I watched the French Landmark documentary, and I now feel sick to my stomach. Viewing the Forum from someone else's perspective gave me an objective view which I lacked when I was a participant. When I was involved with Landmark, I was so thoroughly seduced and caught up in the moment, I didn't realize the extent of the mind control that was taking place. I now feel gullible, manipulated, violated, and used. I hope as many people as possible will watch the documentary, and it would be helpful to hear other viewer's reaction.

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I watched the French Landmark documentary, and I now feel sick to my stomach. Viewing the Forum from someone else's perspective gave me an objective view which I lacked when I was a participant. When I was involved with Landmark, I was so thoroughly seduced and caught up in the moment, I didn't realize the extent of the mind control that was taking place. I now feel gullible, manipulated, violated, and used. I hope as many people as possible will watch the documentary, and it would be helpful to hear other viewer's reaction.

It is quite understandable how you would feel sick to your stomach. I am also a graduate of The Forum, and felt the same way after seeing the video for the first time.
You can [b:2474773ef1]download a copy of the video[/b:2474773ef1] here:
[thepiratebay.org]
And read about some of the controversy caused by Landmark trying to suppress Freedom of Speech and legally intimidate anyone posting the video onto the internet here
[b:2474773ef1]Bogus Copyright Claim Squelches Free Speech[/b:2474773ef1]
[www.culteducation.com]
and here
[b:2474773ef1]Landmark and the Internet Archive [/b:2474773ef1]
[www.culteducation.com]

It is not so much the controversial tactics in their coursework, but the lengths they go to suppress Freedom of Speech and intimidate virtually all critics over their 35 year history from Werner Erhard's Est, to Werner Erhard and Associates, to Landmark, with brother Harry Rosenberg, sister Joan Rosenberg, and of course personal attorney Art Schreiber along for the ride the entire time, that has turned me off to this private-for-profit company...

G'day all,

I think it's important ot keep things in perspective. The French documentary is very revealling, but from what I've been told by local ex-LECs it represents the 'extreme' lengths this organisation will go to 'breaking' someone down. I've been told that the Australian version is less aggressive. Of course that doesn't excuse Landmark. It would be interesting to know what happened to Alain Roth. My guess is that he was given a new posting somewhere else, similar to the protection offered to 'criminal' priests in other faiths.

Bottom line: we need many more people to speak up about their experiences.

I did the Forum in NJ and there were people who went up to the microphone who shared and were treated just as badly. I could not watch the entire set of videos, but I'msure they didn't portray how grueling the scheduling was. Though they said there were regular breaks, lunch and dinner, they didn't say the center was in a corporate park where there were no restaurants, stores or any place to get food. I brought my own only because I had taken a ride to find the place earlier. But they lied about the services in the area and the schedule. The lunch break was half an hour at 1 p.m. and then we didn't break until 9 p.m., and then the session did not end until 1 a.m. , with homework assignments and morning start-up at 9 a.m.

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I did the Forum in NJ and there were people who went up to the microphone who shared and were treated just as badly. I could not watch the entire set of videos, but I'msure they didn't portray how grueling the scheduling was. Though they said there were regular breaks, lunch and dinner, they didn't say the center was in a corporate park where there were no restaurants, stores or any place to get food. I brought my own only because I had taken a ride to find the place earlier. But they lied about the services in the area and the schedule. The lunch break was half an hour at 1 p.m. and then we didn't break until 9 p.m., and then the session did not end until 1 a.m. , with homework assignments and morning start-up at 9 a.m.

It is very interesting to note that these much complained about practices still go on. What year did you do The Forum?

If you don't have time to watch the whole video, you can just download the whole thing here via torrent, and watch it when you want later.
[thepiratebay.org]

Ironically enough, MY Landmark Forum was also in the middle of nowhere, nowhere near any place to eat, we also had very little time to rush to get food, and were scolded in front of 200 people if we came back late from a meal. Our sessions also ended around midnight or 1am, I got about 5 hours or less sleep each night, and wasl always starving when I got back to go to sleep...

Just a quick reply, I'll go into more detail when I have time. I did the forum in Melbourne Australia in July this year. There was no abuse from the leader to any participant, just prodding and cajoling when necessary.

The forum started at 9am, the breaks were at about 11.30am , 2.30 PM, for 20 minutes each, and then at 6.30 pm for an hour and a half. There were many restaurants and cafes within 15 minutes walk, and a convenience store next door. It ended at 10pm each night.

Having said that, I still think LEC is an evil cult that others need be made aware of. :evil:

Question for hampton...After having been involved with landmark and you have had time to recall and analyze how you were manipulated and deceived during the course of the forum, how would you, now, go about persuading someone actively involved, to see what landmark really is? What have you learned that you can now use to save someone else another lost and sickening moment in the organization? I would really appreciate your feedback on this! You've been there, no how the heck do you get someone out of there?? What does it take? What caused you to stop going? What 'clicked' for you?

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Question for hampton...After having been involved with landmark and you have had time to recall and analyze how you were manipulated and deceived during the course of the forum, how would you, now, go about persuading someone actively involved, to see what landmark really is? What have you learned that you can now use to save someone else another lost and sickening moment in the organization? I would really appreciate your feedback on this! You've been there, no how the heck do you get someone out of there?? What does it take? What caused you to stop going? What 'clicked' for you?

Well, you could start by showing your friend the French documentary, available in torrent form at
[thepiratebay.org]

A great book to get on the subject is OUTRAGEOUS BETRAYAL, by Steven Pressman. It's a biography of Werner Erhard that's really a tell-all piece.
You can read parts of the book online for free and print them out at
[perso.orange.fr]
and
[perso.orange.fr]

Most importantly, there is truly a wealth of info at
[www.culteducation.com]

In particular, check out their massive legal section
[www.culteducation.com]

Then, for fun, you can rent the DVD of the film "Semi-Tough" with Burt Reynolds. Skip to scene 12 for a spoof on the EST Training, your friend will recognize many of the same controversial techniques that have not changed for 35 years, even though the name of the "company" has changed.
You can listen to a short audio clip from the film here:
[erhardsatire.ytmnd.com]

ON2U LF, thank you for your question.

What caused me to stop going to Landmark was the extremely heavy emphasis on registering new members. I felt that I was manipulated to feel "good" if I brought guests and made them register, and "bad" if I had no guests, or I had guests but they didn't register.

I was also turned off by the pressure to join the "assisting" program. I told Landmark to stop calling me about assisting, but they kept doing it. Once, when I declined to assist, the woman from Landmark asked why (which was none of her business), but I explained that I prefer to volunteer at my church which is a non-profit organization, as opposed to Landmark which is clearly a for profit business. Her tone became condescending and she told me that I was telling myself a story and this was stopping me from moving forward in life, etc…. It seemed whenever someone questioned Landmark and their methods, they were manipulated to feel wrong or guilty.

In terms of helping someone get out of Landmark, I suggest sitting down with them and watching the French documentary together. It may help them to see Landmark from a different perspective. You could also direct them to this forum, where they could read numerous opinions about Landmark. For me, it was so refreshing to find this forum because I was only exposed to one mindset within Landmark, and it was helpful to read other viewpoints here.

Good luck, and I'll end with my new possibility: Who I am is the possibility of continuing my personal growth without Landmark Education!

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Good luck, and I'll end with my new possibility: Who I am is the possibility of continuing my personal growth without Landmark Education!

And what a wonderful and healthy possibility it is!