Danielle Morrill

Absolutely, Landmark/Forum is a cult – a new age or large group awareness training cult. Don’t get talked into going back. My husband and I were in a Bible-based cult for years. I even wrote a book about our experience. Check out my website http://www.dallascult.com or Rick Ross’ website.

Take care,
Wendy J. Duncan
Author: I Can’t Hear God Anymore: Life in a Dallas Cult

With regards to your last point/question, I personally draw the line based on the core message of the organization. With pretty much all the established ‘religions’ today, the core motivation is (at least ostensibly) to get people to do good for their society and others.

With many cults (including Scientology and, it sounds like, Landmark), the core component of the teachings is that you personally can be/are better than you are or than others, and proceeds to ‘teach’ you how to achieve that.

At least, so it seems to me.

I don’t believe that Landmark Education is a cult. I have gotten so much out of it. I don’t see how something that helps people improve their lives could be considered so negatively in some peoples eyes.

Most people walking into an LGAT group like Landmark have no idea of the level of psychological manipulation that LGAT environments can have. It’s like saying you think you can handle yourself in a street fight, then you find out your opponent is a tenth grade black belt who has been street fighting for 30 years. Unless you’ve done SERE training or are remarkably psychologically tough, most LGAT’s will get through to you on some level.

I’m lucky to have been to several and avoided getting entangled but I would never put myself or a loved one in that situation again. It’s not worth the risk to your personal life, and research shows that LGAT self-improvement is short-lived.

I highly recommend you avoid Landmark. As Wendy says above, check out rickross.com for info on LGAT groups.

I’ve done the Landmark Forum and here’s the real deal: The Landmark Forum makes a huge difference for people — that’s why they/we keep going back.

It’s hardly a cult. Cults don’t encourage people to tell the truth, keep their word, call their mother, balance their checkbooks, give up regrets and resentments and live life fully. Landmark Education is about nothing more or less than people being empowered to fulfill on what matters to them.

The garbage about it on the Internet mostly seems to come from one source that is run by an ex-con with no training in cults. I can’t figure it out.

I went to a landmark forum at 13.It was something my parents ‘encouraged’ me to attend. I was in a very low point in my life and needed a pick me up.

It helped. Though in saying that, I’m not sure if it was a placebo. I think the most beneficial thing was going to a place where there were more people who had problems, worse than mine in some cases. It made me realise, maybe I didn’t have it so bad and could handle things.
The things that were taught in the 3 day seminar (12 hours a day) I didn’t take in so much, and remember anybody who presented a different view being talked down, and subtly ridiculed.

I left the seminar knowing people who had problems, knowing I wasn’t alone in that.
My Dad continued to go, despite how much it was costing him, he took me along with him.
I went to a more adult class. This was very intense. People taking notes, going up to speak to everybody and admitting things they had kept deep down. I didn’t see anything wrong at the time. But realised it wasn’t something I was interested in doing.

Thus the Landmark Sales machine got into action. (Note I was only 13, had only just gotten over some serious insecurities). I got calls every night, literally. Trying to convince me to come back to the expensive night classes once a week. They were very persuasive and would not let me hang up…
Ironically, the confidence I gained at the first and only ‘forum’ i went to, I used to move on and not go back.

I realised that what I really needed was me, a belief in myself and not an environment of peer pressure security.

Right, time to wrap up this life story.. now at 24 and having graduated University and learnt so much more, I can look back at my experience with landmark and be thankful I didn’t take it on any further.

Is it a cult? – in a way. Yes. As above they wont let you go without a fight, imagine loosing all that money I could have given them! I felt I had gained enough, but they didn’t. It should be up to the person who’s going whether they want to or not. And I know of people who have continued with it and experienced abuse and humiliation for the ‘better of themselves.’ From what I saw, it was not helping in any way shape or form.

An organization that charges money to make you feel good? Sounds like big pharma.

I’ve been to one Landmark Forum, me and a good friend were paid to go by another, getting less and less, a friend, as it’s all she talks about and is starting to get that weird, glazed-over-in-the-eyes, Moonie or Jimmy Jones member look in their eye.

Any organization the professes there’s only one way, there way, and that you need to pay more money for the next hit, is in fact, not an organization with your best interests in mind. My friend who went with a much more open mind but left with a sour taste is Catholic and opined something very similar. As a Catholic you shouldn’t talk bad about the Pope or the religion but you can of course without retribution or being called “weak,” and as a Catholic you can listen to others with their issues against Catholicism, but there’s no harm no foul.

The creepy thing about Landmark is all their Koolaid drinkers are like zombies, you can’t talk bad about their cul..er, organization, without them flipping out. That they themselves can’t take criticism is the telling fact. Which brings me back to the unalienable truth… how someone reacts says more about THEM, than it does about the event or question. If the Landmark Forums were really not a cult, then their members wouldn’t be so rabid to defend it, or would simply say “okay, you’re entitled to your opinion,” or you’d see more middle ground or gray area, but you don’t. Buyer beware.

This looks cool so far, what’s up people?
If there are any real people here looking to network, leave me a post.
Oh, and yes I’m a real person LOL.

Peace,

Hi all. I recently took the Landmark Forum and for me, the results have been and continue to be great. A lot of what Landmark does for participants like myself is to steer us away from the blame game – blaming others for unhappiness in our lives and taking responsibility for our own life regardless of circumstance. Some of that can be profound – like shedding the anger of child abuse or a bad marriage. Of course, all this sounds like common sense – stuff that wouldn’t require you to spend $500 on a three day course to learn. But spend an average day listening to others and yourself – really listening – how much of that champions the relationships in our life and how much is critique or complaint. In the Forum, I’ve seen extraordinary things happen – fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, husbands, and wifes reconcile after years of disconnection and hurting one another. I got to tell my mother and my brother how much I love them and atone for things I had done earlier to cause us distance. Had I done The Forum earlier I could have included my father as well. Much of what Landmark shares is that being of service to others to how we find our own humanity and being. If others judge negatively, honestly there’s little I can do to change their opinion other than to express the truly positive affect it’s has for me. It is neither pseudo-religion nor kool-aid. Just a set of tools that allows many of us to stop living on the sidelines and create wonderful course adjustments in our all-too-short lives.

I to was very skeptical about the landmark education. I went to an intro at a friends house. At that time I had never heard of landmark. I found value in the intro and decided to sign up. I did not put any money down because I wanted to research it on the internet first. So I did so . That night I hopped on the old wwweb and googled landmard forum . what i got was a lot of good a lot of bad. more bad . and then more good .. I was over it .. I was also full of fear that I to would have to expose a vulnerable side of myself to a large group. ssshhh yeah right. I told my friend “Im okay I can do it on my own but thanks”. I later had a conversation with a family member, whom I had not seen in eight years, in which I saw a tremendous change in his whole presence. After some talk He mentioned he had done the landmark forum. It was so inspiring to me that I said to myself “I have nothing to lose’. If he got that out of this education than I have nothing to lose. I then committed to the forum. I got a lot of value after completing the forum and have seen tremendous results in my life from the education. I now see that all that is fear and skeptisism is a barrier. This fear limits my acces to new ideas and events that give me the opportunity to see a new way of living my life . This fear is generated from my past events that I compensated for in order to survive. Not live . But survive. I have gotten from the forum is that I have the tools and access to now live . fully self expressed , without fear, attachment. My past is my past and I am committed to Now living in a mind state of unlimited possibilities . Im glad I went and encourage others to look into the education and choose freely.. Peace .. One love.. R

[...] by just how much of my web traffic is driven to my original post from over a year ago, “Is Landmark Forum a Cult?” Since I continue to cross paths with Landmark influenced people in my life, I think it is [...]

I thought I would enter this blog and leave my 10 cents worth. I actually found this blog whilst looking for a Landmark Forum event in SW Florida where I live. Between 1994 and 1997 I attended the Landmark Forum, the advanced class, and half of 2 other classes I can’t remember the name of. I am from the UK where this kind self-improvement is looked at as BS most of the time, so think I went to the events with a pretty closed mind.

The Forum, a three day event, was grueling. You sit in a room with 200 to 300 other people and deconstruct your life. A lot of people get up on stage in a emotional attempt to find out what stops them from being the person they want to be. Often it’s hard to watch but something remarkable happens towards the end of the event. You start to realize how much alike people really are. We tend to confine ourselves to our peer groups, our beliefs, and our comfort zone. After the Landmark Forum the world looked different for me. I really wanted to connect with people in a way that I had never done before. I looked at EVERYONE wondering, what’s their story and want’s great about them?

My way of being was somewhat short lived as I drifted back to my old self often cynical and self absorbed. After a few months, I went to the advanced course which was good but didn’t have the same impact.

I would say that Landmark is not like a cult but results are going to depend on you. Some people get fanatical about the program and are almost scary to talk to. However, some amazingly interesting and accomplished people from practically every walk of life attend these seminars. I’ve made some great friends, none of whom are still involved in Landmark but all who got something out of it. $400 is really not a lot of money to spend for what I believe is definitely an something worth experiencing. Some people have gone on to do amazing things with their lives as a result of attending Landmark.

Finally it is by the far the best place you could ever go if you are single and want to meet someone and if you’ve been to the Forum before, it’s only $100 to reattend – that’s why i’m looking!!!

Hope this helps.