What do people think about "The Landmark Forum"?

[AdamWho]

I have a relative who is into "The Forum" otherwise known as the Landmark Forum which is a self improvement seminar thing.

Recently they have asked me to participate.

I am horrified because
1. it seems like religion substitute
2. it costs $$$$
3. followers give off same "holy roller" vibe that my pentecostal church did.

Does anybody have any experience / advice?

[Loren Pechtel]

I've encountered it. Run the other way, quickly.

[Underseer]

Never heard of it, but it sounds scary.

[Holly3278]

I've also never heard of it but it sounds like something I'm probably glad I've never heard of. ;)

[AdamWho]

For those people who have never heard about it, here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmark_Education)is the wiki.

I would really like some feedback on people who have experienced it or the EST (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training)seminars.

[ughaibu]

You'll find lots of information, including first hand accounts, at Rick Ross's site. Basically it's a stripped down rip off with all the worst features of psychological distortion.

[Loren Pechtel]

For those people who have never heard about it, here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmark_Education)is the wiki.

I would really like some feedback on people who have experienced it or the EST (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training)seminars.

I have been to their initial class (the boss paid and wanted me to go, I certainly never would have gone on my own.) That's why I gave the opinion I did.

[AdamWho]

Without having direct experience, it seems to have a similar psychological effect as a intense evangelical religious retreat / service.

Many here can remember being in involved in a religious group where the experience is so emotionally intense on a regular basis that it becomes additive. Some people cannot feel good unless they get that charge 3+ times a week. Once you break away from the group, you realize how hollow the experience was...all fluff and emotion with no substance.

This is how I imagine The Forum but you have to pay for the experience.

[Buck Laser]

I have a relative who is into "The Forum" otherwise known as the Landmark Forum which is a self improvement seminar thing.

Recently they have asked me to participate.

I am horrified because
1. it seems like religion substitute
2. it costs $$$$
3. followers give off same "holy roller" vibe that my pentecostal church did.

Does anybody have any experience / advice?
Yeah. Try the Landover Baptist Forum. It's a lot more fun.

[Jimmy Higgins]

Sounds like a cult. Try studying Buddhism if you want to get a feel on life.

All else fails, there are always drugs. ;)

[SwoleMan]

If it's the same thing as "Landmark education", do what Loren Pechtel said: run the other way. I saw a documentary on TV a couple of years ago where someone used a hidden camera to film a meeting. One word: brainwashing.

[AdamWho]

Sounds like a cult. Try studying Buddhism if you want to get a feel on life.

All else fails, there are always drugs. ;)

I got the bases covered. My goal is to deflect this with minimal damage to family relations.

[Loren Pechtel]

If it's the same thing as "Landmark education", do what Loren Pechtel said: run the other way. I saw a documentary on TV a couple of years ago where someone used a hidden camera to film a meeting. One word: brainwashing.

Well, the first session of their seminars is called "The Forum", I'm pretty sure it's the same thing.

I do agree on the brainwashing bit. An interesting bit on that: Of all the people from our company who went there were two of us who grew up with a bit of a background in psychology. Neither of us had formal training, just a close relative who was one.

We both saw right through it and recognized the brainwashing. Nobody else could see it even when pointed out and they reacted quite hostilely to my trying to show what was up.

As for "self-improvement"--I think it made my boss a worse person, not a better one.

[SwoleMan]

Nobody else could see it even when pointed out and they reacted quite hostilely to my trying to show what was up.

I guess it's hard to admit that you've been mentally abused by a cult.

[LampreyMoose]

I'm honestly still confused, even after reading the wiki article on it.

[Von Smith]

I have a relative who is into "The Forum" otherwise known as the Landmark Forum which is a self improvement seminar thing.

Recently they have asked me to participate.

I am horrified because
1. it seems like religion substitute
2. it costs $$$$
3. followers give off same "holy roller" vibe that my pentecostal church did.

Does anybody have any experience / advice?

I've had some experience with Landmark Education, fortunately almost entirely on somebody else's dime, and at a time when I didn't have much else going on in my life. It wasn't a complete waste for me (although, again, I didn't pay for it), but when all is said and done there are better uses for your $500 and a weekend, and they do put an annoying amoung of pressure on you to spend more time and money and sign up your friends once you're on their list.

[Apostate1970]

Racket(s)™: Recurring complaints in tandem with a "way of being" that allow persons to justify themselves and their point of view but which can rob them of opportunities for satisfaction and joy; ways of being that allow people to justify themselves and their point of view; preconceived notions of why one is right and others are wrong.

translation: "Don't object to it, just learn to like it."

The Vicious Circle™: Possibility-limiting concepts that determine experience and shape future experiences; a sphere where our concepts determine our experience.

translation: "Concepts: Who really needs them?"

notice the trademarks.

[AdamWho]

I'm honestly still confused, even after reading the wiki article on it.
I think there are competing interests on that wiki.

[Loren Pechtel]

I'm honestly still confused, even after reading the wiki article on it.

Note the red flags at the top of the Wiki article.

[GenesisNemesis]

Moved to GRD.

-GN-

[Apostate1970]

I just realized, isn't a trademark both a Vicious Circle(tm) AND a Racket(tm)?!

[ziffel]

Nobody else could see it even when pointed out and they reacted quite hostilely to my trying to show what was up.

I guess it's hard to admit that you've been mentally abused by a cult.

I'd guess it was more along the lines of the brain trying to protect the pleasure being received from the event.

[AdamWho]

I am still getting pressure from this relative. He calls all pumped after doing a seminar and wants to tell people how much he loves them. He believes that it will help me find a career that I love.

The thing that gets me: It has the same effect as an evangelical church; you go and get emotionally pumped up and then you go evangelize. But the high never lasts because it has no foundation in anything other than emotion.

I have been down this road and I know that I have been susceptible to "magical thinking" in the past.

[TheRealityOfMan]

Sounds like there are some parallels with Scientology.