Religiosity Rejected
Exploring the Religio-Spiritual Dimensions of Landmark Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v2i2.225Keywords:
Landmark Education, the Landmark Forum, corporate religion, Werner ErhardAbstract
As the descendant of Werner Erhard's 1970s Human Potential group est (Erhard Seminars Training), Landmark Education has continuously denied being a religious organization. Despite ample discourse on the religious nature of the group within popular online and print media, a conspicuous void within academia - particularly within Religious Studies - speaks volumes. Rarely are the boundaries of what constitutes a ‘religion’ expanded in order to explore those groups that, though not understood to be ‘religious’ in a traditional sense, clearly contribute to contemporary 'spiritual' life. And yet, that Landmark Education is perceived as being somehow religious demands deeper analysis. This article highlights the problematics of 'religion' within late Western modernity as illustrated by the contention surrounding the religious status of both Scientology and Transcendental Meditation. A discussion of Landmark Education is offered in light of these issues, along with a dissection of the religio-spiritual dimensions of the organisation and its primary product, the Landmark Forum. Incorporating several eastern spiritual practices, the highly emotional nature of the Landmark Forum’s weekend training is such as to create Durkheimian notions of 'religious effervescence', altering pre-existing belief systems and producing a sense of the sacred collective. Group-specific language contributes to this, whilst simultaneously shrouding Landmark Education in mystery and esotericism. The Forum is replete with stories of miracles, healings, and salvation apposite for a modern western paradigm. Indeed, the sacred pervades the training, manifested in the form of the Self, capable of altering the very nature of the world and representing the 'ultimate concern'.
References
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Bartley III, w. w. 1978 Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man: The Founding of est. New York: clarkson N. Potter.
Beckford, James A. 1980 Scientology, Social Sciences and the Definition of Religion. california: Freedom Publishing.
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. 2003 “Scientology: Religion or Racket?” Marburg Journal of Religion 8(1).
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Bennet, Vanora. 2000 “The Story of our Lives” (excerpt) The Times Magazine, Saturday July 15. Published online. Accessed at http://www.landmarkeducation.com/display_content.jsp?top=21andmid=80andbottom=124andsiteobjectId=577 on 8 February 2011.
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Bry, Adelaide. 1976 est: 60 Hours That Transform Your Life. New York: Avon.
Campbell, Colin. 2007 The Easternization of the West : a Thematic Account of Cultural Change in the Modern Era. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.
Canetti, Elias. 1984 Crowds and Power. Translated by Masse and Macht. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
Carrette, Jeremy R. and Richard King. 2005 Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion. oxfordshire: Routledge.
Chambers, Deborah. 2006 New Social Ties: Contemporary Connections in a Fragmented Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chaves, Mark. 1994 “Secularization as declining Religious Authority.” Social Forces 72(3): 749–774.
Chryssides, George d. 1999 Exploring New Religions. London and New York: cassell.
Dawson, Lorne L. 2004 “Religion and the Quest for Virtual communities.”In Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet, edited by L.L. dawson and d.E cowan, 69–83. New York and London: Routledge.
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----- 2007 Author’s email correspondence with werner Erhard, August-october 2007.
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Landmark Education website. 2011a “company History: Landmark Education.” http://www.landmarkeducation.com/about_landmark_company_history.jsp. Accessed on 2 July, 2011.
----- 2011b “How the Landmark Forum works.” Accessed at http://www.landmarkeducation.com/landmark_forum_basic_information.jsp on 02/07/2011.
----- 2011c “Landmark Results.” http://www.landmarkforum.net/Blog/. Accessed on 02 July, 2011.
----- 2011d “Landmark Education News Blog by Landmark Forum Graduates.” Accessed at http://www.landmarkeducationnews.com/ on 02/07/2011.
----- 2011e “The Landmark Newsletter.” http://landmarknewsletter.com/. Accessed on 02 July, 2011.
----- 2011f “Landmark connect.” http://www.landmarkconnect.com/. Accessed on 02 July, 2011.
----- 2011g “The Landmark Forum course Syllabus.” http://www.landmarkeducation. com/landmark_forum_course_syllabus.jsp. Accessed on 02 July, 2011.
----- 2011h “Landmark Education Fact Sheet.” http://www.landmarkeducation.com/ about_landmark_education_fact_sheet.jsp. Accessed on 02 July, 2011
Lohrey, Amanda. 2006 “Voting for Jesus: christianity and Politics in Australia.” Quarterly Essay 22: 1–79.
Lovemarks website. 2011 “Landmark Education.” http://www.lovemarks.com/index.php?pageId=20 015andlovemarkid=660. Accessed on 26 January 2011.
Lynch, Gordon. 2007 The New Spirituality: An Introduction to Progressive Belief in the Twenty-first Century. London and New York: I.B.Tauris.
Marshall, Jeannie. 1997 “The Est in the Business.” Saturday Night, June, 23–27.
Mccarl, Steven R. and Steve Zaffron et al. 2001 “The Promise of Philosophy and The Landmark Forum.” http://www. mutluolmakistiyorum.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/the-promise-ofphilosophy.pdf. Accessed on 9 August 2011.
Mcclure, Laura. 2009 “The Landmark Forum: 42 Hours, $500, 65 Breakdowns.” Mother Jones, July/August 2009 Issue. http://motherjones.com/media/2009/07/landmark-42-hours-500-65-breakdowns. Accessed on 14 July, 2011.
Melton, J. Gordon. 2001 Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Volume 1, 5th Edition. detroit, MI: Gale.
Miller, Timothy. 1995 America’s Alternative Religions. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Oakes, Len. 1997 Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Otto, Rudolf. 1958 [1917] The Idea of the Holy. oxford: oxford University Press.
Partridge, christopher. 2006 “Transcendental Meditation” in Encyclopedia of New Religions: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, edited by c. Partridge and J.G. Melton, 182–187. oxford: Lion Hudson.
Pressman, Stephen. 1993 Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard From est to Exile, New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Puttick, Elizabeth. 2004 “Landmark Education” in Encyclopedia of New Religions: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, edited by c. Partridge and J.G. Melton, 406–407. oxford: Lion Hudson.
Rawlinson, Andrew. 1997 The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions. chicago, IL: open court.
Reat, N. Ross. 1983 “Insiders and outsiders in the Study of Religious Traditions.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 51(3): 459–476. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ jaarel/LI.3.459
Rhinehart, Luke. 1976 The Book of est. New York: Holt, Rhinehart and winston.
Roof, wade clark. 1999 Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ross, Rick A. 2011 “Rick A. Ross Institute Internet Archives for the study of destructive cults, controversial Groups and Movements: Landmark Education.” cited at www.rickross.com/groups/landmark.html. Accessed on 11 January 2011.
Rudy, david R. and Arthur L. Greil. 1989 “Is Alcoholics Anonymous A Religious organization?: Meditations on Marginality.” Sociological Analysis 50(1): 41–51. http://dx.doi. org/10.2307/3710917
Rossman, Michael. 1979 New Age Blues: On the Politics of Consciousness. New York: E.P. dutton.
Samways, Louise. 1994 Dangerous Persuaders: An Expose of Gurus, Personal Development Courses and Cults, and How they Operate. Australia: Penguin Books.
Stone, donald. 1976 “The Human Potential Movement” In New Religious Consciousness, edited by c.Y. Glock and R.N. Bellah, 93–115. Berkeley: University of california Press.
----- 1982 “The charismatic Authority of werner Erhard.” In Millennialism and Charisma, edited by Roy wallis, 141–175. Belfast: The Queen’s University.
Tillich, Paul. 1963 Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions. New York: columbia University Press.
Thornburgh, Nathan. 2011 “change we can (Almost) Believe In.” In Time Magazine, Sunday 10 April. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2055188,00. html. Accessed on 14 July, 2011.
Wallace, Anthony F.c. 1965 “Revitalisation Movements” American Anthropologist, New Series 58(2): 264–281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1956.58.2.02a00040
Wallis, Roy. 1982 “Introduction” to Millennialism and Charisma, edited by Roy wallis, 1–12. Belfast: The Queen’s University.
Wilson, Bryan R. 2004 “Scientology: A Secularized Religion.” In The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society, 267–288. oxford: oxford University Press.
Balch, Robert w. 1982 “Bo and Peep: A case Study of the origins of Messianic Leadership.” In Millennialism and Charisma, edited by Roy wallis, 13–72. Belfast: The Queen’s University.
Barrett, david V. 2001 The New Believers:A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions. London: cassell.
Bartley III, w. w. 1978 Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man: The Founding of est. New York: clarkson N. Potter.
Beckford, James A. 1980 Scientology, Social Sciences and the Definition of Religion. california: Freedom Publishing.
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. 2003 “Scientology: Religion or Racket?” Marburg Journal of Religion 8(1).
Bellah, Robert. 1976 “New Religious consciousness and the crisis in Modernity” in New Religious Consciousness, edited by c.Y. Glock and R.N. Bellah, 333-352, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, University of california Press.
Bennet, Vanora. 2000 “The Story of our Lives” (excerpt) The Times Magazine, Saturday July 15. Published online. Accessed at http://www.landmarkeducation.com/display_content.jsp?top=21andmid=80andbottom=124andsiteobjectId=577 on 8 February 2011.
Bromley, david G. and Mitchell L. Bracey. 1998 “The church of Scientology: A Quasi-Religion.” In Sects, Cults, and Spiritual Communities: a Sociological Analysis, edited by w.w. Zellner and M. Petrowsky, 141–156. Praeger: westport.
Bry, Adelaide. 1976 est: 60 Hours That Transform Your Life. New York: Avon.
Campbell, Colin. 2007 The Easternization of the West : a Thematic Account of Cultural Change in the Modern Era. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.
Canetti, Elias. 1984 Crowds and Power. Translated by Masse and Macht. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
Carrette, Jeremy R. and Richard King. 2005 Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion. oxfordshire: Routledge.
Chambers, Deborah. 2006 New Social Ties: Contemporary Connections in a Fragmented Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chaves, Mark. 1994 “Secularization as declining Religious Authority.” Social Forces 72(3): 749–774.
Chryssides, George d. 1999 Exploring New Religions. London and New York: cassell.
Dawson, Lorne L. 2004 “Religion and the Quest for Virtual communities.”In Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet, edited by L.L. dawson and d.E cowan, 69–83. New York and London: Routledge.
Dougary, G. 1987 “The est-ablishment Sees the Light.” Good Weekend: The Sydney Morning Herald Magazine, 23 May, 14–20.
Durkheim, Emile. 1976 [1915] The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Translated by J.w. Swain. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Erhard, werner. 1974 If God Had Meant Man to Fly He Would Have Given Him Wings, or: Up to Your Ass in Aphorisms, 2nd printing. est communication workshop.
----- 2007 Author’s email correspondence with werner Erhard, August-october 2007.
Faltermayer, charlotte. 2001 “The Best of Est?” in Time Magazine, Sunday, 24 June. Accessed at http:// www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138763,00.html, Accessed 14 July 2011.
Fowler, Merv. 2005 Zen Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press.
Grant, John. 1999 The New Marketing Manifesto: The 12 Rules for Building Successful Brands in the 21st Century. London: Texere.
Grigoriadis, Vanessa. 2001 “Pay Money, Be Happy” New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/nymetro/ news/culture/features/4932. Accessed on 13 January 2011.
Harvey, Peter. 2001 “Portrayals of Ultimate reality and of Holy and divine Beings.” In Buddhism, edited by P. Harvey, 107–108. London and New York: continuum.
Heelas, Paul and Linda woodhead et al. 2005 The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. oxford: Blackwell.
Hill, Amelia. 2003 “I Thought I’d be Brainwashed. But How wrong could I Be... ”. The Observer, Sunday 14 december 2003, 10.
Kapleau, Roshi Philip. 1989 The Three Pillars of Zen: 25th Anniversary Edition. New York: doubleday.
Kent, Stephen A. 1999 “Scientology: Is this a Religion?” Marburg Journal of Religion 4(1).
Krogh, Marilyn c. and Brooke Ashley Pillifant. 2004 “The House of Netjar: A New Religious community online.”In Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet, edited by L.L. dawson and d.E cowan, 189–202, New York and London: Routledge.
Lacario, Eileen. 2007 Author’s email correspondence with Eileen Lacario, Senior Advisor— Marketing and communication, Landmark Education, September-october 2007.
Landmark Education website. 2011a “company History: Landmark Education.” http://www.landmarkeducation.com/about_landmark_company_history.jsp. Accessed on 2 July, 2011.
----- 2011b “How the Landmark Forum works.” Accessed at http://www.landmarkeducation.com/landmark_forum_basic_information.jsp on 02/07/2011.
----- 2011c “Landmark Results.” http://www.landmarkforum.net/Blog/. Accessed on 02 July, 2011.
----- 2011d “Landmark Education News Blog by Landmark Forum Graduates.” Accessed at http://www.landmarkeducationnews.com/ on 02/07/2011.
----- 2011e “The Landmark Newsletter.” http://landmarknewsletter.com/. Accessed on 02 July, 2011.
----- 2011f “Landmark connect.” http://www.landmarkconnect.com/. Accessed on 02 July, 2011.
----- 2011g “The Landmark Forum course Syllabus.” http://www.landmarkeducation. com/landmark_forum_course_syllabus.jsp. Accessed on 02 July, 2011.
----- 2011h “Landmark Education Fact Sheet.” http://www.landmarkeducation.com/ about_landmark_education_fact_sheet.jsp. Accessed on 02 July, 2011
Lohrey, Amanda. 2006 “Voting for Jesus: christianity and Politics in Australia.” Quarterly Essay 22: 1–79.
Lovemarks website. 2011 “Landmark Education.” http://www.lovemarks.com/index.php?pageId=20 015andlovemarkid=660. Accessed on 26 January 2011.
Lynch, Gordon. 2007 The New Spirituality: An Introduction to Progressive Belief in the Twenty-first Century. London and New York: I.B.Tauris.
Marshall, Jeannie. 1997 “The Est in the Business.” Saturday Night, June, 23–27.
Mccarl, Steven R. and Steve Zaffron et al. 2001 “The Promise of Philosophy and The Landmark Forum.” http://www. mutluolmakistiyorum.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/the-promise-ofphilosophy.pdf. Accessed on 9 August 2011.
Mcclure, Laura. 2009 “The Landmark Forum: 42 Hours, $500, 65 Breakdowns.” Mother Jones, July/August 2009 Issue. http://motherjones.com/media/2009/07/landmark-42-hours-500-65-breakdowns. Accessed on 14 July, 2011.
Melton, J. Gordon. 2001 Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Volume 1, 5th Edition. detroit, MI: Gale.
Miller, Timothy. 1995 America’s Alternative Religions. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Oakes, Len. 1997 Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Otto, Rudolf. 1958 [1917] The Idea of the Holy. oxford: oxford University Press.
Partridge, christopher. 2006 “Transcendental Meditation” in Encyclopedia of New Religions: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, edited by c. Partridge and J.G. Melton, 182–187. oxford: Lion Hudson.
Pressman, Stephen. 1993 Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard From est to Exile, New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Puttick, Elizabeth. 2004 “Landmark Education” in Encyclopedia of New Religions: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, edited by c. Partridge and J.G. Melton, 406–407. oxford: Lion Hudson.
Rawlinson, Andrew. 1997 The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions. chicago, IL: open court.
Reat, N. Ross. 1983 “Insiders and outsiders in the Study of Religious Traditions.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 51(3): 459–476. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ jaarel/LI.3.459
Rhinehart, Luke. 1976 The Book of est. New York: Holt, Rhinehart and winston.
Roof, wade clark. 1999 Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ross, Rick A. 2011 “Rick A. Ross Institute Internet Archives for the study of destructive cults, controversial Groups and Movements: Landmark Education.” cited at www.rickross.com/groups/landmark.html. Accessed on 11 January 2011.
Rudy, david R. and Arthur L. Greil. 1989 “Is Alcoholics Anonymous A Religious organization?: Meditations on Marginality.” Sociological Analysis 50(1): 41–51. http://dx.doi. org/10.2307/3710917
Rossman, Michael. 1979 New Age Blues: On the Politics of Consciousness. New York: E.P. dutton.
Samways, Louise. 1994 Dangerous Persuaders: An Expose of Gurus, Personal Development Courses and Cults, and How they Operate. Australia: Penguin Books.
Stone, donald. 1976 “The Human Potential Movement” In New Religious Consciousness, edited by c.Y. Glock and R.N. Bellah, 93–115. Berkeley: University of california Press.
----- 1982 “The charismatic Authority of werner Erhard.” In Millennialism and Charisma, edited by Roy wallis, 141–175. Belfast: The Queen’s University.
Tillich, Paul. 1963 Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions. New York: columbia University Press.
Thornburgh, Nathan. 2011 “change we can (Almost) Believe In.” In Time Magazine, Sunday 10 April. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2055188,00. html. Accessed on 14 July, 2011.
Wallace, Anthony F.c. 1965 “Revitalisation Movements” American Anthropologist, New Series 58(2): 264–281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1956.58.2.02a00040
Wallis, Roy. 1982 “Introduction” to Millennialism and Charisma, edited by Roy wallis, 1–12. Belfast: The Queen’s University.
Wilson, Bryan R. 2004 “Scientology: A Secularized Religion.” In The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society, 267–288. oxford: oxford University Press.
Published
2011-12-31
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Lockwood, R. (2011). Religiosity Rejected: Exploring the Religio-Spiritual Dimensions of Landmark Education. International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 2(2), 225-254. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v2i2.225
