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Re: ISO other survivors of the Sterling Institute of Relationship

November 2, 2015, 12:32 pm
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CEI is about liberty. You are under no obligation to reply to questions. On your profile, make sure
to hide your email.

If you get any questionable private messages, please send a copy to Rick Ross, the moderator. The only way he can know if someone is abusing the private message option is when we tell him.

He can be reached at: [forum.culteducation.com]

What defines a cult is that they don't want potential recruits to know the entire story of
the operation, the methods used during seminars or the finances, either.

People who are high and ecstatic
from the LGAT cocktail fear anything that would disrupt that high.

There are indications that Sterling may have borrowed some methods from Werner Erhard's est training
(now known as Landmark Education.)

If so, Werner Erhard was a master of grammar and rhetoric. His presentation was well rehearsed and strategic. Many of us are bored by grammar and composition coursework. But grammar, composition and rhetoric are the tools of communication and power. Werner knew this.

[forum.culteducation.com]

Fuck with grammar and vocabulary and you fuck with people's minds and disrupt critical thinking. Add in stress, yelling, and sleep deprivation, sit people so closely together that their boundaries are compromised - it adds up to a potent cocktail.

As a further illustration, Victor Baranco (now deceased) launched a sex cult called Morehouse, which still exists. His disciple, Nicole Daedone, went on to create the One Taste ventures.

Quote

"Victor had not yet returned from his afternoon rhetoric class at the Berkeley campus of the University of California...a course described by Bobby as "the art of persuasion" (Baranco says he doesnt read well: his wife attends classes with him to take notes."

From a chapter entitled the $19.95 Banana page 135 of Robin Green's article on Victor Baranco, taken from the book, "Mindfuckers: A Sourcebook on the Rise of Acid Fascism in America, Including Material on Charles Manson, Mel Lyman, Victor Baranco and their Followers by David Felton, Robin Green and David Dalton, Straight Arrow Books, 1972.

So friends, here it is. While the kids were mostly getting stoned, becoming trustful and yet more trustful, this man is taking or auditing a university level course on rhetoric.

To say the rhetoric is all about the 'art of persuasion" is like saying you learn a lot about anatomy in medical school.

In a well taught course on rhetoric, you learn tio think consciously about language, how to analyse language and learn terminology and catagories that empower you to use language with greater precision.

In rhetoric one learns the deep structure in language,and metaphor. One learns the conventions in usage, and how to asses when it is most effective to stay within the conventional use of language and when it is more effective to break the rules.

One learns the use of metaphor, how to insinuate an idea without actually mentioning it. One learns the use of story/narrative, how to use phrases, how certain methods of repeating words or phrases or use of interruptions can bring attention and build suspense.

Plato argued against rhetoric precisely because he feared its potential for abuse when in the hands of unscrupulous people.

Quintillian and other teachers insisted that only persons of good character be given a full rhetorical education to keep the subject from falling into the wrong hands.

Again, it indicates a lot that in 1971 or 1972, Victor Baranco, who was so trusted by so many hippies, was taking a course that most hippies would have shunned --rhetoric.

For the rest of the post, read here.

[forum.culteducation.com]

and

[forum.culteducation.com]


[www.cultnews.com]

[culteducation.com]

[forum.culteducation.com]

The ones earning money and getting ego affirmation and power dislike anything that sheds
light on the stuff they prefer to keep hidden.


One thing to keep in mind about recruitment, especially to an LGAT, is this is a routine that has been refined and rehearsed for years, even decades. It is not a spontaneous human encounter, not at all.

Recruitment and indoctrination in LGATs is well rehearsed. They have a protocol for any situation.

Quote


[culteducation.com]

And he puts down skeptics with a mighty hammer.

Last February, at a male-only reunion and recruitment open house in Oakland, where the Sterling Institute of Relationship is headquartered, he was pitching his special self-help sessions (known as "the Weekend") to a boisterous crowd when a thin, tweedy-looking man in his mid-twenties rose to speak.

Compared to Sterling's macho mainstays, with their ripped T-shirts and crusty jeans, this frail specimen was clearly in the wrong movie, but determined all the same. "I haven't heard one thing here tonight that would make me want to spend $600 for the Weekend," he announced to Sterling and the audience in a nasal, reedy voice.

A wall of hisses and curses greeted him immediately.

"Your agenda doesn't recognize the equal role of women," he continued, loud and proud. "It demeans the..." "You know what you are?" Sterling yelled back, shutting him off. The crowd hushed. The wanted to enjoy this. "You're a pussy! That's what you are. A big pussy! Of anybody here you need the Weekend most. But guess what? I don't want you in it! Get out of here. Be a pussy somewhere else. Go!"

Security guards in white shirts and black pants then materialized seizing the lone doubter and giving him a bumpy ride off the premises. "And guess what?" Sterling shouted after him. "It's too bad you don't get to take it, because your dick would have grown two inches!"
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

November 26, 2015, 9:33 pm
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I have been through the entire Gratitude training, but not without a skeptical eye and a refusal to "drink the kool-aid" when something rubs me wrong. Here are my experiences of the program:

First, the icky stuff.

- Yes, there is a moderate amount of pressure to put increasing amounts of money into the program, and eventually to recruit others to do the same. This pressure is encountered during the final day of each program, with an atmosphere similar to a timeshare sales pitch. If you don't intend to continue to the next level, all you need to do is say "no" and stick to it when asked to reconsider. You aren't asked to recruit new members until you've been in the program for a while and it's not treated as mandatory to recruit any particular number. In theory you can complete the entire program without recruiting anyone. Personally I don't care for the pressure to recruit, but I have managed to navigate the training without violating my own personal principles.

- While I think that anyone could benefit from the program in theory, in reality it just isn't for everyone. The exercises are designed to take you outside of your "box", and not everyone who walks through the door is really willing or ready to do that. There were people in my group who simply didn't buy in to the concept, and they got nothing out of it. It happens.

- The atmosphere can be abrasive at times. I say "abrasive" and not "abusive" because it's designed to push your buttons in a non-threatening way. It's all by design, and done quite ingeniously with the purpose of exposing your hang-ups so that you can work on them. Again, some people just cannot handle that long enough to learn from it. If you push through and stick with it, the learning opportunities are tremendous.

OK, having addressed the negatives, here are the positives:

- The training works. I don't know how else to say it. You show up because you want change in your life, and Gratitude training delivers exactly that. The further you go with the program, the more dramatic the results become. To a person, every single member of my Part 2 group showed clear and unmistakable signs of having made a major leap in maturity and control over their lives. Speaking for myself, I have NO doubt that the training was effective in my own personal development.

- It's probably worth the money. The beginning is cheap (free in some locations) and it delivers a quality product. The later parts carry a substantial price tag, but they also offer you the opportunity to focus on financial success as an outcome -- and more importantly, they do exactly what they advertise in terms of giving you a transformational life experience. For me, the improvement in my professional and financial life was worth the cost of attendance. That being said, it really is important to know when to say "no" with regards to spending 4 figures on a seminar.

- You make AMAZING friends. Going through the training bonds you to your classmates like you just wouldn't believe. In a very short timeframe, you go from complete strangers to lifelong friends. And it's not a shallow relationship either -- your entire experience of each other is built around principles of trust and support. For someone like me, who has always maintained small social circles, it's pretty amazing to be able to walk into a room of 20 diverse people and be completely open and genuine with every single one of them. This is one of the BIG payoffs of the whole experience.

While I'm on a roll, I want to touch on some of the liabilities listed in the post above:


> They lack adequate participant-selection
> criteria.

Participants are screened for psychological and medical dangers (ie, heart problems) which could be problematic. Beyond that, there are no selection criteria that I know of. If you want to attend the training, you can attend.

> They lack reliable norms, supervision, and
> adequate training for leaders.

Leadership in the Gratitude organization is HIGHLY structured. Everything is done "by the book" in terms of procedure and accountability. The volunteer leadership goes through intense training in order to keep their positions, and the lead trainers' bios are on the website.

That being said, I personally felt rather distrustful of the staff at first. I realize in hindsight that the initial lack of trust is deliberately structured into the program. Trust develops as part of the training itself, and eventually I came to realize that the staff is really quite dedicated and sincere in their vision of providing a better life for the trainees.

> They lack clearly defined responsibility.

I didn't experience this as an issue.

> They sometimes foster pseudoauthenticity and
> pseudoreality.

Not sure what this means exactly. There are certainly portions of the program that operate around visioning and meditation exercises, but it's not like they're trying to hypnotize people or anything.

> They sometimes foster inappropriate patterns of
> relationships.

I'd say quite the opposite, in my experience it fosters greatly improved patterns of relationships. In the short time since I did the training, I can tick off all the relationships that improved dramatically for me -- my ex-wife and I are friends again, I have led the healing process of two long-running family conflicts, my co-workers have complimented me on showing up better at work, and I have had far more success in talking to women. And I don't think my experience was exceptional... this is pretty much the norm among people in my training group. 90% of it is simply getting social anxieties out of the way so that you can speak to people from your heart without fear of rejection.

> They sometimes ignore the necessity and utility of
> ego defenses.

Perhaps it pushes this boundary a bit, but fundamentally the training isn't about getting rid of ego defenses. The point is to recognize them, master them, and deploy them willfully. Personally I feel pretty comfortable with that philosophy.

> They sometimes teach the covert value of total
> exposure instead of valuing personal differences.

The first part of this sentence is gibberish to me, but I would agree that there are moments when personal differences aren't given a very high value. In large part, that happens by design in order to draw out your response and then try and identify what exactly it is that you've built up around your personal differences which results in resistance when they're challenged. It's almost always a learning experience, and occasionally you simply take a stand if necessary and hash it out with the trainer.

> They sometimes foster impulsive personality styles
> and behavioral strategies.

This is actually addressed directly by the trainers -- participants are specifically instructed to give it a couple of days before making any major life decisions. Unfortunately there will be some people who take away an incomplete idea of what the training is really supposed to do for them.

> They sometimes devalue critical thinking in favor
> of "experiencing" without self-analysis or
> reflection.

"Experiencing" is central to the training, so this resonates a little bit. But there is a TON of self-analysis and reflection involved as well. Critical thinking is something you should have mastered before you walk in the door, yes?

> They sometimes ignore stated goals, misrepresent
> their actual techniques, and obfuscate their real
> agenda.

I haven't experienced this with Gratitude training.

> They sometimes focus too much on structural
> self-awareness techniques and misplace the goal of
> democratic education; as a result participants may
> learn more about themselves and less about group
> process.

Nothing about this is represented as an opportunity to learn about "group process".

> They pay inadequate attention to decisions
> regarding time limitations. This may lead to
> increased pressure on some participants to
> unconsciously "fabricate" a cure.

This probably happens to an extent, when trainees are trying too hard to "win" the game of self-improvement.

> They fail to adequately consider the
> "psychonoxious" or deleterious effects of group
> participation (or] adverse countertransference
> reactions.

I honestly don't know what this even means.

> Leaders had rigid, unbending beliefs about what
> participants should experience and believe, how
> they should behave in the group. and when they
> should change.

The trainers can certainly be rigid in this sense. Be prepared for it. That being said, your experience is your experience. Nobody is going to try and dictate it to you.

> Leaders had no sense of differential diagnosis and
> assessment skills, valued cathartic emotional
> breakthroughs as the ultimate therapeutic
> experience, and sadistically pressed to create or
> force a breakthrough in every participant.

"Sadistically" goes too far. The trainers certainly do press every participant to achieve breakthroughs... that's what they're being paid to do. Cathartic emotional breakthroughs are at the core of the training, so yes, they are highly valued in this context.

> Leaders had an evangelical system of belief that
> was the one single pathway to salvation.

Gratitude is non-religious so this doesn't enter into the equation.

> Leaders were true believers and sealed their
> doctrine off from discomforting data or
> disquieting results and tended to discount a poor
> result by, "blaming the victim."

I would say the trainers believe very strongly in their process. They insist on buy-in from participants, and frankly it's very hard to imagine someone who's really opening up and failing to get results from this program. In my limited experience, nobody got poor results after putting in genuine effort toward success.

> Many LGATs use coercive persuasion to gain undue
> influence over participants.

This is so vague I'm not really sure what it's meant to address. "Undue influence" meaning what exactly?


Hope this is helpful. As a whole, I'd say that it's a highly worthwhile experience to try the first part. If you see results, continue with the program because it WILL get more powerful (A LOT more powerful) and if you don't see results after the first part, it's still useful as general leadership/relationship practice.
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

November 27, 2015, 7:13 am
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To whom it may concern:

LGATs (large group awareness training) like Gratitude is in business to essentially sell the philosophy of the LGAT leader or owner. Most LGATs around today copy other LGATs. The most established and successful LGAT is probably Landmark Education, formerly known as EST (Erhard Seminar Training) founded by Werner Erhard.

See [www.culteducation.com]

Landmark, which claims to provide its participants with "breakthroughs," has a history of complaints, labor violations, personal injury lawsuits and bad press.

In fact, there is no scientifically measurable results that has ever been established based upon objectively researched facts and published in a credible scientific journal about the effectiveness of LGATs.

Landmark, which seems to pull in the most money, certainly has the resources to fund such a study, but has chosen not to do so.

Such a serious scientific study could measure objective results gained directly from the training and retained after one year, two years, three years, perhaps five years out, amongst its graduates measured against an outside control group.
Objective results would include such things as a lower divorce rate, higher grades in school, higher income and job promotions, less need for anxiety medication, less need for professional counseling, etc.

Instead LGATs like Gratitude most often rely upon surveys and polling that measure subjective results about how people feel about the training.

No one doubts that LGATs can influence the way people feel, which has been compared to psychological and emotional manipulation.

See [www.culteducation.com]

The paper describes the basics of coercive persuasion often used by controversial seminar selling for-profit companies like Landmark Education.

I would not recommend an LGAT like Gratitude or Landmark training to anyone under any circumstances. There are far safer alternatives such as counseling with a licensed professional, continuing education, specific community support groups regarding a certain issue or need and/or simply talking to and sharing your problems with family, old trusted friends and past mentors.

Beware!

Don't be tricked or trapped by any training programs that promises amazing results, but cannot objectively prove its results are real. meaningful and lasting.

Remember that such programs can be risky and never sign away any of your legal rights through a waiver before entering such a program.

Protect yourself legally and through research before considering any seminar training program.
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Re: Accelerate Trainings

November 30, 2015, 9:11 am
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That was a masterful handling of the cult recruiter, jtaylormade. Truly impressive how you immediately detected the "private language" terminology and the manipulative techniques. I'm going to borrow this post over to another anticult site I contribute to - it's a perfect demonstration of how to address these underhanded techniques (which we, over there, as cult apostates ourselves, face on a pretty regular basis): [www.reddit.com]
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Frontier Trainings

December 1, 2015, 6:38 am
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Has anyone heard of "Frontier Trainings"?

Owned by "Financial Frontier"

Not sure what to make of it. Is it similar to Landmark?
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

December 1, 2015, 11:01 am
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rrmoderator, I'm not sure whether your reply was directed at me or not. It seems that you post long copy/pasted critiques immediately after someone speaks about positive experiences of Gratitude training, with months of silence in between -- so it's not clear if you're responding, or simply bumping positive messages off the top of the line.


Again -- this thread is about Gratitude, not Landmark. They may share principles in their training, but there is no organizational connection between the two.

In terms of scientifically measurable results, you're essentially asking for a university or otherwise neutral source to publish a full study on Gratitude training in a peer-reviewed journal. While that would be very interesting if it were to be published, it's not something that an organization like Gratitude can create at a whim -- someone else, outside the organization, actually has to fund and perform that work. If Gratitude funded it on their own, it wouldn't be regarded as credible anyway, would it?

In the absence of someone willing to perform such a study, Gratitude relies on word-of-mouth and recommendations for evidence of its success. The truth is, people who go through the training tend to be very satisfied with their experiences. Some don't, it's true -- as I said upthread, it's not for everyone. You don't KNOW walking in the door that you're going to have an objectively "better" life in five years. But if you take the process seriously, you are pretty well assured of having a powerful experience and gaining insight into your own life. Actually going out and applying that insight consistently in your outside life requires a different level of skill and commitment -- and yes, that's something you can do in the third part of the training if you wish.

> There are far safer
> alternatives such as counseling with a licensed
> professional, continuing education, specific
> community support groups regarding a certain issue
> or need and/or simply talking to and sharing your
> problems with family, old trusted friends and past
> mentors.

It's true that there are other ways to improve your life. Nobody I encountered in Gratitude ever held an "our way or the highway" attitude -- quite the opposite, actually. The trainers and many of the staff tend to come from a background of involvement in life coaching, meditation practices, etc. And they will all tell you that Gratitude is simply the MOST EFFECTIVE approach that they've personally encountered among a wide range of options. Certainly they would agree that other options include hiring a life coach, reading books on self improvement, joining a support group, etc. The purpose of Gratitude training is simply to accelerate that process, helping you blast through breakthroughs in a matter of days rather than years.

Also, while family and trusted friends are very important in many ways, one thing they cannot do very well is guide us through a personal breakthrough or transformation. If you're not satisfied with your life, and you're looking to break out of old habits that cause you to fall short of your dreams, then it kind of misses the point to seek that breakthrough from people who only know you as your "old" self and will basically just re-entrench you in who you already are. The entire concept of breakthrough training is to GET OVER what your family and others have told you about what your life is supposed to look like.


> Remember that such programs can be risky

This is a point where I agree. These programs can be risky. You are giving up a certain amount of money, time, and emotion in order to participate. And it's possible, as in anything else in life, that you will not feel like you got your money/time/emotion's worth at the end. Personally I felt that it was worthwhile, and virtually everyone else in my classes did as well, but there were certainly a few who just weren't "into it". And that's fine, because not everyone is going to get 100% from every experience. So it's important to do your homework, consider whether the risks are worth it, and make your decision from an informed standpoint.
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

December 1, 2015, 11:43 am
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Blurb:

Excuse me. There is a company called Gratitude Cafe that supports Landmark Education programs for its employees. There should be no confusion between the LGAT "Gratitude" and the Gratitude Cafe that supports Landmark.


You say, "Gratitude is simply the MOST EFFECTIVE approach that they've personally encountered among a wide range of options."

How do you prove that? You offer no substance only claims.

This is conjecture on your part and subjective opinion.You seem to be here to sell Gratitude, which appears to be little more than a Landmark Education clone.

You offer no meaningful fact based study to demonstrate any objective results for Gratitude training. Just repeated claims about "breakthroughs" based upon your subjective experience and feelings.

Please don't post here like a sales person for Gratitude repeating the same sing-song over and over again. This message board is not here to promote some seminar selling company.

I realize you have been converted and now apparently see the light, but most people want facts not fiction based upon faith when paying for training.

Again, it's foolish to sign a waiver.

Never relinquish legal recourse or restrict legal recourse.

Any seminar selling company that requires such a waiver deserves special scrutiny. The risks are not worth it.
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

December 5, 2015, 5:28 am
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Hi Blurb,

It's hard to argue with your experience.

Are you a trainer in this program or are you paying for each seminar?

The one thing you said that raised the red flat for me was,


"The trainers and many of the staff tend to come from a background of involvement in life coaching, meditation practices, etc"


For many of us family members that have seen our loved ones go through these seminars, we observe that it did damage.

If they were able to exit with no more involvement including a "life coach", they were the lucky ones.
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Examples of waivers used in other LGATs

December 5, 2015, 5:43 pm
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rrmoderator wrote"

Quote

it's foolish to sign a waiver.

Never relinquish legal recourse or restrict legal recourse.

Examples of waivers used in other LGATs (Large Group Awareness Trainings)

[forum.culteducation.com]
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

December 8, 2015, 11:31 am
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> Are you a trainer in this program or are you
> paying for each seminar?

Gratitude training's hierarchy looks like this:
Trainer (one per class)
Paid staff (maybe 2 per location?)
Volunteer leaders (around a dozen per class)

I've only participated as a paying participant, never as any sort of volunteer or staff.

> The one thing you said that raised the red flat
> for me was,
>
>
> "The trainers and many of the staff tend to
> come from a background of involvement in life
> coaching, meditation practices, etc"

This was only from my observation, btw. The trainers have bios on the website so it's easy enough to find their backgrounds. I know the volunteers in my group included a professional life coach, a retreat owner, several small business owners, a lawyer, and people who are involved in teaching various wellness/spiritual activities like yoga. But I guess it's kind of a grab bag as far as what you get in a particular class... it depends on who signs up to volunteer.

> For many of us family members that have seen our
> loved ones go through these seminars, we observe
> that it did damage.

I don't doubt that at all. I witnessed a couple of people who probably came out of the experience worse than they went in. One of the real sticking points is that the training makes NO allowance for your personal circumstances. Since the point is to transform your life, whatever circumstances you bring to the table are going to be treated as ultimately insubstantial in the face of your own designs for your future. Most attendees worked through that after some difficult soul-searching (eg, for me personally, I really had to get past my hangups on how badly I felt I had been treated in my marriage, and that meant re-framing the issues as being under my own control... which means I had nobody to blame but myself... and that was a hard pill to swallow, even if it gave me a sense of control over the outcomes). But there were times when I felt that the approach was ham-handed, particularly when the trainer or a volunteer would push someone toward a breakthrough without fully understanding their situation. Sort of a square-peg, round-hole scenario. So you'd have a person being led into into breakDOWN without a breakTHROUGH at the other end of the tunnel. That was kind of unsettling.

The other thing, as noted upthread, is that some people mentioned that they alienated their family or friends soon after the seminar ended. That's probably the more common kind of damage that you're referring to. I guess it comes down to the specific people involved so it's hard to address that problem in a general manner -- some people stood up and ended toxic relationships, others kind of freaked out their families with how much they had changed in a short time. From what I heard, and there is some confirmation bias involved, *most* of the outcomes were positive but it certainly wasn't 100% and in some cases their families had serious issues with how they came out of the training. I'd guess it's a spectrum of different experiences in every group, so there is some risk involved in the possibility that you end up with undesired outcomes.
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

December 13, 2015, 8:55 am
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Someone said,

“The grand lesson of the whole marathon group encounter movement is that the effects are very short-lived. . . . It is very difficult to change another human being.”
The only reason people think their lives are different is because “they confuse emotional intensity with significance. What are they doing now that they weren’t doing before? Were they unemployed people who now have jobs? . . . Are they best friends with someone they couldn’t forgive? The evidence of real change is usually trivial.”

You are lucky if things worked for you but it still seems like the winners in all of this are the companies that promote this nonsense.

What about just getting some nice friends?
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

December 24, 2015, 6:35 pm
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The research and anecdotal evidence seem to indicate that LGATs are very successful at producing positive opinions about the trainings—an outcome that the financial officers of every service business would value.
—Michael D. Langone, PhD, editor of Cultic Studies Journal

It's clever because the first program (the Basic) starts out slowly, and accommodates people's natural skepticism, all the while trying to ingrain in people to 'trust the process. Don't ask why we do things a certain way. We do it this way because it works. Trust the process.' "

This company is expanding at whatever pace they can. They go to cities that have centers that have been in trouble and woo the graduates away with easy entry schemes (pay nothing for the Basic and then see).

Their website shows flash mobs and gay weddings and people having fun. A flashy and superficial way to draw in people, particularly young people in.

Some participants have complained/

"My life was destroyed by a cult in the Charlotte, North Carolina by the name of Gratitude Trainings"

"When I finally dropped out, it was a very long recovery process (and it's still not over for me). Sleep deprivation, and my voice was completely gone by the end of the week from so much screaming... I relived every traumatic experience of my life in front of a group of total strangers...."

"I was in love with someone who enrolled in Gratitude. My life and my relationship became a total hell because of them and their 'clarity.' They broke up with me"

"I came out of the Gratitude Training in Charlotte feeling violated, duped, and manipulated."

" I have 'flashbacks' and I feel sick to my stomach. I used to be an optimist, and I really thought love could change the world. Now I'm like a dog that's been kicked too many times, and I 'bite' anyone who tries to show me love."
All of this may have to do with a conspicuous omission from Gratitude’s account of its origins -the now-defunct Lifespring. This is important. Their primary trainers were all Lifespring trainers. Ray Blanchard, Bettie Spruill, and Kathy Benson.
The woman in charge of trying to become a New Lifespring, is Jo Englesson. Her desire is to make much money and take over as many organizations as possible. Her superficial fun way of being cover her screwed tactics.
Jo Englesson has a clever business model where people can enroll without any money down and then up sell to people.
She has taken over places in Florida - Florida gratitude, Charlotte gratitude, and expanding to Michigan.

Second, by many accounts, Gratitude’s methodologies owe much to its philosophical forebear. Formed in 1974 by the aforementioned Hanley—who five years earlier had been convicted of mail fraud. Lifespring ranked right beside est as one of the earliest major consciousness-raising programs and a cultural bellwether. (A cynic might say that fraud is in the DNA of all such programs; both Lifespring and est owe a debt to the Leadership Dynamics Institute, a sales-training-inflected regimen widely regarded as the seminal LGAT. Leadership Dynamics was itself the brainchild of a man, William Penn Patrick, once busted for running a multilevel-marketing enterprise that, according to regulators, reduced to a pyramid scheme.) Lifespring claimed to have trained 300,0000 people, and had begun making inroads into the lucrative realm of corporate training, by the time it met its Waterloo in the late 1980s; that's when the company was basically sued into oblivion.

A sampling of that litigation, for flavor:

In 1982, David Priddle's heirs accepted an undisclosed sum from Lifespring after Priddle committed suicide by jumping naked off a four-story parking garage the morning after completing the course.**

The family of Artie Barnett, a non-swimmer with a crippling fear of water established when he nearly drowned at age 8, reached an out-of-court settlement with Lifespring after Barnett did indeed drown during his Lifespring training: His group leader had suggested to Barnett that he could conquer his fears by jumping into the Williamette River.

Gail Renick's father, Bill Nugent, received $450,000 from Lifespring after Renick died from an asthma attack on the final day of her Lifespring course in 1980. Nugent argued that Lifespring facilitators induced his daughter to forgo her medication because, they said, her asthma was psychosomatic.

Lifespring also settled with Gabriella Martinez, who claimed that she heard her trainer's voice in her head the night she swallowed a bottle of pills, and in 1984 Deborah Bingham was awarded $800,000 after her breakdown on the heels of a Lifespring course. In all, more than 30 lawsuits were filed against the company for charges ranging from involuntary servitude to wrongful death.
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware Charlotte, NC

December 24, 2015, 6:53 pm
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I have a cousin who just went through Gratitude trainings in Charlotte North Carolina with its “peace and love” guru Jo Englesson. I don’t know how far into it she is but she wants to meet with my wife and I to discuss something very important. I just know she is going to try to get us involved. I have also done some research and do not like what I’m finding out about Gratitude Trainings. If you have access to Facebook, do a search for gratitude trainngs. You will find a group of people that have gone through this and you can see what kind of people they are. They look like happy and too “happy” are “lost” souls who are given some sort of “love” direction from Gratitude Trainings. They are told to go out and recruit others. I don’t think that the “love” part is a bad thing but they seem to lose all sense of reality and unless they remain deeply involved with these people (or cult) they are in for a huge downward spiral. They use buzzwords that have a special meaning to them and lose how to speak English. Keep a close eye on your daughter. Watch out for Gratitude Trainings, the happy business model seems more like a way to make a ton of money in Florida and Charlotte, NC.
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Re: Gratitude Training - Beware

December 26, 2015, 7:32 am
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Wow! No wonder they have you sign your rights away. Lawsuits!

The connection with all of the other LGAT's is obvious but I didn't realize how closely connected it was to the old "Lifespring".

Even if these groups are sued and close down they somehow reopen with new names.

It's clearly a money maker.

Warn your family members!
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Re: NXIVM and the Dalai Lama

January 1, 2016, 9:03 am
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Interesting set of opinionated reports Frank Parlato is giving about his dealings with and knowledge of NXIVM on the site here: [frankreport.com]
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Re: Psychology of Vision - Chuck and Lency Spezzano

January 4, 2016, 2:39 pm
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Here is a recent card of the day that Large Group Awareness Trainer / Guru Chuck Spezzano authored and posted, I've spaced each sentence out to make it easier to read:

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CLOSING THE OPENING TO THE ASTRAL: CLOSING THE OPENING TO THE ASTRAL is the card for today

The astral is an opening to other planes through which the demonic and at times the malevolent ET's come from.

From our indulgences both physical and emotional, through attack and self attack tears and rents are made in our aura and this dark element representing the ancient ego that turned away from the light comes through us to attack us and others.

Today let us invite in our Friends in High Places and other spiritual help to free us of this influence and plaster our auras with luminous Love.

Have a beautiful day!!" -- January 3, 2016

(via http://psychologyofvision.blogspot.com/2016/01/astral-is-opening-to-other-planes.html )

This is straight up fear mongering. Chuck Spezzano designed this to gather more followers, keep current followers in check, and to gain more money and power. Chuck scares people then claims that he is the only person to save them, the only person with the secret miracle information to save our souls and world.

Followers are confused, frightened, messed up, and caught in a loop of trying to keep up with what Chuck tells them to do.

I hope people stop giving him money and stop going to his events. I hope people start listening to their family and friends who advise them to get free of this destructive group leader. I hope Chuck retires, soon.
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Re: Psychology of Vision - Chuck and Lency Spezzano

January 5, 2016, 6:17 am
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Quote

CLOSING THE OPENING TO THE ASTRAL: CLOSING THE OPENING TO THE ASTRAL is the card for today

The astral is an opening to other planes through which the demonic and at times the malevolent ET's come from.

From our indulgences both physical and emotional, through attack and self attack tears and rents are made in our aura and this dark element representing the ancient ego that turned away from the light comes through us to attack us and others.

Today let us invite in our Friends in High Places and other spiritual help to free us of this influence and plaster our auras with luminous Love.

Have a beautiful day!!" -- January 3, 2016

Corboy: I have used color to highlight the use of propositions in this "Card"

Quote

CLOSING THE OPENING TO THE ASTRAL: CLOSING THE OPENING TO THE ASTRAL is the card for today
"
The astral is an opening to other planes through which the demonic and at times the malevolent ET's come from.

"From our indulgences both physical and emotional, through attack and self attack tears and rents are made in our aura and this dark element representing the ancient ego that turned away from the light comes through us to attack us and others.

"Today let us invite in our Friends in High Places and other spiritual help to free us of this influence and plaster our auras with luminous Love.

Have a beautiful day!!" -- January 3, 2016

(Sentence #1 and Sentence #2 re-written by Corboy for clarity)

"The astral is an opening to other planes.

"Malevolent and demonic ETs emerge from the astral.."

"Tears and rents are made in our auras from our indulgences, both physical and emotional. The ETs come through these entry points to attack us - and attack others.'

Spezzano's brief message contains many grammatical oddities.

A grammatical lapses, sparingly used, can give a lively effect.

Too many such lapses leads to confusion. A teacher is supposed to
bring clarity, not confusion -- especially if our soul's salvation
is at stake.

Quote

CLOSING THE OPENING TO THE ASTRAL: CLOSING THE OPENING TO THE ASTRAL is the card for today

The astral is an opening to other planes through which the demonic and at times the malevolent ET's come from.

Corboy: this sentence combines definition and causal description. This is a complex reading task.

The proposition "from" is at the end of this sentence. Propositions orient us to time and place. So it is unclear whether the ETs emerge from "the astral" or from "the other planes".

Instead, we can re-write it this way:

"The astral is an opening to other planes.

"Malevolent and demonic ETs emerge from the astral.."

or

"Malevolent and demonic ETs emerge from the planes.."

"From our indulgences both physical and emotional, through attack and self attack tears and rents are made in our aura and this dark element representing the ancient ego that turned away from the light comes through us to attack us and others.

Corboy: This is a single sentence - a complicated sentence.

The first sentence ends with the proposition 'from' and this second sentence begins with the same proposition 'from'.

When a sentence ends with a period, this signals a pause.

When one paragraph ends and a new paragraph begins, this signals the conclusion of one theme and the beginning of a new theme.

The reader expects a pause, followed by a new theme.

But this use of
"from". to end Sentence #1 and to begin Sentence #2 whisks the reader's attention rapidly from one sentence to the next, right when the reader
expects to pause. This is confusing.

This technique -repetition of "from" "From" - is effective only if the writer strives for the utmost clarity and takes care to give precise definitions.

We finish sentence #1 with our attention on the "demonic and malevolent" ETs. .

That double "from. From" whisks our attention right into Sentence #2. Sentence #2 moves our attention rapidly -- but not to further description of the ETs. Instead, the first part of Sentence #2 lands us in a description of the
entry points in our auras - and the cause of those entry points. "Attack and self attack".

Spezzano writes in a confusing manner.

"Attack and self attack'? -

Are we attacking ourselves? I
s some part of ourselves attacking some other aspect of ourselves?
Are we being attacked from within or from without?

"Today let us invite in our Friends in High Places and other spiritual help to free us of this influence and plaster our auras with luminous Love.

"This dark element representing our ancient ego"

"Element" is a noun and refers to something especially abstract. Nouns refer to people, places and things.

"Representing" is a verb - verbs refer to actions.

An abstraction is attacking us. Huh?

Something attacks us.

"Comes through us to attack us"???

I am re-writing this sentence for clarity.

"Tears and rents are made in our auras from our indulgences, both physical and emotional. The ETs come through these entry points to attack us - and attack others.'

Have a beautiful day!!" -- January 3, 2016
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Re: Psychology of Vision - Chuck and Lency Spezzano

January 5, 2016, 9:40 am
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This is great Corboy, thanks!

Yes, the name of the game is confusion.

Followers believe they are supposed to grok Spezzano's words. Chuck Spezzano is positioned as their Wise Uncle whose every word is precious and powerful. Followers behave like children jockeying for attention from Wise Uncle Oz. The Spezzanos encourage this.

So a follower who feels compelled to act love struck and like they understand the meaning of the universe (through the guidance of Spezzano), also will understandably be completely confused. Followers melt down from the conflict and then are told the remedy is to listen to Chuck Spezzano even more.

These cards are based on the various divination card decks that Spezzano sells. Also on the large set of cue cards that he and trainers use during events. I would like to see those event cue cards, we mere mortals are not allowed to see them.

Also Spezzano churns out monthly newsletters and these daily cards. All this keeps followers riveted on him. Followers claim that the timing and meaning is magically perfect for them.

Chuck Spezzano does write badly. I think he does not care, he simply wants to crank out enough to bring in the money. He wants to be confusing.

Followers believe that Psychology of Vision is professional level training, but it is not. All POV does for them is drain their bank accounts, mess them over, and teach them how to do this to other people.
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Re: Psychology of Vision - Chuck and Lency Spezzano

January 5, 2016, 3:18 pm
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Sowing confusion - a tactic

January 5, 2016, 3:48 pm
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[forum.culteducation.com]

Some years ago, The Anticult, a participant in this CEI message board, wrote:

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When it comes to analyzing LGAT culty groups...who's analysis can you trust?

That is a very important question.

As these days, there is an entire industry of Cult Apologists. [www.culteducation.com]

There are also LGAT apologists.

I make the argument there are a growing number of LGAT-cult Ambiguity-ologists! They take the approach of appearing mildly critical, and a bit ambiguous and confused about the LGAT.

If I ran a big LGAT, I would get a few followers to go out there covertly pretending to be a 3rd party, and criticize the LGAT and create some Confusion about it. Then in that confusion implant suggestions how POWERFUL the material is, so its NOT for everyone, just "special" people who can handle it.

(In hypnosis and sales that is called Encouraging Resistance and Disarming Objections).

They encourage the Resistance up front, like a type of Judo. I would get some folks out there to set themselves up with blogs and websites that were Anti-Guru's and Against Guru BS, etc.

Then get them to soft-sell the LGAT through the backdoor. (of course, most of them Believe in their group anyway).

So my view is there are a lot of these covert "middle-ground" people out there now, and its growing fast. They hammer hard on their enemies cults, and hammer a bit on their own too, but only to Disarm Objections.

They are not Cult Apologists overtly.

They are Covert.

That way, their overt sales approach works, and they also have a back-door and side-door for referrals as well. The big cults ALL use Front-Groups. They ALL use fake Front-People, that has been going on for decades.

But I think the middle-approach is growing, as its so effective.

Landmark uses that all the time. Approach a seasoned Landmark promoter, and tell him you think Landmark is a dangerous cult. He most likely will...
"agree that its dangerous...yes...very dangerous...not for everyone, I agree. Only a few can handle that kind of power...not everyone should be given advanced technology...like Landmark..."(etc...that was a BS salespitch, which starts from ambiguous criticism).

Once you find more than a few LIES LIES LIES in these groups, then they are FINISHED.

You can't pussy-foot around or be mealy-mouthed. Sometimes you have to throw out the baby with the bathwater, as the bathwater is toxic, and the baby is the Damien child of the devil.

Byron Katie appears to be using many many of these people on the internet. Some are just Followers, but there are others who are far more sophisticated. They start with a mild, mildly negative, or ambiguous Pre-Frame.
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