News update and Landmark Education

hello all.  Many things have contributed to my silence in the past few months.  perhaps as if being a part of a geek-ish community was once hot and exciting for me, it's now become less of a purpose.  As if there was some Blog entity that decided to say 'enough', blogs are reaching saturation and that one swoop of authority higher than any being may convey, bloggers flattened out....and I happen to be a fallen casualty of it. 

Much has happened through the course of the last few months.  I enjoyed many ups and many downs and some in betweens.  I was hurt (minor injury) in a motorcycle accident and my cat flipped out on my girlfriend leaving me with several bite marks and a trip to the ER.  As if Karma played its hand, I never recalled doing anything to deserve what I got but that is not to say that I have not had my share of good luck lately either. 

The last month was my most successful month as a freelance design consultant, my insurance paid me well over what I had purchased my bike for and I am nearly fully healed as if no injuries were sustained originally (although I may scar).  And in consideration of what I have been going through, I pray that the Yang will equal my Ying.

Its not my only purpose in my posting that I share with you my ups and downs lately but to fill you in on important details of my life missing from this very personal blog; missing due to fear of being outcasted.

One of the milestones in my life that I have chosen not to share here originally was through my participation in a life altering seminar series called the Landmark Forum and the "Curriculum for Living", as they call it.  Through the gift of a friend who brought us to an introduction night, Kat, my friend Nobu and I registered.  Prior to registration , I had conducted research and found the top google results pointing to critics labeling the education heavily as a cult.  Because of my friend's stand for us being better than ourselves, I respected his request in seeing value for myself and what it had done for him (he's a rich bastard) and I couldn't thank him more for this. 

And after taking the course and feeling great about it, I can assure that it is nowhere near being a cult.  And I am certainly not one of those individuals who felt 'needed help'.  But strangely enough, after completing the course, it's easy to feel why I needed it.  We all have our issues/Demons and it's whether we want to deal with it or not.  I had my own issues and I couldn't figure them out on my own but I did not consider to deal with them either.  So does that make me a candidate for a straight jacket?  If it's important to say, no one that I have come across whom completed the course and whether they advanced to other courses or not would not label it as a cult either. But then again, cult members would refuse to acknowledge themselves in being in a cult so to each their own.

While it's not my purpose here to defend the practices of Landmark Education, it has given me some great methodology I consider 'tools' to use in life which led me to where I am currently.  Even with the education and these 'tools', it's not always easy to remain in integrity.  One of the values you learn....and you learn this well, is how important being your word is.  Being your word can be as simple as being on time or even better, being someone others can count you on for anything.  This is one of the many tools they provide to you.  Some may think that's not worth their money to take a course to tell them things they already know.  I would react by asking, "What does knowing do for you?"  We all know how to loose weight and some of us want it badly but we don't do what it takes to achieve it.  Yet, we resort to products that would help us achieve faster results through promises that vary from individual to individual.

If you are indeed curious, Landmark Education is, simply put, a personal development course designed to place a huge mirror in front of you.  Not to be taken literally, I reflect on my past and saw what a big and clueless jerk I was and how I lived my life as if nothing were wrong.  Are there people who need Landmark?  Yes, but if you asked other Landmark graduates, we are taught to see it's a "No" and while I understand why, I disagree.  Are there people who does not need it?  Absolutely!  If you are unhappy with yourself or question you own way of being at times, you can stand to benefit from this education.  If you are in business, it is perhaps one of the greatest investments you can write off.

One of my biggest accomplishments through this education was to acknowledge how big of a jerk I was to my younger brother Charles.  It took a lot of strength from me to tell him that I loved him and I would not have done it have I not been 'tooled' in from the Education.  Some people may find it easy to tell their family members how much they love them but for me and my traditional Chinese family upbringing,this was HUGE.

So why do people label it as a cult?  One of the primary reasons why some people will consider Landmark a cult lies in its recruiting practices.  The method of getting participants to register in their courses is by word of mouth advertising and they want you to get your friends and your families into an introduction.  While I see tremendous value in any one individual or business taking this education, many people are not ready to lead a better life thus we are taught not to accept rejection personally.   But this young grasshopper is still in first grade.

By unsuccessfully delivering the message to my friends and family, I have been saddened by the fact that some had made me wrong for taking the education to begin with.  To some of my friends, I have been socially outcasted and to others, I may appear 'the guy who took a course to better himself'.  I didn't have many friends to begin with and now, I have less.  So where had this education led me? 

It led me to figure out the difference between being attached and being committed.  By being attached, I came off as a member of a cult.  By being committed, you come off as taking a stand in being a great friend.  Oddly enough, the difference between attachment and commitment is in fact one of the tools you are taught which goes to show what a poor student I was.  Had I not been nodding off at times during the intensive three and a half day course, I may have been better tool'ed.

One of the other arguments in Landmark being a cult is in the wealth Landmark Education generates.  If you consider that big name companies such as Apple Computer and big name celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and now rumored to be Bill Gates (right before he gave away most of his fortune) are participants in Landmark Education, why would you question its integrity?  It's easy to be influenced by celebrity power but Landmark still remains to be humble in its advertising and strongly believes in its participants to achieve growth.  It's a remarkable and very wise business plan and one that does not come without flaws.  You can read up on the history of Landmark Education formerly known as EST (very different technology and execution, same scope).

It's funny how no one will raise the question of how effective Tony Robbins is with his seminars nor how much money Robert Kiyosaki is making from his teachings.  These people have valuable information that not everyone will agree upon but they provide it for a fee as a business and they succeeded to incredible wealth by feeding the public information that gave them value.  Tony Robbins marketed himself as a motivational speaker but it in fact lies in the realm of Personal Development, a highly competitive market.  If Landmark Education stands to provide you with an education worthy of giving you tools to lead a powerful life and they have succeed in doing so, why would wealth be even considered a base for argument?  They do offer a money back guarantee and yes, I have witnessed 2 individuals taking the offer up during two courses I took.  I think of these critics as being unfair....I mean how can you critique food and formulate judgment if you hadn't tasted the item yourself?  You can tell someone how great a Vindaloo dish tastes and smells but unless the individual knows how to effectively communicate it, you may never know.

By participating in the "Curriculum for Living" (comprised of The Landmark Forum, Advanced Course and SELP seminar), I have engaged and been a part of a vast community of people ranging in almost all walks of life from the wealthy Investment Banker to struggling actors, published (and talented) writers to NeuroTherapists and psychologists, business owners and students, 'divorcees' and 'divorcers'.  I mean there are individuals who come across as being 'wrecked' and there are people who come across as people you want to rub elbows with....and the occasional hot girl.  There seems to be at least 3 in each class I attended (three so far).

So where has this led me today?  My life has been great and I am truly living it up.  My business is growing and I am poised to retire within 5 years.  I just turned 30 years ripe and I have so much to catch up on.  I finally figured out my goal in life; one that will leave me completely fulfilled.  While this all may sound nice and dandy, I am not without my problems.  Landmark is not a cure for all, as nothing is.  But as much aspiration as I have with it being a possible panacea, I realize that it will take impeccable integrity to see myself through a recurring problem in my relationship with Kat.  As if this will be the final stage where I will prove no longer a young grasshopper, all my tools will have to be stretched to the ultimate in seeing this through.

Had life the last few months truly been Ying and Yang, it had pretty much given me a dose of both ends. While some people may break down or go through periods of depression with my encounters, I believe in the tools I earned through Landmark and this will truly help balance my life powerfully whether or not my love is by my side.

---
Replies to Comments from 'Truth' and 'J':

Thank you all for your comments.  I did not realize the amount of traffic I would generate from this post alone.  I have full intention of designing this blog as a vehicle for my friends and family to keep updated on what has been going on in my life and I welcome the public who may find value in my blog. 

I'm excited when people comment on my posts with information that will further the knowledge of the community but it is also important that we be mindful of the accuracy in what we write and comment about.  I value people's opinions becuase I simply don't have all the answers but when the imformation is downright inaccurate, I need to step in. 

If some of you take so much time in composing your comments, why would you then decide to keep yourself anonymous?  This is my personal blog and I have no where to hide.  I'm always interested in conversing with people who have views about a topic that carries merit.  And by keeping yourself hidden, it denies me that possibility and you lose some credibility.

Landmark Education will always receive a bad rap from the people who chooses to give it that.  I did not register with it armed with the knowledge that some of you may have (I don't even know what a LGAT is until now).  And because of this knowledge, you may feel inclined to formulate judgement on your own which I willfully will not judge you in doing so.

I actually read RickRoss's website on Landmark Education prior to taking Landmark almost in its entirety (except the incredibly dry reports from pychologists) slamming it as a cult.  I compared it with my experience in going to the introduction alone and found some of the claims to be completely inaccurate or completely false.  Thus I remain objective in believing that Landmark may have changed their 'tactics' or methods perhaps as a response to this site???   After completing the course, I did not find some of the site's reports in being truthful but again, maybe Landmark has evolved.  I recall reading a hand by hand account of what to expect when going into the course the first day and the accounts that would lead to the end of that course.  Almost all the information I read (and many were in detail) were completely untrue.

I did my due diligence to an extent and the sites alone did not convince me enough to avoid Landmark....one of the biggest difference is my friend playing a part in the equation.  This reminds me of a saying when someone are unsatisfied with a service or product, you will hear about it everywhere but how often do individuals take time out to write great things about something that they felt was great?  For something as controversial as Landmark Education, many keep it to themselves.  I recalled Bally Fitness screwing my family over and I told the entire county where my parents' resides about it.  I was on full mission motivated to slam them to the fifth degree.   But when the granma downstairs takes time out to make me some of her spring rolls, I don't tell a peep.

So what exactly is the sub-rosa campaign?  Back it up with some ammo, brother!  You 'are' on my turf so let's not mislead readers who may find value in my post.  I disagree with you in that I feel Landmark is both an Education AND for sure a Business.  Hell, I can even make the same argument by claiming you to be employing the sub-Truth campaign sponsored by the PWFTIETR (People Who Find Truth in Everything They Read). ?

Was I trying to convey the message for people to take Landmark in my post?  No, it was certainly not within my scope of the post. 

I feel people take Landmark for different reasons.  Shall this post turn into a debate in it being a cult or not, I would then gladly welcome contributors to my post who disagree with Landmark Education after having gone through the program first hand.  Choose any topic and there are always people who will disagree.  Hey, is the Moon white?

In reference to J's comment, they 'do' tell you that you may be subjected to emotional and pyschological intense situations....in fact, if I recall, that was the exact wording in their disclosure.  You have to sign an agreement testifying of your knowledge of this prior to registering and handing over your plastic.  They take this seriously....it is a personal development course and I am sure any responsible business will have such disclosures to protect themselves from all foreseeable angles.

I disagree to the claim of Landmark Education employing high pressure tactics.  They do, however, create a sense of urgency for participants but high pressure tactics? 

Telemarketers employ some tactful and sometimes high pressure tactics, certainly not Landmark.  What I hear from your comment is in reference to LGAT's (Large Group of Awareness Training) which generalizes them as a whole but not neccessarily accurate to each business/entity individually.  I posted my first hand accounts.  Please comment. 

Did they 'break' me down?  Nope.  Did some people break down?  Yes, one female.  I saw one person break down and had to go to the hospital for treatment.  We weren't even doing any exercises I felt was confronting.  I ran into her a few times during our break and I have to say that this girl looked pretty pissed about something from the get-go.  From a class of 200 (estimated), some of the education can be confronting. I conversed with her boyfriend during a break and he told me she had some 'demons she did not want to slay'.  Those were not his exact words but the implications are.  He stayed and finished the course.  This education is a course in Personal Development.  You learn to develop yourself further and
at times, it may be confronting because that it what the course offers. 

I hate to have to 'spill the beans' in fear of robbing another individual of the experiance first hand but I think this example is OK to share.  I have no understanding of how other LGAT's and/or Cults operate but Landmark is like this:

One of the exercises we go through is the 'Be With' exercise where you stare into another participant's eyes; someone random in the audience.  You stare at them for what appears to be for hours.  This was extremely uncomfortable for me and you can feel the tension in the room.  What did I learn through this?  I learned to drop the judgements I have on others and realize the person as just that, another being.  Will you find this confronting?  Some may.  I got over my fear of staring into a stranger's eyes.  Pardon my pun, but it was certainly an 'eyeopener'.  Had it changed mylife?  No, but it will change the way I 'look' at people.  This is one of the many tools/exercises you will go through shall you participate.  Lead me off in a straightjacket, I've been brainwashed!

Is Landmark Education for everyone?  No.  Ever try teaching something to someone who wasn't ready to learn?  And no matter how much you think that individual may benefit from the knowledge, they are almost dead convinced otherwise.  When someone is ready to learn, there will always be a teacher around.

I took it and it did not do miracles for me and I never expected it to.  Has it changed my life?  NO.  Has it made an impact on how I lead my life, absolutely.  And that, for me, has made all the difference.  Will I recommend it to everyone I know?  Absolutely.  Will they listen to me?  Perhaps, when they are ready.

Comments

[J]

That's great that you feel better about yourself and you life after taking the course. The main beef I think with Landmark, however, is that they (as well as other numerous large group awareness training programs) do not inform the new student ahead of time that they will be sbjected to a psychologically and emotionally intense situation. There have been many who come out of such programs with severe emotional and psychological problems (see the LGAT chapter in Margaret Singer's "Cults in Our Midst"). While in these fragile states, students are subjected to high pressure sales tactics to sign up for more courses. It is HOW they obtain wealth, rather than the wealth itself, that makes them cult-like. Was this not what you experienced, were you not pressured to sign up for more courses? The sketchiest part for me about LGAT is that if you are being broken down emotionally/psychologically, how can you be sure that you aren't being built back up with an instilled sense of the program having worked? I mean, maybe there's no difference, but it seems to me that what it shares with other cults is that it forcibly CONVINCES its students that it works, therefore it does.

[truth]

Landmark is a very controversial group that has nothing to do really with education or business
See this link before you let them mess with your mind or your business.
http://www.rickross.com/groups/landmark.html

I noticed the last few days many posts/blogs like this.
This is just a sub-rosa campaign to get an interest going.
It is really a part of LE’s lack of full disclosure.
Pretty much in truth spam
The worst think they do is make you THINK that what they did is a good thing.
It’s not

reply from Chilee:
To my utmost surprise, Rick Ross was actually interviewed in "Transformation, Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard" which is premiering in NYC at the Quad Cinema. I posted a small review in my blog. See for yourself what he has to say. For those who don't know, Werner Erhard founded EST (Erhard Seminars Training) which evolved into The Landmark Education.

[Googleplex]

Landmark is incredible. The people posting negative things probably never did it. It was absolutely life altering for me.

[SavefromLGAT]

chilee says: "If some of you take so much time in composing your comments, why would you then decide to keep yourself anonymous?"

savefromLGAT Reply: The scary thing is, as with an abused man, woman, or child, those who have been abused are too traumatized to do anything about it after the fact, especially say anything and bond together to stop the abuser, or to seek help. The best they can do is try to survive as individuals. So they rarely speak up; and those who could help do not learn that the problem exists. Those who have escaped Landmark and suffered great psychological damage are also often too traumatized to do more than just get away and pick up the pieces of their lives. Landmark Education proponents like to point out the lack of criticism against it, or that the criticism is hearsay or just that of cynical people, or that the criticism is anonymous so is less than valid. You did not note the many many lawsuits that Landmark has brought against its critics. One can see a “Godzilla” ( a multimillion dollar corporation) vs. single human being problem here. Godzilla is always right to step on anything, because he is Godzilla and simply can stomp, or in one breath he can toast everything in his path. Scientology does the same thing as well.

chilee says: "I actually read RickRoss's website on Landmark Education prior to taking Landmark almost in its entirety (except the incredibly dry reports from pychologists)..."

savefromLGAT Reply: To NOT read the "dry reports from psychologists" invalidates much of what you say. Cults and cultlike groups employ a very complex well engineered "psychological rat maze" to trap their members in. The only way to get out is to understand this….to not look in the mirror, as they have you believe, but to pull yourself away of the painting of you that they have created t their liking…. and to pull your head out of the smoke screen they have created for you as well. Once you start breathing fresh air after having been in pollution, you will never go back. They are convincing you that you are breathing fresh air now. A key component of cults and cultlike groups is to convince you that there is something wrong with you and that they are the only ones who can help. But they do so by convincing you that you are actually helping yourself (and getting you to pay big bucks for it). So my question to you is, "Do you honestly think you could survive for 1 year, 2 years, without any Landmark participation at all?" If the answer is “No,” then they have you and you do not have yourself. Think about it. You should be able to learn life's lessons without having to pay through the nose for it and totally depend on a multimillion dollar corporation, if at all. If you feel so strongly about Landmark and what it can do for people, and truly believe in it, then why not create an "Open Source" free Landmark education so that everyone in the world, including the poor, can partake of it? I am not that religious, but Christ (as many other great leaders) certainly did not create a multimillion dollar enterprise to spread the good word. OR did he? And most churches do not mandate that you must pay money to go for the lessons they provide.

chilee says: "I compared it (www.rickross.com) with my experience in going to the introduction alone and found some of the claims to be completely inaccurate or completely false. "

savefromLGAT Response: You provide zero examples of what claims are inaccurate or false. How are we to believe you?

chilee says: " In reference to J's comment, they 'do' tell you that you may be subjected to emotional and pyschological intense situations....in fact, if I recall, that was the exact wording in their disclosure. You have to sign an agreement testifying of your knowledge of this prior to registering and handing over your plastic. "

savefromLGAT Response: The same agreement forces the attendee to waive all rights to sue should there be a problem. For anyone who wants to try it to see for themselves, this is very dangerous. Landmark leaders cannot legally call themselves therapists, else Landmark Education would be subject to numerous government regulations and laws regarding psychology. Yet Landmark leaders subject attendees to intense psychological trauma. Making attendees sign a "no sue - arbitration only waiver" under these conditions is similar to a sky diving company making someone sign the same “waiver” and then telling customers that they will be tandem dived with instructors who have had no training in sky diving themselves. Another way of phrasing this is through the psychological principle of perceived authority, "I'm not a therapist but I play one on TV. So you should accept my absolute authority." And trust me people do. People so willingly give up their autonomy to someone else. Why? Because we all want meaning, definition. Finding this within ourselves takes a lot of work. Finding meaning within ourselves is the only way to find meaning within ourselves. Think about that redundant statement for a moment. Yet we so willingly give ourselves up to someone else who says they have the answer. That someone else if wise to the ways of psychological control, will convince us that we are the ones making the decisions and learning within ourselves, when it is actually they who are feeding us our thoughts, the whole time getting us to depend more and more on their presence. It is a prime tactic control freaks use.

chilee says: " I think of these critics as being unfair....I mean how can you critique food and formulate judgment if you hadn't tasted the item yourself? You can tell someone how great a Vindaloo dish tastes and smells but unless the individual knows how to effectively communicate it, you may never know."

savefromLGAT Response:

This is a weak argument at best as it can be used both ways. I have heard the argument from Landmark proponent "How do you know what an orgasm is unless you have experienced one? You just have to go to Landmark to understand." (and sign the waiver that excludes you from a lawsuit if something goes wrong – basically sex without a condom.) My response is "How do you know what jumping off a cliff is like unless you actually do it?"

My response can be considered "firm." And I don't mean to put you on the defensive. On the contrary I want to help you. It has been my observation that there are many people who have joined Landmark who have been overachievers in life, yet inherently insecure underneath it all, meaning they had accomplished many external successes, but still lacked success internally. They did not learn to be confident within themselves by themselves. So on the outside they look like they have it altogether to the rest of us. They can move mountains. But on the inside they are vulnerable insecure people. Rather than start to learn themselves how to build up a solid foundation internally, they instead achieve more externally again and again in hopes that they will find what they need internally. But end up feeling empty anyway. So they find Landmark, yet another external solution. And Landmark plays to their insecurity, and charges big bucks for it. But these people inherently never learn to be alone and to be their own best friend in their own minds and heart. Landmark Education is simply a complex well engineered money making intentionally contrived "psychological drug" addiction. From a purely engineering standpoint, I think it is brilliant. From a human standpoint, I can only think of the "Dark Side of the Force" in Star Wars... and of Nazi Germany. We all want meaning in our lives. That meaning we must find within us, not externally. So I ask you, and challenge you, again, "Could you honestly leave Landmark Education for a few years and survive?" Don't just answer. Words mean nothing here. Only actions have meaning. “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say” Ralph Waldo Emerson Can you do it? Let us know in a few years. Tell us of your experience when you have quit and of your observations over time. Best to you. Sincerely. SavefromLGAT

Reply from Will, the author of the blog 10/16/07:
I wish to post a reply to your comment but apparently I can't see pat the technical hurdles of Typepad to allow me to perform such task as a separate comment. Thank you for posting a remarkable comment pointing debatable flaws in my posting. I have just now seen your reply and as there are many items I would love to clarify in my posting, I choose not to simply because it puts me on the defensive. This not only exhausts me but places me under pressure to have to further research for facts to back up my points and to counter argue another's. This simply is unproductive to me and is not worth the time simply at the expense of trying to be right.

I communicated that the purpose of my post was not to convince anyone to join the so called cult. Their opinions as well as yours are just that and I respect it regardless which is why the comments are still live. I have however, removed the ones that I felt was degrading and completely out of character just months after they have been posted.

I function this blog as a personal webspace with the primary purpose for offering a window into my life for the family generations to come. I never anticipated such opposition from the public with my posts and with people as far as suggesting that I am part of some movement to create awareness for LE.

The best way to determine whether I have been brainwashed or whether I behave in a cult-like fashion would be to monitor my blog in my postings. As authentic as I may be in my postings, I must stay focused and true to my intent of this blog (I may be switching off Typepad onto Wordpress meaning if you bookmarked this page, it will not work in the future). If the arguments stand firm that I have been involved in a cult then wouldn't the harm be in how I am being as a person after the 'education' and not so much the fact that I have taken the so called cult class in itself?

By comparison, just because someone graduated from Harvard does not equate said person to be successful let alone be financially successful. So why be so quick to judge me? Just because I have taken a course that the popular consensus points as being a cult, does that make me any worse than yourselves? If so, how?

Through my participation in the Landmark Forum, I gained back my relationship with my younger brother. That alone is worth all the unfavorable comments and resistance anyone is open to putting me under.