Transformation
posted: June 15th, 2010
This weekend my life was transformed.
I want to tell you about it.
For months now a very close friend (who is also one of my coaches) has been trying to get me to do the Landmark Forum. And I had been very effectively resisting. Behind all the usual ‘I’m too busy’, ‘The time’s not right’, ‘My nanny’s ill’ excuses.
But (after booking and cancelling no less than three times before) this weekend I finally – and rather indignantly – DID IT!
When you enrol in the Forum you have to write on the form three things you want to get out of it.
Mine were:
- To endure the entire three days (I’m notorious at getting bored/irritable and bailing out of courses/projects/commitments when things get uncomfortable - so it was a personal challenge for me to actually stick with something to the end - and notice my use of the word ‘endure’!)
- To clear the ‘blocks’ which seemed to be standing in the way of all my ‘cosmic orders’ from working
- To try to understand why I had such an addictive personality – i.e. everything to excess
And so I sat there on the first morning, one of 150 in the audience, thinking ‘There’s no way I will last this’ ‘These aren’t my kind of people’ ‘I’m not broken – so there’s nothing to fix!’ and ‘What the hell am I doing here???’
But I had set myself a challenge to stay with it – 9am to 10pm over three days – no matter what happened! A HUGE commitment for busy old me…
As a trainer who runs my own workshops I’m also fascinated to see how others do it – and I was instantly impressed by our Forum leader David Ure. His loud and over-bearing manner seemed to be irritating a lot of the audience, but it felt to me as though he was totally in command – and that there was much exciting stuff to come.
After the first three hours of being told about how our lives were playing out currently, the fact that we had never been properly listening up to now, the fact that we were never truly present to situations, we were then invited to leave if we wished to (with a 100% refund) – but if we stayed it would be with a commitment to fully participate (rather than just sit as an observer) in the process.
No one left!
The whole weekend simply consisted of people getting up to the microphone and then David giving his observations. In the beginning, people were invited to say what they wanted to get out of the Forum or what they wanted to know, and then as we progressed through the exercises we were set at every break and at the end of every day, we were invited to say what was unfolding for us.
In the exercises, we were invited to be authentic with people close to us, to write letters to people truly expressing how we felt, to make those phone calls that up to now we had been frightened of making.
And as each person came up to the microphone to share their experiences, certain stories were just incredibly emotional and moving. And every time you were truly moved (to tears) by someone else, you started to realise it was touching something very deep inside about YOU.
My first big breakthrough came at 5am on the second morning when I suddenly woke up with a realisation about my childhood which was truly an ‘Oh-My-God-that-was-so-obvious-why-did-I-never-see-that-before’ moment.
My letter that first day was to my children – apologising for not being a good enough mother to them (I’d been too busy chasing money fame and fortune all my life), and then later I had emotional conversations with two of them which I’d never had before.
By the end of the second day I fully understood what had been driving the ’Soap Opera’ of my life. When you get to that point of realisation, the ‘Soap Opera’ collapses. It simply falls away.
I knew from my previous transformational work that it was important to ‘hold the space’ to see what else was going to happen – it’s so easy to think ‘I got it, now I’m fixed & sorted’ and switch off – so I stuck with it. By the end of Day 3 I finally understood the ‘Meaning of Life’.
Yes I really got it!!!
I’ve spent the past five years reading all the self-improvement and transformational books going – plus attending lots of courses and seminars and experiences around the subject, including meditation and all the rest of it, but I can truly say that I have not experienced anything as powerfully tranformational as the Landmark Forum.
It is not a teaching, or something to learn, so much as a process – a tranformational experience.
It’s not about getting to a better improved version of the old you, it is about getting a totally new perspective on life. And it addresses parts of you which you had no idea whatsoever existed – let alone needed sorting!
As part of the course, at various points we were invited to ‘enrol’ others on the Landmark Forum. The idea being, once you have ‘got it’, it’s easier to make life work when the others around you ‘get it’ too. But every time that message came up, it was interesting to observe the huge resistance which started to fall on the room.
As a marketer I think I understand practically every marketing technique and sales process there is going – and I too have sat through those inspirational/motivational events which are simply about trying to upsell me to the $10,000 programme.
But this was no such ‘upsell’. It was simply asking us to consider who else we knew out there who might also benefit from going through the process – particularly all our loved ones.
Isn’t it strange that we can easily go out and think nothing about spending £300 on a new handbag or TV, but when we are invited to spend the same money on completely tranforming our lives somehow it is a ‘sales con’?
Isn’t it strange how we attach so much importance to ‘cost’ in life and so little to ‘value’?
On the Sunday evening, previous ‘graduates’ of the programme who had got their loved ones on to the Forum were invited along. People on the course were invited to come to the microphone and give a message to that person.
One woman was in tears, telling her husband how much she loved him, how she was sorry for being a self-righteous selfish cow up to now, and how she was now going to commit to making their marriage work.
Old cynical me would have written that off as vomit inducing schmaltz.
New transformed me sees that as something truly magical.
It’s only a day since the intensive part of the Forum has ended, but already I have seen some incredible changes in my life.
I am starting to ‘show up’ in a totally different way in every situation. My relationship with my children, and how I am when I am with them has been completely transformed. And my energy must certainly somehow have shifted – as suddenly complete strangers are opening up conversations and having little jokes with me! I even sat having a conversation with the man opposite on the train from Birmingham to Manchester yesterday - and that would certainly NOT have happened in my old life!
The Forum ends with a ‘graduation’ evening tonight at the Holiday Inn at Regent’s Park in London.
I would like to invite you to come along, as my guest, so I can share my incredible experiences in more detail. The evening starts at 7.30pm and ends at 10.45pm – and you’ll also get to hear all about the Forum for yourself.
Yes it is totally FREE, no I have NOT been brainwashed – and NO I don’t get an affiliate commission for every person I sign up!!!
It is simply an invitation to experience something which has already had the most incredible effect on my life.
There’s no need to register – all you have to do is show up at the Holiday Inn, say you are there for the Landmark Forum evening, and at check-in say you are my guest. I’ll be there from 7pm so seek me out!
I really do hope that you can make it.
Have a wonderful day.
Rachel
Joy
15.06.10
HI Rachel,
I would love to be there but I am in Somerset and work from 4-6 this evening in a school – both excuses that really can not be shelved.
I read your article with real interest, I am looking for just what I think the landmark forum seems to have given to you. I would be really interested in hearing more.
Best wishes as always
Joy
Raj
16.06.10
Yep, its pretty cool stuff. And the irritating thing is once you have taken that pill, you can’t ever turn back. Life takes on a different hue. Did the Forum ten years ago. Still loving it every day!
Matej
16.06.10
I’ve done the Landmark Forum 3 years ago and it completely changed my life, so I understand what you are talking about.
After the Landmark Forum I’ve written a book in 10 days, opened a business, changed career, earned £100,000 more next year and ran for president of my country.
Good job on being willing to give up the old you and use Landmark Forum as a tool to build someting that you like!
Ben Hunt
16.06.10
Rachel, absolutely brilliant! I did the Landmark Forum 18 months ago, and your description fits totally with my experience. Congratulations for sticking out three whole days. I’m excited to hear about what’s possible for you now.
Best wishes,
Ben
Al
17.06.10
Hi Rachel,
I did the Landmark Forum a year ago (with you Friend MC) and was erected to your site via a text from her. I know she has got masses out of it and I am very happy to read that the transformation worked for you, too.
I wish the Landmark Forum was on the NHS as I know how it feels when you tell people about it and the whole brain-washing chat follows. I agree with you in that it truly helps open doors with loved ones that once looked like walls without door knobs them.
A year on from the LF I still feel that I get a lot out of it and it has helped life a lot of unecessary weight from my shoulders and soul!
As the initial high begins to fade post LF you shall notice yourself clicking back into your-old self mode and that’s when the true work begings. Landmark Education do a great job at helping people see things they had never seen (blindspots) , but there are some people who just struggle to manage their lives without Landmark and become utter addicts and life-long marketeers for Landmark. While I loved the experience andxwebt o. To do another two courses and one seminar with Landmark I do think it is important to realise that there is no-one better than ourselves and our loved ones to keep assesing reality it is also important to cultivate original thought and to question all institutions no matter who perfect they may seem on the surface. I was totally buzzing post LF and my life has expanded along with my soul since then, but I have seen some perfectly admirable and talented individuals suddenly start to organize their life’s around landmark exclusively and think they ate foolish to believe that Landmark hold the answers to everything and Universal ailment for all. They are one of many great institutions who offer universal knowledge which is of course largely if not totally borrowed from the great thinkers of the world. People like: Shakespeare, Ghandi, C Jung, Freud, Abraham Maslow, Alan Watts the list goes on and on. I considered myself lucky to have recognised a lot my previous reading during the Forum otherwise I might have given myself to Landmak Education unconditionally. The Landmark Forum is a great course which I highly recommend and the Landmark Education offer some great courses- however it is through personal effort and daily pratice of being present and aware that we develop into the true selves we all carry inside, not through relentless and unquestioned following. Landmark do not encourage critical and individual thought but the application of their own (only maketed as their own) tools. Beware!!
A great friend who recommend The LF to me has been involved with Landmark for over a year and a half and is still full of utter crap. The tools have made him more complicated now that he cab hide behind his newfound pseudodepth. I wish he had really transformed rather than just having learned to put on another suit to cover his broken soul with.
We can only help ourselves and all tools may be used for that purpose, but we have to learn to love ourselves and forgive ourselves and that takes time, a lot of time!!
Al
17.06.10
Please excuse typos I am writing fro my phone
in line one I mean to say directed not erected of course!
Also further along I meant to write I ‘went on to do another two courses…”
Rich
17.06.10
Congratulations Rachel!
Finally you got it ;-) Well done!
If you really want the next level of Transformation, then I recommend the Communication Curriculum Access to Power and Power to Create. It will knock your socks of!
I have two inspiring quotes I like to share with you (I think you will understand them now):
* “I think I spent 30 years of my life, trying to become something, I wanted to become good at things, I wanted to become good at tennis, I wanted to become good at school and grades and everything I kind of viewed in that perspective. I’m not okay the way I am, but if I got good at things. I realized I had the game wrong, because the game was to find out what I already was…
…Now in our culture we have been trained for individual differences to stand out, so you look at each person and immediately it’s brighter, dumber, older, younger, richer, poorer and we make all of these dimensional distinctions, put them in categories and treat them that way. And we get so that we only see others as separate from ourselves, in the ways in which they’re separate and one of the dramatic characteristics of experience is being with another person and suddenly seeing the ways in which they are like you, not different from you, and experiencing the fact that which is essence in you, and which is essence in me, is indeed ONE, the understanding that there is no other, it is all one.
I wasn’t born Richard Albert, I was just born as a human being and then I was TAUGHT and learned this whole business of who I am and whether I’m good or bad or achieving or not, and all of that is learned along the way.” (DR. RICHARD ALBERT)
* “The old appeals to racial, sexual and religious chauvinism, to rabid nationalist fervor are beginning not to work, a new consciousness is developing which sees the earth as a single organism and recognizes that an organism at war with itself is doomed.”(CARL SAGAN)
* “Life is like a ride in an amusement park.
And when you go on it you think it’s real, because that’s how powerful our minds are.
And the ride goes up and down and around and around, it has thrills and chills and is very brightly colored. And it’s very loud and it’s fun for a while.
Some have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question is this real or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered and they come back to us and they say:
“Hey, don’t worry, don’t be afraid ever – ’cause this is just a ride!”
and we kill those people.
“Shut him up.
I have a lot invested in this ride,
shut him up!
Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real!”
…It’s just a ride…
But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that – did you ever notice that – and let the demons run amok…
But it doesn’t matter, because it’s just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It’s only a choice – no effort, no work, no job, no savings of money.
Just a choice right now – between FEAR and LOVE.”
(Voicemorphing: BILL HICKS in “Revelations” 1993, quoted by David Icke in “UK Lectures” 1995)
Yvonne matthews
17.06.10
Hello rachel
thank you so much for sharing your experience. I too have experienced the forum and Reading about yours has brought mine back to the forefront. Am preparing for Glastonbury with a stall and your sharing and made me see all my hidden rackets over the last few days. Phew I am sure my family will be relieved when I reappeared racket free.
Thanks for that
with kindness
yvonne (mc’s friend)
Srimati
17.06.10
Well done Rachel! You finally did it and what great results! Seems the universe had some perfect timing in mind for you. I loved what you wrote here about your experience (laying to rest some of my skewed impressions about Landmark)and completely admire your awareness of your own resistance and your commitment to ride through it to the other side. Everyone needs to experience this sort of transformational intensity at least once in their lives. More power to you!
Srimati x
Naomi Richards
17.06.10
It sounds like a great experience. Reflection and looking inside who you are and what you are doing is great. I think often we go about life with walls either side of our eyes and dont see real life going on around us. Being in tune with feelings and whats happening is something we need to allow ourselves to do. There is more to life than money. For me happiness and memories wins every time. Enjoy tonight – just checked diary and I am working but I will save your blog and when I can investigate attending myself.
Gerard Grieve
18.06.10
This organisation is a cult, as branded by numerous European Governments.
Rachel
21.06.10
I can understand why governments would be scared of the Landmark teachings – empowering people is a dangerous thing when you are trying to control them!
It didn’t strike me as being a cult at all.
Rachel
Deborah
21.06.10
A cult? A cult is an organisation that takes your money and denies you responsibility for your own decisions. The Landmark Forum costs £345 for 3.5 days. Its purpose is to give you back responsibility for your life – to take away the stories that you’ve created for yourself that limit what you can achieve. Having experienced the Forum alongside Rachel and the other 148 delegates, it is most certainly not a cult; instead its an approach. Like Rachel I’m a business coach, I use a lot of tools and techniques – this transforms and it does so fast. As one of the other post-ees commented, the real work starts afterwards and involves commitment.
Rachel – I was delighted to meet you last weekend and share the experience with you. The transformation for me was a profound shift in my thinking and approach, and despite such cycnism – “it’s a cult” – I’m still experiencing wonderful reactions to the new me, how can that possibly be anything except good?
Coffee soon?
Deborah
Elena
21.06.10
A cult separates you from your loved ones, isolates you and indoctrinates you. Landmark Education is all about connecting you to the people in your life in a way that you never imagined possible. It is about being able to relate to other human beings as people on your team, rather than adversaries. If that’s a cult, sign me up! It is wonderful. I have taken a bunch of courses at Landmark Education. My faves are the Wisdom Course (all about play) and the Communication Course. Thanks for sharing, Rachel.
Beth
21.06.10
Hello Rachel! I was directed to this post through Landmark Educations FB page and I am so very glad I clicked and followed the link! You very eloquently put down in this post what it is like to experience The Landmark Forum. I must have been in need of reminding of this because your post brought me to tears and I have done many courses with Landmark. It truly is miraculous! Thank you for sharing your journey!
Mark Ty-Wharton
21.06.10
I really love your writing style and succinct, clear description of Landmark’s course.
What I learned from the forum, completely changed the way I manage my life. I was quite literally on a collision course with hell!
Right now, I am a successful speaker and writer and I’m creating a Transport Museum in my community which will employ, mentor and train autistic adults.
I myself have Asperger Syndrome and have a special interest in bringing the distinctions of the Landmark Forum to the autistic community.
In time I plan to create a splinter course specifically designed for the needs of high functioning autistic adults.
I love that you woke up at 05:00am and got your life back :-)
Finally, I want to share something with you. The language you used in your blog really struck a chord with me. The possibility I created for myself and my life is the possibility of being truly magical :-)
Emaptice
Mark
Mark
22.06.10
Rachel,
Thank you for this heartfelt summary of your experience. I am happy that someone with your following is sharing this with so many people as anyone can derive benefit from the Landmark Forum with the right attitude.
As you talk about this more, you’ll hear the “cult” accusations with more frequency, but with one glaring similarity – NONE of the people who claim it’s a cult have participated in the work. They are all relying on some other source, who most of the time haven’t participated either.
Why people resist something that promises to improve their lives continues to be beyond my comprehension.
Best wishes!
Mark
Montreal, Canada.
Hana Benes
22.06.10
Rachel, you couldn’t have described the Forum better… I did it almost twenty five years ago (and quite a few other Landmark’s courses later) – and I can hardly recount all the benefits for me and my family…
A cult? Whoever suggested anything like that must be kidding. On the contrary, after doing the course, you start to claim your responsibility for your acts and your right to chose. And that’s what life is about – a choice and a responsibility – isn’t it?
Hana
Liz Marley
22.06.10
Very very cool. Don’t worry ! It just gets better & better. There is no going back. And you don’t ever want too. Very excited to see what you create now with your already awesome life. Thank you !
Tony Ferrante
22.06.10
Did you ever wonder about the word “culture” includes the word cult in it? Hmmm. Landmark Education is not a cult.
Congratulations, Rachel on getting it.
Tony
Toronto, Canada
Danny Mattes
22.06.10
Congratulations. I enjoyed the sharing of your experience of the Landmark Forum and the subsequent commentary.It is difficult if not impossible for people who have not done the Landmark Forum to get what graduates say about it and the extraordinary difference it makes in their lives. Its like broadcasting FM to an AM receiver, or telling flat worlders the world might be round, or telling doctors in the bloodletting days that small little bugs you can’t see caused diseases. It takes 3 days and an evening to break through the conventional wisdom..and the rest of life for it all to play out. Any resistance is natural, people and/or institutions are invested heavily in the way it is and being right about it.
bhuvan nijhawan
22.06.10
Hello Rachel,
your blog leaves me with a space of being touched moved and inspired by the possibility you are for this world…i hear making a difference in every word that u wrote. I took the curriculum in 1996 and have been assisting quite regularly at landmark education. Although we live in different parts of the world( I am from India) but I can already see the difference that u could make to this world through this communication of yours.
would love to read your blogs going forward and please do forward the links of your blogs and congratualtions for having gone through the program and being who you are for this world
lots of love
Bhuvan
Brad
22.06.10
Thanks for sharing your Forum experience Rachel. I too came to your blog via Landmark’s Facebook post today. It’s been 4 years this coming weekend since I took the Forum, and it’s been a very interesting ride for me going through some incredible highs and incredible lows. I feel in balance for the most part now. In the big picture, I think my transformation has helped me create a completely new lease on my life and as I continue to move in new directions in my career and relationships, I look forward to celebrating the successes I know I will achieve because of this new mindset that came out of the Forum. Landmark is only a cult to those who make it into a cult for themselves. It’s definitely not a cult to me.
Jason
22.06.10
Thanks for sharing. I have had a great life up till I did the forum but was amazed how much more rich it has become since. So true we will spend money on our car but not on what is truly possible for a rich and rewarding life. Thanks again.
Conrad Leinemann
22.06.10
Best weekend of my life!
Enjoy.
Conrad
Jae Ellis
23.06.10
Rachel,
Fantastic share… Congratulations!
If more people like you share their experience of transformation, and enroll others in the possibility of communication and a world that works for everyone, then the opportunity for world peace becomes very feasible.
Imagine a world where people routinely gave up being right, were responsible for their reactions instead of defined by them, and put their attention on making a difference & contribution rather than “I win you lose” or “I lose & it’s your fault”.
I don’t think we can comprehend ten percent of what would be possible in a place like that, given how much we’re used to swimming in sewage the way things are now.
Regards from across the pond,
-Jae
Jon
23.06.10
So awesome to read this and to pass it on to my friends. I highly, highly recommend the Advanced Course, the Self Expression and Leadership Program, and the Communications Courses. Through my work at Landmark, my life has been completely transformed. I have so much more fun every day of my life, I make 10x the money with so much less effort, and my relationships are completely different. Couldn’t recommend it more. As far as the “cult” thing goes, I’d say to check it out for yourself. There’s no brainwashing that goes on, it’s simply a powerful conversation about your life. You are implored to invite your friends, sure, but if you don’t, you don’t. I’ve invited many friends, some have done the Forum, some haven’t. But many major corporations recommend the Landmark Forum to their employees, and Landmark’s principles are the foundation of the best-selling business book Three Laws of Performance, which lists numerous case studies of corporations using the work. It’s powerful, and it really works. I haven’t been to a course there in almost a year but I still use the work every day, and I hope to take more courses at some point in the future.
Rachel Elnaugh
23.06.10
Yes, strange I had that ‘It’s a cult’ reaction from someone last night. When I asked, she wasn’t clear on whether she had actually done the course herself but lots of her friends had and they all agreed it was just about being brainwashed. Struck me as really peculiar! It was not my experience at all. First I think there is a huge difference between sitting in the room and actually participating. Second I do think you have to allow your ego to be broken, and we all know the ego will resist that at all costs. Fortunately before the course I had read a lot by Dr Wayne W Dyer which I think had prepared me for the experience. I can imagine someone sitting resisting with cynicism and refusing to participate for the entire three days would not get anything out of it.
Gerard
23.06.10
FYI I have particapated in the forum, twice, the advanced course, and seminars, so my views are from personal experience and personal observations. This organisation is a cult and that is not my opinion but a fact backed by a number of European Governments who have branded it as such, and who have booted the organisation out of their countries.
You strike me as an intelligent person Rachel and very capable of making your own mind up, something that living in a democratic society allows us to do.
Below are a number of points which may assist in identifying whether or not an organisation is a cult.
Character Assasination is a sure sign of a cult.
Cult members are usually fearful of disobeying or disagreeing in anyway with their leadership.
Beware of instant friends.
Single charismatic leader.
Is information you expected to be kept confidential reported to leadership? If so then its a cult.
Never ending compulsory meetings and tasks is a sign of a cult.
Asking for money for the next level, sign of a cult.
If they hide what they teach.
No legitimate group needs to lie or mislead you about what they practice or believe.
If any of the above ring true then proceed with caution. After my lenghty experience with Landmark I was able to answer ‘yes’ to all of the above.
Research any group independently of the group.
Linda Banys
23.06.10
Hi Rachel….I would love to attend your graduation, but I live in Ottawa, Canada. Not that, that should really stop me, but its my birthday and plans have been made. Reading your message this morning will be one of the best gifts I get for my birthday, this year. All my Landmark experiences came flooding back, as I read all about yours. Landmark is the most incredible gift, anyone can give themselves. Our whole family has been transformed and that’s just “awesome”. I’m sitting hear “bursting” with that “Landmark Feeling”. Thank you sooooo much for sharing. Keep creating those Possibilities!!!!! Congrats and Happy Graduation. Linda xo
Ann Adams
23.06.10
Thank you!
Anil Barnes
23.06.10
Hi I’m Anil, 51, Architect, from london. Before doing the forum the person I had most to complain about was my 80-year old father. Or rather, all my past stories about said father. I was actually pretty comfortable with complaining. Doing the landmark forum enabled me to clearly see the payoff I got from having complaints about my dad, and the impact of having those complaints. Having got the impact and created a possibility, something was available for me to give up. That’s exactly what I did. I gave up my point of view! It took a while to do it fully. Two years later I continue to acknowledge him for being a great dad and an inspiring yogi. I did that again on fathers day, and he told me he was moved. My children notice I dont gossip and I dont tell stories about my dad any more. I now accept him for what he is and for what he is not. As he enters his twilight years, what this breakthrough makes possible is trust, closeness, love. My dad and I never had that before in 50 years. For me, this education is not about me. It’s about who I am for others. Thanks Rachel for posting that great article about your forum.
Anna Wajda
23.06.10
I don’t know if you realise that Landmark Education has a long and unhappy history of litigation, mental health problems and exploitation.
It is a company known for being quick to reach for litigation to deter any critics. Indeed, when you reach further into the organisation (as I did) you will see that they have no interest in objectively assessing the impact of their programmes – the only metrics they measure are the number of seats sold and profit. If you read the small print, they take responsibility only for the orderly running of the courses, nothing more.
Landmark’s programmes are run by people with no recognised educational qualifications, no licensing, no supervision, no regulation. There is no adequate screening of participants and, during my time there I saw quite a few cases of people who walked away with severe mental problems. They were ignored by Landmark and tended to remain quiet – particularly when they could have ended up facing a law suit. I myself have had to seek professional mental health help to get over some of the things I got out of the Forum and I know of two suicides that came out of it. This is why I now actively recommend that people do NOT do this course. If you want that kind of help, go see a trained, licensed and supervised professional who is accountable for what they do and say.
Finally, Landmark is run by an army of unpaid volunteers and even staff are regularly paid less than the minimum wage for the hours they work. There is a high churn of volunteers, but unfortunately staff are required to sign draconian antidisclosure agreements and give up their rights to take legal action against the company. This is hardly progressive business practice, and immoral for a company that preaches responsibility and life changing experiences.
So I’m glad you’re on a high and I doubt you’re ready for criticism of Landmark – it certainly took me a long time to be able to hear it. But please remember that the sole point, the only reason for the existence of this company is to sell seats on their programmes. They don’t give a damn about you.
jerry spencer
23.06.10
Beautiful Rachel!
People dont realize that they are already “brainwashed”.
LMF is an opportunity to see their current brainwashing and re-choose. Yes it is a cult of people who have freely re-chosen and that opportunity becomes ever-present. People will maintain their rightness as long as possible. Shaking it up is new life-by your choice. Best to you.
jerry
Ben Newcomb
23.06.10
Congratz on completing the landmark forum! I did it 7 years ago and it still affects my life everyday. As for the guy who said it was a cult…Well after the benefits I have recieved from it I would do it even if it was a cult(if there was anything to join but there isn’t) The landmark forum is a very powerful set of tools and the reason I am married. I love Landmark.
Scott Gallagher
23.06.10
If it is a cult, then it is a great cult – one definitely worth joining :)!!! And I am speaking as someone who is not actively participating in courses anymore. These days you can make a case for almost anything being a cult. Alcoholics Anonymous, which I am a member of is apparently a cult too. Give me a break. Take the landmark forum course for yourself then see for yourself. It is just a freaking course – powerful course mind you – mind blowing actually!
Joe Bechtel
23.06.10
I couldn’t have described the Forum better myself. Your description about it not being something to learn is so right on. It has to be caught, not taught.
I took the forum twice–as a new participant, and then took the Forum for graduates. Ironically, my ex spouse had invited me to take it after he took it. Now, he seems to be going back to his default way of being before he took the forum, while it has helped me heal greatly from the past abuses he incurred on me. It’s not for everyone, especially those who have a mental illness. But it does work when that is not present.
This is exciting that you have taken it and are sharing your experiences so publicly. Transformation happens when people are ready.
Michael Casey
23.06.10
Thank You Rachel. Landmark Education has given my family life that goes to the whole world. By letting go of the past Stops to life being good. I can have conversations with people from all over the world about love and human harmony. The Wisdom Course gave me access to some of the conversations around me that I didn’t even know existed. Now I can embrace them or change them if they are not empowering to the community. Thank you for your explanation as to what it is like in the course.
Kay
23.06.10
Wow! Congratulations. I did the Forum about 6 years ago & can only stress the added value to be gained from following through with the Advanced course. Imagine a family home with a large neglected garden; rusting climbing frame; greenhouse falling down; lawn choked with weeds; brambles running riot through the veg patch.. That is your life. The forum is the clear out phase, where all the junk and weeds and overgrown plants are identified, sorted and cleared away. What remains is a hundred percent improvement on what was there and there is room to move and space. It’s easy to see what there really is. NOW is the time to create the garden that you really want, plant, encourage, train, build and in no time it’s glorious, abundant and yours. That is the Advanced course, you create your life and the emphasis is on the ‘Your Life’ there are no rules – only have integrity.
thank you for bringing it all back to me.
Maggie
24.06.10
‘Give it away, give it away, give it away now’
: )
Rachel
24.06.10
In the interests of balance I have included all the comments – including the negative (and probably quite defamatory in law) ones above.
I have just realised that according to the above definition my Online Mentoring membership is also a cult!
So too is Apple!
No one has a problem with Apple followers eulogising about the iPad or the iPhone 4G – or queueing for hours outside a shop to spend their £500 to buy one!!! I guess you could say too that they had been ‘brainwashed’ by Apple…
The truth is, Apple create products which are simply brilliant – & which make people’s lives work better!
A bit like Landmark Education.
I know from my own marketing how difficult it is to get 150 people in a room each paying £345. They simply wouldn’t be in business 20+ years on if their product wasn’t effective.
Jagpal Singh
24.06.10
Hi Rachel,
I fuuuullllllyyyy Agree with you. I have done The Landmark Forum three times and other courses including The Landmark Advanced Course, completed curriculam for living and Introduction leadership program.
The Value I got is immense. My relations with my family and parents are the product of my participation in the programms. not only that I shared it with others and whole lot of friends are doing various programms and their friends and families and their friend’s friends and families are getting benefits out of their participation.
I love the fact that I am cause in the matter for creating transformation for so many people.
Keep on sharing it with people as it will transform your enviornment. the language of transformation will come to your day to day conversation and a whole new world will open up for you.
All the best.
Jagpal
Ali Davies
04.07.10
Hi Rachel,
This is my first visit to your blog and I read with interest your post on Landmark. It was of particular interest as a friend recommended Landmark to me a few years ago. Like you, I have come up with all sorts of reasons why it wasn’t the right time. Having read your review, have already started checking out when/where I can do the programme.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Very enlightening.
John Canida
07.07.10
Congrats on your transformation! I did the Landmark
Forum here in the USA over 10 years ago. Prior to that date my family had hardly communicated for over 20 years. Now we are a thriving loving family as many of us have completed many Landmark Education courses. Thanks for sharing with your large community. I have personally sponsored over 120 people into the Landmark Forum and consider that one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.
And please check out my website as we are expanding into the UK and Ireland and I would love to work with Landmark Graduates.
Thanks again
John Canida
http://www.JoinTheGenie.com
http://www.GetYourFreeGenie.com
JohnCanida06@yahoo.com
623-217-6777
James
08.07.10
Hi Rachel,
It’s been a few years since we last crossed paths – Red Letter Days x2!
I’ve just finshed the Curriculum for Living (which is the Landmark Forum and two subsequent courses Advanced and Self-Expression & Leadership Program).
My employer RedBalloon.com.au offers staff the opportunity to do the Forum when they start, which I did in 2007. Awesome, incredible and very astute for any business – who wouldn’t want their employees in tune, connected and complete!
So pleased that you are a Graduate too and I look forward to our paths crossing again someday.
James
padmaja
15.07.10
Hi Rachel!
I am very happy for You! Trust me when i say this! I too had the same thoughts when a friend of mine insisted that i do this Forum! Infact i even went to the extent of telling all and sundry that ” one thing i am 100% positive in my life is………. I shall never do Landmark”. Was totally convinced that it was full of marketing gimmicks …….similar to Amway or oriflame or tupperware. Total hardselling! Well! Am not at all ashamed to admit! Why should i? Thats exactly what and how i felt!At that time! See ……earlier i cudnt admit to such things. When i was grossly wrong!
I finally got to do it 5 yrs later when i was in the lowest of the lows and slowly trying to raise above it all… thot i had gotten over the lows…..Well. i am almost ok now. so let me go and get fine tuning done. so, i sat through the forum…. all the boring 3 and half days………nothing earth-shattering happened! was very disappointed. In fact, even called the friend as soon as it got over and asked her for moneyback!!!!!!!!But guess what? when i did the follow up 10 seminars……… halfway through……amazing breakthroughs started happenning. Unbelievably so! all that was said during the forum started coming back and made sense! BTW, our forum leader Mr. Sodhi was simply fantastic! though i hated him while the forum was going on!!!(hope he doesnt read this).
So my Sincere advice to people! please do it! what have u got to lose? a few quid! see the payoffs! And please do the seminars. i mean for tubelights like me when u dont click during the Forum…….. this will do the trick!
padmaja
Miaah
16.07.10
It’s a Con, in a few months your friends will think you’re crazy, your life will never be the same. You will give up your valuable precious time to “volunteer” at Landmark (they will tell you you will get sooo much out of volunteering), you would have spent hundreds more on additional courses and voila, your life will become Landmark’s life, where people are allowed to speak ill of the people you love in your life who aren’t wiling to do the Landmark forum, making you feel like you have failed yourself. When really isn’t free choice? Get out now. No more LF!!!!!
Rachel
17.07.10
Oh dear Miaah how dreadfully cynical!
I have started to do the Breakthrough Seminars – one evening a week for 10 weeks. These come free after you’ve done the Forum – they are incredibly powerful and take the learning even deeper.
I haven’t been asked to volunteer, there’s been no pressure to buy anything and (through the learnings of the seminars) I am learning to give people the space to decide for themselves whether they’d like to share in the same amazing transformational work which is going on – simply by being positive about the breakthroughs I am having in my own life.
Rachel
Louise
22.07.10
I did the Forum, Advanced and SELP between last June -Dec and boy do I have a different life (which I love) now. I haven’t done any further courses nor feel at this point the need to. I have friends that did it 15 years ago and still believe that it was the most life changing event they’ve ever done and that what they learnt, stuck with them. I’ve introduced a few of my close friends to it and have watched amazed as their lives have been transformed. My best friend’s father had never met 3 out of 4 of his grandchildren. She did the course, fixed the communication breakdown and now has a relationship with him. He hasn’t done it, nor has her sister, but she’s been able to make the difference to link everyone back together which is fantastic. A cult, I think not. It’s all about bringing families back together again. My husband has a vastly improved relationship with both his mum and dad after the Forum. He took forever to sign up and was so sure that he wouldn’t last 3 days sitting still at a course. My daughter and I finally convinced him to “just get off his butt and do it”. It changed the way he approaches things now and he’s often called in to mediate with others as he’s able to listen to both sides without judging before they’re done.
I knew absolutely nothing about Landmark before I did the course. I went to an intro evening with a friend and signed up for the Forum starting 2 days later. I think if I had hunted around the internet beforehand, I probably would have bailed, but I’m very glad I didn’t.
Gerard
22.07.10
I’m afraid Miaah’s comments are falling on deaf ears, which will soon have their hearing restored, once the shine wear off. i tried to make an intellegent arguement, but Ms Elnaugh chose to make fun of me!!
My wife had a conversation with a landmark representative yesterday, who wanted her to participate in the leadership programme. She explained, in a most polite way that she would be unable to participate in any course at the minute due to personal issues and that she would be unable to commit to a round trip of over 300 miles, twice a week. She eventually just put the phone down as she did not want to be rude. This after 10 years involvement with this twisted organisation. The end is in sight though!!
Tim S
07.08.10
Hi Gerard
You post twice that Landmark have been branded a cult by several european governments. I was curious so I’ve been trying to google it and can find not reference to any govenment doing so. Perhaps you would care to name one govenment and provide a link?
I’ve recently done the Landmark stuff and it was generally good and not particually cult like. They do encourage you to bring more people and do more courses but that’s mostly just sales like any organisation that is keen to sell it’s services.
Jamie
10.08.10
There are more ways than one of separating someone from their loved ones. I find I can’t have a conversation with my sister any more without her pushing me to take this course. Any reason I give is branded as “resistance” as if I lack the maturity to make good, balanced decisions. This is all done in the name of love. It has driven a wedge between her and the family. She now wants to pressurize my wife and has already tried to pressurize my neice and nephew, both young teenagers.
Look at the methodology: techniques such as presenting people with “all-or-nothing” choices, long hours with short breaks designed at wearing people down, public humiliation, big claims about what the course offers.
It would be wrong of me to dismiss everything this course does and the ways that most of you say it has helped. I would simply want to encourage you to see that self-empowerment is not the highest good and to be open to the possibility that any human philosophy is flawed and has its darker side.
Rachel Elnaugh
10.08.10
Jamie
Boy, does it sound like you could do with actually experiencing Landmark – rather than sitting on the sidelines in judgement of something you’ve only heard about second hand.
I continue to be amazed about the breakthroughs I am achieving as a result of participating.
Hold the space of possibility that your sister may actually be trying to offer you the most amazing gift.
Rachel
Marie-Claire Carlyle
23.08.10
Beautifully said Rachel. You never cease to inspire me by who you are being for others.It takes real courage to stick your neck above the parapet and be a stand for what you believe in …and you do it time and time again, often in the face of massive resistance .
Love and admire you loads
Marie-Claire xx
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