Landmark Forum California. Is it a scam or just a cult?

I am an intelligent former teacher now business owner, and I have done the Landmark Forum in Australia; and I can assure you it is not a cult, it is Personal Development. People see huge transformations in people who have done the Forum and believe that it must be brainwashing or such, however these people have been able to let go of huge parts of their life that were holding them back in what they want to achieve or in their relationships with others.

A breakthrough I personally had was I was able to let go of the story I had created which caused me to have chronic anxiety, I now no longer have anxiety which is a HUGE deal for me.

In my research before the Forum I read a few things that disturbed me, however since doing the Forum I can debunk a few of them:

1. It is not a cult. Cults take you away from your family, control your life and order you to live a certain way. Landmark Education brings people back with their families if that has been an area affecting them, they offer you a new way to view events that happen in your life, which is a very freeing thing, however they do not control you to live this way and if you choose not to live this way when you walk out of the course then there is no pressure to.

2. They do not leech peoples money from them. Yes you pay for courses you sign up for , however they do not call you after asking for donations of any kind or ask for more than the price of the course.

3. There is no continual calls. If you are getting calls it is because someone you know has put your name down to get a call. Landmark tell participants to ask the people in their lives if they are open to having a phone call from a Landmark rep. They do not want to call and bother people who have not given permission for this to happen.

4. They do not pressure people into giving up their time. People volunteer when they do further courses with Landmark. I have done 3 courses through them and have only been asked once, and I declined.

You should not do the Forum if you feel pressured to do so, because you won't get anything out of it. It's like if you go see a movie you had heard it was really awful but your girlfriend really wanted to see it, because you already had this opinion that it was rubbish, thats all you're going to see in the movie (does that make sense?). You need to do the Forum by your own choice. If someone who has done it is pressuring you tell them "I really appreciate your excitement about what you've gotten out of this, however you're making me feel pressured about doing it. And if I do it because I feel pressured then I'm not really going to get anything out of it. Let me think about whether I am interested and then I'll have a discussion with you about it."

Let me finish with a few points of interest. Landmark Education has had Oxford University write the foreword and publish the first of their books, Oxford then worked with Landmark on their second book. I don't believe Oxford University work with cults.

They have had Olympic athletes (including an extremely prominent Aussie one who then got the Aus Olympic committee to do the Forum) as well as Academy Award winners complete their Forum.

Back in the 90's there was a man who did the Forum and he said he would like to be a writer, he was coached in what was holding him back, then he took the actions he needed to to achieve this. 6 months later his Forum leader received a signed copy of a movie he had written called Fight Club...

Look, as someone who has done the Forum I can confidently say that most of the articles and "research" written about Landmark are bullsh*t, mostly written by people who haven't been or have gone in with an ulterior motive and left after half a day. I am actually living a life now I never thought possible because of how much my anxiety controlled my life. But you need to do it for yourself, not because you feel pressured. Tell this person that they are actually turning you off, have a breather from the pressure then have a think about something you would like to change in your life but don't see how you could. E.g. a better relationship with family members, going further in or changing your career, a goal you would like to achieve but don't feel like you can because of whatever reasons you have. Have a think, I highly recommend, don't read the bullsh*t, do it for yourself.

My experience with Landmark is similar to Grace's. Here are some links that may be helpful.

Is the Landmark Forum a cult?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnP77ktgKBo

LandmarkForum "If I could recommend only one adventure, The Landmark Forum would be my choice." http://t.co/P7xHNhkN2v -John Chmela, Top 100 Adventures

New York Times story: tinyurl.com/4jasfby

Business Week/Panda Express story: tinyurl.com/4ln53am

Landmark forum – cult, scam, or path to enlightenment? February 2011 tinyurl.com/6k2ucqo

Neither. Who are you to say your older friend is feeble minded? Are you willing to make that assertion to his face? Further, how do you know he is ruined? The courses cost less than just about any other personal development seminars out there; at the most 1/3 that of Tony Robbins Seminars or Franklin Covey. They are by far the most popular seminars of their kind. Nobody can stop you from believing what you want. Not even these guys.

You just answered your own question, didn't you?

Landmark isn't quite a cult but it's close. It's slightly more cultish than Scientology.

It's hard to say if it's a scam since some people claim it did legitimately help them...but only after they paid thousands of dollars in ever-more-expensive seminars.

Scam. Your post involves threats and blackmail, and it has been reported.