In 1992, right before going off to college, one of my best friends was gushing about this thing he did, called the "Landmark Forum". His whole family had done it, and they were a very together family (very close, very successful, and very happy).

I thought it was kind of weird (and expensive), but I decided to go for it. The night before the first session was on, my parents and I were watching the Barbara Walters special, when she talked to Tom Cruise, and Cruise was gushing about this "technology" of Scientology that changed his life.

Since the Forum also used "technology" in its spiel, my mom was worried for me, and urged me to take everything they said with a grain of salt.

The Landmark Forum was based out of est, but wasn't the Erhard progam (I don't think). At least, Erhard wasn't quoted throughout my program. They didn't make him out as some kind of god, like est did.

The layout of my sessions (hotel ballroom, straight backed chairs in pristine order, annoyingly happy volunteers) was the same, but I don't remember verbal abuse on the scale of that article. The fear excercise was the same (except we stayed seated in our chairs, not laying on the floor). I didn't "get" that excercise; other people were giggling about it by the end, but I didn't see what was so funny.

Anyway, I saw the whole thing through, including a "Forum in Action" followup course, but I didn't come out "transformed" (though I did come out to my best friend about my crossdressing). I took what was useful, and left the rest behind.

My friend's family took part in a lot of the courses, and remain a very loving, and happy family.

Interestingly, I remember that Landmark was involved in legal entanglements with Scientology, and that they had an outreach committee that tried its best to separate Landmark from the Church of Scientology, in the media.

While I was leery about the program I went through, I have to say that I felt very anxious reading that account in the article above. That de>

Hi Just Call me J. You can use this sort of thing to your benefit. I call it "informal training". Scam artists depend on predictable response. "Money back guarantee" being an example. 95% of folks won't return the merchandise no matter if it's brass plated shit. Subject yourself to uncomfortable marketing experiences. This is where hypervigilance,if you've got it,comes in handy. Your body's seated there,your lips are moving but that's just illusion for the benefit of the person trying to empty your wallet by scamming you. The real you's a short distance away,in the air,invisable,listening,watching,taking note. He's got you tagged as a rube. It's fascinating and informative. You're thinking "What's he doing now? Ah,ha. I'm supposed to trust him. I'm supposed to feel guilty if I don't trust him. Okay,here it comes. He's going to get to the money part". After he figures you've been suckered you get to say "No thank you". He does'nt give up. That's when you look at your wrist,say "Gotta get going. I'm late". He says "But you're not wearing a watch". You reply "Who needs a watch? It's two freckles past a scar". That's when realization dawns on him what's happened. Poor baby. Tinfoil does this often. Car dealerships are fun. Just did it to the President & management of one of the biggest electronics corporations in America that tried to shaft me. I should write a book "Practical Application of Hypervigilance".