Since Erhard's daughter, Debbie Rosenberg, claimed that Erhard had raped her sister, and that Erhard - when Debbie confronted him - had said it was a "nurturing experience" for her sister (see 60 minutes 1991... at 15:36... [www.youtube.com]), it is useful to consider this passage from 'The Book of est' (originally published in 1976). It should be noted that Erhard personally endorsed this book, stating “I enjoyed reading Luke’s book. It allowed me to get a sense of what someone taking the est training might experience. I support Luke Rhinehart totally” (p. xiv).
From my PhD (pp. 244-245):
Since Brewer and Pressman were generally critical of est, the description by est advocate Luke Rhinehart of an (apparently typical) event is useful. In the following exchange a participant, “Diane”, is told that her perspective – that being molested was “dirty” – is just an interpretation; she is taunted by the trainer who suggests that she is responsible for choosing to experience it that way:
“‘When Don asked us to contact an image from the past I got the time when I was ten years old and my uncle molested me. I’ve remembered this incident ever since it occurred – it wasn’t something I had repressed. I was playing on my uncle’s lap when my parents were out and he began doing dirty things with his hands and then making me do dirty things with mine. When I – ’
‘Hold it, Diane,’ Don interrupts. ‘‘Dirty things’ is your belief system, your concept, it’s something you just added then and are adding now to what actually occurred.’
Diane stares at Don at first without replying.
‘I was only ten years old!’ she says.
‘I got that’, says Don. ‘And your uncle touched your right elbow, is that right?’
‘No! He touched me… between the legs.’
‘Good. I got it. Go on.’
‘Well,’ says Diane, now a little flushed. ‘He molested me and later I realized what I had done wrong. My mother – ’
‘I’m sorry, Diane,’ interrupts Don again. ‘This coming weekend when we talk about reality and ‘Who did it?’ you’ll understand why I want you to look now at who is making what you and your uncle did ‘dirty’ or ‘wrong.’’
‘Everybody does. It was dirty,’ says Diane.
‘You choose to experience it as dirty,’ says Don, standing on the platform opposite Diane. ‘Look, in a graduate seminar a woman shared that for four years she had commited incest with her father and she felt terrible about it. There was incest and there was her feeling terrible about it. Immediately after that woman finished sharing another woman stood up and said, ‘I just realized listening to this woman how much I loved my father and part of me wished my father had committed incest with me. It almost seems like it would have been wonderful.’ Now it’s not that one woman is right and the other one wrong. What I want you to get is that the same physical event can be experienced as dirty or wonderful’” (Rhinehart, 2010, p. 95).
Revelation 12:9-10
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night."
From my PhD (pp. 244-245):
Since Brewer and Pressman were generally critical of est, the description by est advocate Luke Rhinehart of an (apparently typical) event is useful. In the following exchange a participant, “Diane”, is told that her perspective – that being molested was “dirty” – is just an interpretation; she is taunted by the trainer who suggests that she is responsible for choosing to experience it that way:
“‘When Don asked us to contact an image from the past I got the time when I was ten years old and my uncle molested me. I’ve remembered this incident ever since it occurred – it wasn’t something I had repressed. I was playing on my uncle’s lap when my parents were out and he began doing dirty things with his hands and then making me do dirty things with mine. When I – ’
‘Hold it, Diane,’ Don interrupts. ‘‘Dirty things’ is your belief system, your concept, it’s something you just added then and are adding now to what actually occurred.’
Diane stares at Don at first without replying.
‘I was only ten years old!’ she says.
‘I got that’, says Don. ‘And your uncle touched your right elbow, is that right?’
‘No! He touched me… between the legs.’
‘Good. I got it. Go on.’
‘Well,’ says Diane, now a little flushed. ‘He molested me and later I realized what I had done wrong. My mother – ’
‘I’m sorry, Diane,’ interrupts Don again. ‘This coming weekend when we talk about reality and ‘Who did it?’ you’ll understand why I want you to look now at who is making what you and your uncle did ‘dirty’ or ‘wrong.’’
‘Everybody does. It was dirty,’ says Diane.
‘You choose to experience it as dirty,’ says Don, standing on the platform opposite Diane. ‘Look, in a graduate seminar a woman shared that for four years she had commited incest with her father and she felt terrible about it. There was incest and there was her feeling terrible about it. Immediately after that woman finished sharing another woman stood up and said, ‘I just realized listening to this woman how much I loved my father and part of me wished my father had committed incest with me. It almost seems like it would have been wonderful.’ Now it’s not that one woman is right and the other one wrong. What I want you to get is that the same physical event can be experienced as dirty or wonderful’” (Rhinehart, 2010, p. 95).
Revelation 12:9-10
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night."