poweraddict tries to play forum leader...."move on"....please distinguish for me what that means poweraddict....

I have already moved on...but I still find it interesting to participate in discussions about landmark. But if to move on does not mean you can reflect on your past then I am guilty of being "stuck in my interpretation" or "stuck in my story".

It is very easy to say to someone that they should forgive and forget. I am an elephant so I never forget anything.

But I think it is a valid comment poweraddict is making. A lot of people have been duped to believe that they can become a forum leader...thus spending all their time, mind and money trying to get there. Most people find that it is somewhat impossible to become a forum leader unless you give them total control of your "mental" development. So you have to give up being who you are and embrace the personality of Werner Erhard.

This is quoted from a discussion of Carlos Castaneda. But it may well apply to those who spent years of their lives working hard, for no pay, in hope of becoming an FL--said efforts being subtracted from day jobs which, unlike most LGATs, at least offer a chance to pay into a 401(K)--and are subject to labor laws.

Quote


Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 02:39:26 -080
From: Kevin Langdon

Dear Mr. Donovan,
A friend of mine alerted me to your Web site, which I have been purusing. Both my friend and I have been in the (name of another group) for many years and also have a long-time interest in Castaneda.

I was particularly interested in the following:

When I was talking with the man who was my first contact with the (other group), I remember asking him whether there were objective tests for "promotion" within the organization, and he assured me that this was in fact the case. Well, of course, I was naive to think that there could be a complete absence of politics in any human endeavor, but his answer was, on the whole, not untruthful.

I think that this is an important consideration in contemplating devoting years of one's life to involvement in any group.

Mr. Langdon then wrote:

If people are not told up front that the plums are being distributed nepotistically then they are being defrauded.

It's not just a matter of vanity, wanting to be "important."

(Italics inserted for emphasis by C)

[sustainedaction.org]

(small excerpt from a larger letter)

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2008 10:16PM by corboy.

does anyone still have a copy of the 'assisting agreement' that volunteers have to sign? can you make a copy of it available here? i understand that volunteers (i.e assistants) have to state their commitment to landmark, and commit to a certain number of hours and targets. is this true???

It's been a long time for me. Someone following another group pointed me to this string. I don't remember an assisting agreement (it sounds familiar though). I used to hang out at the forum in the early to mid eighties (1982-87). I do remember that there were rules, however. One was to complain only to the person who could remedy the complaint. Another rule was to be on time. I was very careful at Est not to get seduced to join any leadership programs. I never bought that stuff. I had already done some intense assisting in another cultish group so I made sure that at Est I only did what I wanted to do and nothing more. I somehow existed there happily without going up the "food chain." And, had a couple breakthroughs along the way. Honestly, I never regretted the assisting that I did and I didn't worry about not getting paid. I was so lonely during those years, I was happy to be among other Est graduates. I was sure that I would meet and fall in love with someone at EST, but that never happened. Most of the guys were grappling with committment issues. But, I did meet some interesting people along the way.

Coming from a mild to moderate dysfunctional family, est really helped me come into myself and I started following a path with real goals and much more focus. After a while, I realized that the group support and coaching etc were all fine and good but true progress could only be made in one-on-one therapy, which I tried for awhile. There I could spend one hour on me and not be interupted by the commercials and constant yammering of signing more people up. My life didn't really start to take off until I left Est (aka the forum, aka landmark) behind me in 1987.

In closing I want to say that I am so happy that Rick Ross developed these boards. It is so great to be able to share this stuff with others who have experienced LGATs.

Andrea

I too think Rick Ross is great for developing these boards.

Earlier in this thread Nettie said "Their focus is making the new suckers that is going to the forum treat him like a god." I'm concerned about more people getting sucked into the Landmark Forum.

I wonder if Angelo refers to the participants as suckers. If other people have had bad experiences with Angelo D'Amelio, I think they should try to make at least one post. I tended to think he was a sociopath. I heard that the Landmark Forum has filed twelve lawsuits in the U.S. for defamation against its critics. I bet this has made people scared to talk about the Forum's weaknesses. So if people can keep complaining, maybe they won't hurt any more people.

I saw on Yelp several negative posts of the Landmark Forum have been removed for "violating the content guidelines." I wonder if Yelp accepts payments to remove negative postings. The Ripoff Report website has some negative information about the Landmark Forum. I'm glad some people have decided to warn other people. Keep it up!

See [www.cultnews.com]

The Rick A. Ross Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups, and Movements has officially changed its name to The Cult Education Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups and Movements.

The new domain name entry point and gateway to the Internet archives of the institute will soon be culteducation.com.

The Cult Education Institute archives is a library of information about destructive cults, controversial groups and movements, which was initially launched in 1996 and has continued to be under construction and expansion for the past 17 years.

The public message board attached to the The Cult Education Institute will soon only be accessible through the domain name culteducation.com. More than 100,000 entries from the former members of destructive cults, controversial groups and movements and others concerned has accumulated at the board over the past decade. The message board content continues to grow daily and it serves as a free speech zone for those who wish to share their insights and concerns about the topics listed.