Landmark Education - A tryst with mind-control

To begin with, I am not writing this very long article about Landmark Forum Education to tirade my complaints and the workings of the ‘for-profit’ organization but I was compelled to vent my ire and frustration after one of the “Landmark” employee, Mr., Rao, S.K contacted me over phone, from their Bangalore Office to strike me into some sort of submission with a raucous and boisterous attitude and to exterminate my peace of mind and ruin my working day.

Let me start by drawing your attention to certain words used so disparagingly by Mr. Rao, S.K (whether carefully chosen or recklessly let loose, you decide.), and I quote all what he had to say

 “I am a 20-80 % guy”, he meant I am 80% loser and that “I will not improve in life and I will remain a loser and an unsuccessful person and not withstanding calling me all sorts of names and negative branding my lifestyle and dishonoring my credibility and commitments. He further adds that he will have me kicked off if I even try to attend your courses and will have the registration money “thrown” at my face. (This is a paltry sum of 700 Rs for me) he then proceeds to judge my inabilities and cuts off the phone without warning.

I was, quite understandably, gravely distraught and took the effort of calling him  (Rao,S.K) back right away after confronting my friend and explaining the conversation I just had with the Landmark employee. This is where things started getting more interesting, I ask “ In what capacity you work for Landmark? “ and he claimed to be the man in charge of fresh-induction (registration manager , I think he said).So, I ask what gave him the authority to judge my commitment or lack of it and how he got around to call me a failure , a 80% loser and using inappropriate names and not exhibiting any effort to listen me out and he answers none of my question but goes  ahead to cut my calls after he labels me more names. I faced a similar if not a harrowing experience in their Chennai office which drew me to a conclusion that Landmark is more interested to get me registered than show any interest so mentioned otherwise in the introduction.

This now brings me to your introduction session.

The Forum Leader, on that day spent 4-5 hours on the introduction. All about how we could have a better life if only we completed the Forum and attended more Advanced Forum classes. It seemed very fishy that before any real information was revealed people were airing their personal dirty laundry. I suspect some were plants. They twisted the English language. Why not just use words that actually describe what you mean? Every time new jargon was introduced the leader took time to describe its meaning. They spend too much time teaching their new language and literally talking in circles. By the time I decided this seminar had absolutely no value, it was dinner time. I planned to leave, but felt the responsibility to inform one of the volunteers. This was a bad idea. I should have just left. He spent more than an hour trying to manipulate me into staying. I remained for the rest of that evening, which only strengthened my resolve to not come back. Landmark people still called me trying to get me to come back. (Hopefully you will give up, now)

Let me give you a brief on what happened that day and why I feel today that It  will have no help or bearing on my life anymore principally after my interaction with the likes of Mr. Rao,S.K and their Chennai office.

THE INTRODUCTION:

The evening began with the leader of the forum, a guy in his mid / late 30s, smooth talker, witty, friendly, coming on stage and sharing his first encounter with the forum. How he was totally skeptical about it, thinking it to be yet another marketing gimmick, how he thought of joining it only to get his friend off his back, and then ended up being the leader of the forum.  

He shared how his whole life has changed in those 3 days. He went on saying things like, what you get from the forum is beyond your perceptions. The forum works in the dark area of your mind which you don’t even know exist. It opens you up to things you don’t even know that you don’t know. Like you cannot write the theory of a cycle balance, like you can’t define how you walk or breathe, what you get from the forum and how it creates new possibilities for your life is also indefinable.  

Having said all that, he invited participants to come on stage and share their experiences. A lot of hands were raised but due to time constraint only 3or 4 of them could be called upon. 

To begin with, I saw the workbook had a total of 6 columns, (i) areas working out, (ii) areas not working out, (iii) area you are working on (I got stuck here only, so I’ll mention the rest 3 later, let me first tell you why I was stuck here) I wondered why isn’t there a 4^th column asking ‘area you are NOT working on?’ Ok, that would be stupid to ask but the point is what if I am not working on any area at all. What if I think everything about my life is just perfect; there is nothing that I need to work on. Relationships with my family and sibling can’t be any better, I have a reasonably good job (though I have lost a few jobs down the road), can pay my bills, great friends circle. Yes I do feel low at times, I do fight with mom and dad but that’s being alive. Life is a roller coaster you don’t need to get ‘worked’ up with the ‘downs’ cause there would always be ‘ups’.  

So basically I had no where else to go from here. This place isn’t for me cause I am not working on anything at all. Still, I wanted to cooperate with the volunteer in the session.  So I picked love and romance as the area in my life which is not working out and I am trying to work. I should have picked sex actually but I didn’t want to shock his moral crap out. And it makes sense also, for some one who comes across as one of the most sought after personality, at his 30 and still single, it makes sense to choose this area. Truth however is, I am NOT working on this aspect. By default and by nature you cannot work on love and romance. Love happens you don’t work on it and more so I am still in the working stages of my love life and as of this week I am sitting much better with my love than any point in my life, anyways back to the session

The next 3 steps: 

So we have picked up the area the next questions or columns were (iv) probable almost certain future (v) What’s missing the presence of which would make a difference, and finally (vi) Inventing a new possibility.  

Your Probable Almost Certain Future:

At this step he asked, as you are working on an area, answer yourself 3 questions what are you doing, what are you having, who are you being.  I couldn’t find answers to these questions, I and I am sure many in the room didn’t even get the question. The volunteer related the questions to his experience, which helped.  

He said, he has a problem with his mother and how he had procrastinated on that relationship and so on and so forth

I tried to relate his story to my area. What am I doing? Making friends, going out drinking, smoking, calling bloggers meet and meeting many interesting people everyday chatting with some of them on Gtalk or MSN or Yahoo!, accepting them if they ask me out for a date. Although I rarely ask anybody out. Admittedly I have a fear of rejection.  So who am I being? I am being single. Not lonely but alone. Yes, I do have some bad evenings when I feel like crying, when I wish I had that some one special by my side. But they are just bad evenings and the next day I am fine. What am I having? A feeling that there aren’t many gals out their who would accept me the way I am. Finding my girl seems to be difficult and there is a possibility I would always be single.

“Bingo there you go, your probable almost certain future which you have created for yourself by thinking the way you think.”  That’s what the volunteer would have told me if I would have told him what I was thinking. And I dare not even think what my friends would say if they heard that.

But I have a POV here. Yes I have created my own probable almost certain future, which, at times I am afraid, does become sad and lonely. And this is being created because I have been carrying things from the past. But is it really right to say just bury the past. I mean aren’t we all supposed to learn from our past. Don’t they say history repeats itself? So you better not do the same stupid things you did in the past. How can we completely ignore our past? 

Anyways I know you guys they can corner me on this. But I guess you will not be interested in me anymore after this mail. Roa,S.K might , but he already has given up on me, didn’t he say he will kick me off Landmark.

Ok, back to the next step I had at his intro session

What is missing the presence of which would make a difference?

Now this one was a real tricky one. Kinda like mathematical theorem or a linear equation. So, what is missing in your life? This time he came close to my seat and directly asked me that question. “I don’t know, I can’t figure out. See the area I chose was love and romance…so what is missing… well the area is not working out and I am single, so what is missing…A woman I guess?” I know it was funny but no body laughed at my answer. They were just too surprised to hear me speak.

“Ok, assume you had that special woman in your life. Assume you have a committed relationship? How would you feel then?”  He had already done this personalized bit with another guy so I knew where he was going.  

I was being naïve though. I said, “How would I know, how would I feel unless I have been through it. I have never been into a relationship before my current one and I honestly don’t know how it feels.”  

He was not happy with the answer. He asked again, “how would your life be if you had that woman.”

“Life would be different for sure. I wouldn’t have to always call my friends for a drink. I would have one woman for all time to exercise all my rights on her. I would have some one to call at the end of the day to generally crib about what happened at work. [There would be a lot of sex happening (ok that I didn’t say)] so life would be a bit different from what it is now.”

“Yes, but how would you feel.”   

“I don’t know, may be I’ll feel good may be I’ll think what a pain is this relationship.  I just cannot understand how can I say how would I feel to have a relationship when I have never been into one.

You see Mam, I am part like an atheist, a non believer, I just do not believe that everything is great. I want a relationship in life, yes, but I am not certain it’s all going to be a bed of roses. I am sorry but I don’t understand.”  

“Hmm! Think about it. Keep thinking.” And he gave up.  

I got inattentive after this. It was 22:30 – 23:00 and I was hungry like a wolf. I had by now made up my mind, my life is too complicated to be fixed in 3 days.

 The last part was something about inventing a new possibility. We were to declare to ourselves what is our new possibility. Like he had declared “I would get my mom to participate in my life”

 I declared, “Some day I’d get it right. Some day some where I’ll find her. No issues if I don’t.”   

After this he told us to take out the registration form and started instructing us how to fill it.  “Write your full name, your age at the second column….”  

I immediately interrupted, I said, “Excuse me., I am a bit confused, was this session only for those who decided to join the forum? 

“No, its absolutely your choice. But allow us to help you take a decision.”  There were many more volunteers standing in the back of the room. The moment he said that, they all came close to each one of us, sat by our side. One of them came to me as well. I had kept my pen down by this time murmuring, “I decide to not join.”

So Mr. T came to me to help me take a decision. I told him I have already decided. He was very smiley and happy. He said he wasn’t there to insist but to revisit that question, what is missing? 

Let me tell you where was he trying to go, where did the earlier volunteer try to go and how is it like a linear equation.

“How would you feel if you had that woman?” Assuming my answer to this question is, “I would feel happy, I would feel being taken care of, being loved, would feel important and would be content.”  

This implies ­­=> you are not happy, not being loved, not being take care of and ‘Hence Proved’ something about your life is not right and that is affecting your productivity in every aspect and therefore you need to work on this aspect and you do that by joining the Landmark Forum.  

I thanked Mr. T, thanked the volunteer, and told them the introduction session got me thinking a lot. LF has been helpful.  

Outside the hall, back on Bangalore road, I met my friend and told her I will surely join (more so to answer my curiosities and all those questions that were un-answered in the opening session).

 

To conclude let me give you an example,

"A friend of mine has been in Landmark a couple of months back and it is taking over her life. She only wants to think the Landmark ways and emulate the things that you thought her to believe. Now she has more time for Landmark and volunteering. She is usually broke, but somehow always seems to find money for more Landmark programs. She has just registered for on of your advanced courses now.

All her dialogue sounds like rehashed Landmark terminology. She talks about 'creating new possibilities,' 'breakthroughs' and living a 'life of authentic etc.etc. Of course she is always trying to get others to try out the Forum. Everything she talks about or does is about Landmark. I personally have nothing against anything that will help people empower there lives and make them better, but my friend's life is losing balance and she is becoming more and more dependent on Landmark in an unhealthy way."

Finally, I have to confess that I consider Landmark Education to have spent a lot of energy and money to prove that it does not fit the definition of a cult. The fact that you guys felt it was necessary to make such an effort should send red flags up! But what about an examination of how Landmark actually runs, its processes and principles? The function of a seminar leader should be to encourage critical thinking amongst participants. However, this is not apparent at Landmark seminars (as I learnt with my conversations with your Bangalore and Chennai offices) Instead, Landmark's programs seems to narrow the focus upon the leader, who assumes strict control (Like Mr. Rao who was the dominant conversationalist on the call), which clearly does not encourage free thought.

I feel overall that I was ridiculed, by Landmark, and I am happy that it’s yet to change my life or that it will ever help or assist my life in the future. I would urge that you guys at Landmark change and mend your ethics and behavior when you approach people over the phone or interacting with them any  other way, for you operate for a profit it is best you adopt that stand and not mislead people over empowering their life because you have not done any help towards me but in turn created an imbalance in my work schedule that day, not withstanding my peace of mind.

 

Following this very mail reaching their desk (I sent a similar email voicing what I feel about them and their cowardly acts to Landmark forum Employee), they did not bother replying rather my friend replies on their behalf , she now, is not in talking terms with me and has abruptly disconnected her friendship with me .

 

Now she had sent in some more references of people who had done the ‘week-end’ course by LM and how it had empowered and changed their lives. She goes on to send in more references and contact numbers of these people, which I felt was totally inappropriate since I was never answered to my complains or questions towards LM but she was more intent to get me registered to the forum course.

 

THREE – FOUR people (she sent reference) cannot make  her argument strong or my opinion WEAK…people rely more on their professional training and their business model and a whole scope of other training to get successful or famous or best in their profession , I cant see her argument see the light of day.

 

Take these simple examples.

 

LM forum/education was stated sometime in 1991, so from her inference there cannot be a better empowerment but how do you justify that they cannot advertise in the local newspaper , have not hosted or been in any workshops worldwide with an audience of more than a few thousand, how come they have pending cases within the jurisdiction of US and Europe, how come many families have put a joint litigation against them for creating stress and undue splits within the family (as a near example take my friend  and I, she was willing to curse, break my morale and call me a fool and cut me off as a friend in the name of LM values).

 

Coming to LM breakthrough potential, why cant they list it out to me rather than I go and secretively attend a dueling three days and god help others who cant learn super empowerment in THREE Days, No training or course or any assist in the world can be done in paltry THREE days, what took great scientist, doctors, engineers , artist, architect and other professionals more than a decade of learning cant ever be accelerated or enhanced by THREE Measly days of LM education.

 

She had quoted a few people, but I can cite the example of a Billion people who have nothing to so with LM OR its cult values BUT are super successful and happy and live life to the full extent.

Let’s take the top ten scientists of yesteryears, they know nothing of LM and the teaching methods but are very very instrumental in today’s evolution. You and I benefited a thousand times because of these people…

 

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)

Emil Fisher (1852-1919)

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953)

Paul Dirac (1902-1984)

 

Now, you tell me they all had a lesser IQ< yes they were mocked and went through more humiliation but they are my leaders NOT Land Mark.

 

Why the top ten models in the world all having an IQ less than an average high-school student have been world class in their profession and successful, they did not need any cult education.

 

Gisele Bundchen: $33 million

Kate Moss: $9 million

Heidi Klum: $8 million

Adriana Lima: $6 million

Allessandra Ambrosio: $6 million

Carolyn Murphy: $5 million

Natalia Vodianova: $4.5 million

Karolina Kurkova: $3.5 million

Daria Werbowy: $3.5 million

Gemma Ward: $3 million

 

 

They greatest living entrepreneurs and business men in Europe have modest background and have started their working models without any cult such as LM… these men have an average or above average IQ and no relation with LM

 

01 Peter Brabeck

NESTLE

02 Marco Tronchetti Povera

TELECOM ITALIA

04 Michael O’Leary

RYANAIR

05 Emilio Botín

BANCO SANTANDER

06 Jorma Ollila

NOKIA

07 Terry Leahy

TESCO

08 Wendelin Wiedeking

PORSCHE

09 Josef Ackermann

DEUTSCHE BANK

10 Arnaud Lagardère

LAGARDERE

 

 

Not to mention LM only supports and needs gullible people and will certainly not have an outspoken person such as me.

In case you do choose to attend their three-day course, One day you will realize that all LM can do is what your father, mother, friends, teachers and mentors have already told you but you were just not listening , LM does no breakthrough methods , they can at best stress only what we already know.

 

Stop wasting your time with them and spend more with your family, kids and friends and colleagues, they will value you better one day for this , not your time spent in LM.

 

IF people really have been empowered by LM’s teaching, why can’t they share it with me as a friend and I will learn from them, why should I join LM to learn??? Are they not my friend, so tell me?? Why be secretive and why really, cant they share what they did there that changed them so positively??

 

THINK THIS:

Landmark Education is a diluted form of a marketing for-profit company. It claims to be an educational organization, but there are major differences. There are no books or syllabi or exams. You only have to attend a weekend course to become a graduate, but don't expect to get academic recognition. The course is "taught" through high-powered sales techniques to groups of 100- 200 hundred by forum leaders. There are no tests or exams, but your progress can be tested by your ability to recruit others to the courses, which cost in the region of 6000 Rupee a time.

 

IF you think Landmark is wonderful and try to live up to the teaching of unlimited potential. I found it extremely manipulative and distasteful. They promise personal transformation and they sure deliver - they make you dependant on Landmark. If you really want enlightenment I'd recommend Dorothy Rowe's Guide to Life. It's much cheaper than a Landmark course and you don't have to submit to any form of shallow group therapy to find out who you are.

 

And I did learn something from this weekend. You have to trust your own judgment, even if it means going against everyone else.

I'm not saying LM Education is totally fraud. But what’s so secret about the course that they would not tell anyone though they are ready to enroll everyone??

• And what is this miracle that will solve everything?
• Will telling about it make it ineffective or what will happen if they tell in advance what they teach there?
• Does LM allow Free will, or do they focus only on thought control?

 

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