agree with moral absolutism, but I do think that there are certain actions that humans can take which, for very good reason, have been almost universally identified by society as being "wrong". Mass murder would be a great, black/white example. A real warning sign is if you talk to someone who can't agree with you that mass murder, in any form, carries with it the taint of evil (however you choose to define "evil"). The gray areas come when you try to define whether war is mass murder...etc...etc...hence I'm not sure I believe in straight-up "moral absolutism". The point, nevertheless, is that critical thinking is in play with any such conversation!

*Once LF has gotten you to this point, they can then start to rah rah rah you into believing that anything bad that has happened to you in your life was nothing more than your own impressions. Since you control those impressions, they can change! Voila, the raped woman finds happiness! Hurray, the man abused by his father can forgive his Dad! It all meant nothing! We're free to live our lives without fear because fear is nothing more than our impressions; there is no reality actually behind the fear!

*While those who fall into this line of thinking with Landmark can be accused of forsaking critical thinking and being, in some way, intellectually dishonest, they cannot be faulted for eagerly accepting what the Landmark Forum is telling them. In many ways, Landmark is offering the ultimate "return to childhood", where everything is made right by a benevolent figure (even if they exist only in your fantasies). It's just so easy to want to believe that there is nothing hard and evil in the world. All we have to do is change our internal perceptions and "bam!", we can never be truly hurt again. we can now be fully "authentic" and embrace life, living each day to its fullest because no longer will we let ourselves be hurt.

This ultimately will have the effect of insulating us from everything that is wonderful in life. Everything that can produce the greatest joys, the deepest fulfillments. Because life is about vulnerability, and vulnerability is about admitting that pain, suffering, and madness (evil, even) is decidedly real. Yes, even your own internal disillusionment and/or pain is real, and was caused by real things happening. I'd even posit that fully admitting this to yourself is one of the first steps towards a REAL "authentic" experience. Bottom line, real life carries with it the potential for danger and for preciousness...all at once.

Only when you can be vulnerable to the reality of life are you capable of really appreciating the precious moments (time with your children, with your parents, with loved ones in general...time alone as well, enjoying what you love/like the most).

*Even more disturbing, Landmark Forum's "reprogramming of your moral compass" results in some very disturbing ambiguity. I began to suspect this in my wife, and confronted her with the classic example. I said to her "so, answer me this one simple question: when Hitler embarked on a campaign of genocide, was what he did right or wrong?" Her immediate answer was "well, for those affected, it was..." I retorted "no, that's not what I asked, I asked if it was RIGHT, or WRONG. Plain and simple, today, right now, for you, was it right, or wrong?" ........"well it happened in the past".....etc.

She couldn't face it. At the core of my being this hurts me. I know that if I'm to stay with this woman we have a long road to trod, but as it stands, we can't even face the REAL relationship issues we have until some of these fundamental LF tenets are challenged.

Anyone else have any success working through this?

That's where it all falls down. Black and white thinking, simplistic thinking, doesn't work!

Here is a different interpretation of the black/white thinking issue.

It does work, if you're right, an idea the cultists discount.

excerpts from
"The Cult of Moral Grayness"
by Ayn Rand
(published in THE OBJECTIVIST NEWSLETTER, June, 1964,
and included as chapter 9 in the book, THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS):
-------
One of the most eloquent symptoms of the moral bankruptcy of today's culture, is a certain fashionable attitude toward moral issues, best summarized as: "There are no blacks and whites; there are only grays."

This is asserted in regard to persons, actions, principles of conduct, and morality in general. "Black and white," in this context, means "good and evil." (The reverse order used in that catch phrase is interesting psychologically.)

In any respect one cares to examine, that notion is full of contradictions (foremost among them is the fallacy of "the stolen concept"). If there is no black and white, there can be no gray -- since gray is merely a mixture of the two.

Before anyone can identify anything as "gray," one has to know what is black and what is white. In the field of morality, this means that one must first identify what is good and what is evil. And when a man has ascertained that one alternative is good and the other is evil, he has no justification for choosing a mixture. There can be no justification for choosing any part of that which one knows to be evil.

-----

If a moral code (such as altruism) is, in fact, impossible to practice, it is the code that must be condemned as "black," not its victims evaluated as "gray." If a moral code prescribes irreconcilable contradictions -- so that by choosing the good in one respect, a man becomes evil in another -- it is the code that must be rejected as "black." If a moral code is inapplicable to reality -- if it offers no guidance except a series of arbitrary, groundless, out-of-context injunctions and commandments, to be accepted on faith and practiced automatically, as blind dogma -- its practitioners cannot properly be classified as "white" or "black" or "gray": a moral code that forbids and paralyzes moral judgment is a contradiction in terms.

If, in a complex moral issue, a man struggles to determine what is right and fails or makes an honest error, he cannot be regarded as "gray"; morally, he is "white." Errors of knowledge are not breaches of morality; no proper moral code can demand infallibility or omniscience.

But if, in order to escape the responsibility of moral judgment, a man closes his eyes and mind, if he evades the facts of the issue and struggles not to know, he cannot be regarded as "gray"; morally, he is as "black" as they come.

Many forms of confusion, uncertainty and epistemological sloppiness help to obscure the contradictions and to disguise the actual meaning of the doctrine of moral grayness.

Some people believe that it is merely a restatement of such bromides as "Nobody is perfect in this world" -- i.e., everybody is a mixture of good and evil, and, therefore, morally "gray." Since the majority of those one meets are likely to fit that description, people accept it as some sort of natural fact, without further thought. They forget that morality deals only with issues open to man's choice (i.e., to his free will) -- and, therefore, that no statistical generalizations are valid in this matter.

If man is to be "gray" by nature, no moral concepts are applicable to him, including "grayness," and no such thing as morality is possible. But if man has free will, then the fact that ten (or ten million) men made the wrong choice, does not necessitate that the eleventh one will make it; it necessitates nothing -- and proves nothing -- in regard to any given individual.

-----

There are, of course, complex issues in which both sides are right in some respects and wrong in others -- and it is here that the "package deal" of pronouncing both sides "gray" is least permissible. It is in such issues that the most rigorous precision of moral judgment is required to identify and evaluate the various aspects involved -- which can be done only by unscrambling the mixed elements of "black" and "white."

The basic error in all these various confusions is the same: it consists of forgetting that morality deals only with issues open to man's choice -- which means: forgetting the difference betwen "unable" and "unwilling." This permits people to translate the catch phrase "There are no blacks and whites" into: "Men are unable to be wholly good or wholly evil" -- which they accept in foggy resignation, without questioning the metaphysical contradictions it entails.

But not many people would accept it, if that catch phrase were translated into the actual meaning it is intended to smuggle into their minds: "Men are unwilling to be wholly good or wholly evil."

The first thing one would say to any advocate of such a proposition, is: "Speak for yourself, brother!" And that, in effect, is what he is actually doing; consciously or subconsciously, intentionally or inadvertently, when a man declares: "There are no blacks and whites," he is making a psychological confession, and what he means is: "I am unwillling to be wholly good -- and please don't regard me as wholly evil!"

Just as in epistemology, the cult of uncertainty is a revolt against reason -- so, in ethics, the cult of moral grayness is a revolt against moral values. Both are a revolt against the absolutism of reality.

-----

Observe, in politics, that the term extremism has become a synonym of "evil," regardless of the content of the issue (the evil is not what you are extreme about, but that you are "extreme" -- i.e., consistent). Observe the phenomenon of the so-called neutralists in the United Nations: the "neutralists" are worse than merely neutral in the conflict between the United States and Soviet Russia; they are committed, on principle, to see no difference between the two sides, never to consider the merits of an issue, and always to seek a compromise, any compromise in any conflict ... .

-----

Like a mixed economy, men of mixed premises may be called "gray"; but, in both cases, the mixture does not remain "gray" for long. "Gray," in this context, is merely a prelude to "black." There may be "gray" men, but there can be no "gray" moral principles. Morality is a code of black and white. When and if men attempt a compromise, it is obvious which side will necessarily lose and which will necessarily profit.

Such are the reasons why -- when one is asked: "Surely you don't think in terms of black-and-white, do you?" -- the proper answer (in essence, if not in form) should be: "You're damn right I do!"

-- The entire article became chapter 9 in the book, THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS by Ayn Rand, which is even more relevant today.

Cultspeak:

Why are you trying to make me wrong?

You are out of integrity!

I am sensing some resistance here.

I am open to the possibility.......

yada yada......... :roll:

Hi, just discovered this site. I recognise the Landmark/Est-talk immediately and it's so funny to hear this from someone else, with the humoristic undertone... I'll keep browsing this forum for more stories - it's good!
Let me think if there's more stuff that hasn't been quoted here...

"having a conversation for resolving breakdowns".
"what is your pay-off?"
"speaking into the listening"
doing something "with and inside of integrity"
"holding the space"
"talking about versus sharing"
you don't have a problem or bad luck but... "I had a breakdown"
I think "creating a conversation for possibilities" was already mentioned, but how about "a conversation for relatedness, action and completion"?
And for that matter: "are you complete with that?" "I am not complete about this"
And maybe the most famous of them all: "did you enroll them?" "are you enrolled in that?" "I really enrolled them!" And NO this time it is NOT about getting someone to do the Forum or another course, but simply getting them on your project or enthousiastic for your ideas.

You know the funny thing about all of this: I still know what it all meant, I still understand how it works. And sometimes it really can mean something. I don't think in terms of "getting of it" anymore, but I can see when I make a big deal out of something minor and let go of the 'drama'. I am not so much apposed to the meaning of some of these things. The real [b:10b0924562]NASTY [/b:10b0924562]bit for me was that I THOUGHT only Landmarkers could understand my view on life. How could I speak freely with people who had not done it? How would they understand me? I KNEW I could not "language" myself properly to people who had not done Landmark. Thank goodness I was not one of those people who would just dump jargon on a none-Landmarker. But how lonely that was! :(
It took me a long time to validate the people around me who had not done Landmark. To see that my values in life were not that different from anyone elses...
Does anyone recognise that?

And keep up the cult speak, it's really entertaining to me to hear it from others! :lol: