"Life is empty and meaningless and it's empty and meaningless that it's empty and meaningless". That is the punchline of the Landmark Forum. This replaced the punchline of the old est traing, the purpose of which was to get "nothing". But before anyone gets too caught up in the "...empty and meaningless..." line you should be aware that the Landmark people don't really mean it. They don't mean it for a second. In other words, they are lying.

I did take the old est training, back in the 1970s, took the Forum in the 1980s, assisted, did the GSLP, IFLP, 6 Day, assisted at the 6 Day, and attended a multitude of graduate seminars back in those days. The graduate seminars were the main way for graduates to participate in "the work". The graduate seminars were ten session nightly seminars, that keyed on a particular "distinction". For example, one series would be on "Integrity", meeting three Tuesdays a month for 10 sessions, from 7:30 pm until 10:30 or so. When I was living in LA in the mid to late 1980s I attended lots of these seminars at the old Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd. A great many of these seminars were led by Jerome Downs, the LA Center Manager at the time.

I remember at one session where a participant stood up and shared that he just could not get that life is "empty and meaningless". He went back and forth with Jerome on this. Finally Jerome got down to brass tacks. "You should consider not participating in this work". Well, that was a little cold, but it was dead right on. If the poor guy just could not get it he could go elsewhere for enlightenment. I don't even remember if the guy quit or not.

But at another seminar at the Ambassador Hotel, which might have been two months later, or two years later, I don't remember which, Jerome had a different story. He was announcing job openings for Werner Erhard & Associates, as the organization was called at that time. He talked about how one could "make a difference" on staff. Then Jerome said something that completely floored me. "It really means something to be on staff". It was a startling statement. My mind silently screamed. "No Jerome, it doesn't mean shit to be on staff. Life is empty and meaningless, and it's empty and meaningless that it's empty and meaningless. Remember?". I dared not speak such blasphemy out loud, but I could not avoid thinking it. I looked around, trying to see if any other of the couple of hundred people there were troubled by Jerome's statement. None were. Damn!

Now, long after I left "the work" I have it all figured out. The "...empty and meaningless..." line is merely a scam to get you to think that your shit doesn't mean anything. You had better believe that the Landmark people think that their shit does, and they are scamming you to replace yours with theirs. This is one example of how Landmark works. It now looks to me like it is all merely cleverly packaged circular thinking and hypocricy.

The afforementioned Jerome Downs is, today, one of the esteemed Forum Leaders. You can read all about him on the Landmark website. It seems that Jerome is the forum leader responsible for bringing enlightenment to the unwashed masses in the Orient. It really means something to take the Landmark Forum, doesn't it Jerome?

Life is NOT empty and meaningless. Life if what you make of it. So why does Landmark drum this "empty and meaningless" dribble into the heads of those who will listen? They want to depress you so you'll pine for something to take you out of your doldrums, and lo and behold, there's Landmark standing right there with big smiles on their faces to offer such a redemption; at a price of course. But "price" in this instance isn't just YOUR money - it's programming you to bring ALL your friends and relatives to Landmark so they can really cash in.

It's the old trick of tearing you down and building you up again.

Landmark charges about $500 for the forum, but they don't care about your measly $500. They want that $500 to become $5,000 or even more by enrolling your parents, siblings, friends, teachers, neighbors, etc, etc. So they meld the alleged "benefits" you derive from the program with the need to "invite" everyone in your life to Landmark. Without doing so, you'll derive no benefits.

Stay away from Landmark. That's the best advice anyone can give about this organization.

Landmark: Like Amway but far more evil.

John

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John Fox
Landmark: Like Amway

Lameway?

"Life is empty and meaningless" Hell....Landmark is Empty and Meaningless!

Sorry Landmark....but my life isn't "Empty" and it sure as hell isn't "Meaningless". But when I was in Landmark life was definately "Empty" and "Meaningless". A life high on "Empty and Meaningless" jargon aka...BULLSHIT!!!

A life empty on high ....

Why is it that a fuel can that is empty (with only fuel vapors inside) can explode whereas a full can (no air present inside) won't?

John

Why is it that a fuel can that is empty (with only fuel vapors inside) can explode whereas a full can (no air present inside) won't?

"Because we can create something from nothing!"

"We invented it from nothing!"

"We take a stand for creating something out of nothing!"

For some strange reason, all of these Landmark people, inventing something from nothing, all invent the same something from the same nothing. The something that they all create is that lots of people need to take the Landmark Forum and associated programs. It's kind of a coincidence or something. I am sure that the Landmark people would agree that "there are no coincidences", so it can't be a coincidence that they continually create the same something from nothing. Bottom line, as I stated before, is that they are liars.

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Done With Them

"Because we can create something from nothing!"

"We invented it from nothing!"

"We take a stand for creating something out of nothing!"

Silliest thing is, they (he) copied this pretty much verbatim from L. Ron Hubbard, even so far as to call him(self) ~Source,~ as in "A Source Creates Something From Nothing."

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For some strange reason, all of these Landmark people, inventing something from nothing, all invent the same something from the same nothing. The something that they all create is that lots of people need to take the Landmark Forum and associated programs. It's kind of a coincidence or something. I am sure that the Landmark people would agree that "there are no coincidences", so it can't be a coincidence that they continually create the same something from nothing. Bottom line, as I stated before, is that they are liars.

I'm convinced that these cults somehow eradicate their members' ability to see, sense, or comprehend irony. Take it from an old cult-watcher who has grown tired of these clowns, they all lie. They teach their members to lie. Watch the robotic Mormon polygamist wives when asked a simple question about the ages of the girls who marry and bear children within their group. They parrot the same answers they've been coached in the same deer-in-the-headlights manner. It unfailingly amazes me how many people are willing to give their minds over to some megalomaniac sociopath. Oh, and here's the rub where the Mormons are concerned; the old geezers in charge know they have to "capture" the girls by impregnating them young or they will bolt. And don't mistake the "religion" aspect of the various groups. That's only the window dressing. The rest is hiding under the same rotting corpses of L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Baker Eddy, Anton Mesmer, and their predecessors going all the way back to the Greeks and their poorly-understood and wrongly condemned sophists.


Ellen

The FLDS know that the only reason there was respite from government action 30ish years ago is that the media eventually turned against the authorities. For this reason you are seeing their campaign (with sad-face photos) through the media, hoping that once again the issue will become political suicide.

John