Scientology and Werner Erhard

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Werner Erhard initially had a positive response to his education in Scientology beliefs and practices in the 1960s.[1] He purchased books from the Church of Scientology[2] and reached the Scientological level of "Grade II".[3]

The Church of Scientology listed Erhard as a "Suppressive Person".[4][5][6][7]

Erhard left the United States prior to 60 Minutes airing a critical broadcast on (3 March 1991). He later said that Scientology agents and private investigators hired by the Church of Scientology had investigated and harassed him.[5][8][9][10] Scientology rejected these allegations.[11] In 1992, in the book 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard by the journalist Jane Self,[12] the author wrote that the Church of Scientology influenced the 60 Minutes piece in order to discredit Erhard[12].

On 20 December 1993, Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg, CEO of Landmark Education, called in to Larry King Live at a time when that program featured Heber Jentzsch (president of the Church of Scientology International), and said that the Church of Scientology had threatened his brother.[13] In a subsequent appearance on Larry King Live via telephone from Moscow, Erhard claimed that he had fled the country because he believed Scientologists had hired "hit men" to kill him.[8]

In more recent years, academics and the press have compared and contrasted Scientology techniques with those used in The Forum[14][15][16][17][18], the initial materials of which Erhard developed[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Currently, Scientology employs a practice called the "Est Repair Rundown" to rid individuals of impurities supposedly related to the Est Training or The Forum. Landmark Education in comments to the media attributes the bad press surrounding Erhard to the Church of Scientology.[5]

Contents

[edit] Erhard's initial responses to Scientology

According to Lewis' Odd Gods, Erhard began to train in Scientology "auditing" practices in 1968.[2]

Pressman's Outrageous Betrayal discusses some of Erhard's connections with Scientology in the 1960s and subsequent periods, even including his purchase of Scientology books, and states that he had reached the training grade of "Grade II" (though Erhard said that he made "Grade IV")[3] Pendergast writes in the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture that Erhard progressed through five Scientology levels.[27] Lewis writes that Erhard read such Scientology books as Problems of Work, A New Slant On Life, and Dianetics: The Original Thesis.[2]

While working as a Mind Dynamics franchise-holder (1971),[28] Erhard decided to have some of his staff there enroll in Scientology communications coursework as a way to train them in sales-techniques.[29][30] When Erhard started his own group, Erhard Seminars Training, it is claimed that he incorporated portions of Scientology practices into his training, initially including the usage of the e-meter.[31] According to L.Ron Hubbard, Erhard had hired Scientologists in order to develop these techniques as his own[32] and the Church of Scientology did not take kindly to this usage of their materials without their permission.[citation needed]

Erhard has stated that he benefited greatly from the practice of Scientological auditing, declaring: "It was the fastest and deepest way to handle situations that I had yet encountered. I immediately wanted to learn to do it."[1] Erhard received 70 hours of Scientology audit counseling.[33]

In the 1987 work, L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?, the author (L.Ron Hubbard's son) states that "Werner Erhard, of EST fame, called L. Ron Hubbard the 'greatest philosopher of the twentieth Century.'"[34] Odd Gods quotes Erhard as stating of Hubbard: "I have a lot of respect for L. Ron Hubbard and I consider him to be a genius and perhaps less acknowledged than he ought to be."[2]

[edit] Erhard incorporates Scientological elements into Erhard Seminars Training and into The Forum (1971 - 1990)

Bartley (Erhard's first biographer) characterized Scientology as one of the "major steps" in the development of Erhard's "independent training", stating that "Werner encouraged his whole staff to take the Scientology communication course, and hired Peter Monk to help train them."[1] Pressman reports that: "all est consultants had received extensive training in the Scientology practice of confessional auditing sessions."[35] According to Stark and Bainbridge's The Future of Religion, Erhard hired two Scientologists to specifically adapt Scientology practices for his own usage.[36] Simon Evans describes Erhard as a "Scientology renegade".[37]

Lewis writes that Erhard acknowledged some of the terminology utilized in Est and later in The Forum as "partially taken from Scientology."[2] Vasquez has made comparisons between the jargon used by Landmark Education and that witnessed by her during her experiences with Scientology in France.[18]

Lewis in Odd Gods portrays a technique (called the "danger process") utilized on the second day of the Est Training as: "an exercise that Erhard had adapted from the Scientology communications course."[2] Lewis described the "danger processs", writing that a row of the audience would stand on stage while one person would "bullbait" all of the participants at once.[2] Melton and Lewis also note that Erhard Seminars Training used the Scientology techniques of "bullbaiting" and "confronts".[15] Books on Scientology describe this technique of "bull-baiting" as developed by L. Ron Hubbard.[15][38][39]

According to Lande, Werner Erhard also incorporated the "cause" concept from Scientology into Erhard Seminars Training,[40] and Wilson also recognized that the "at cause" concept in est had "clear echoes" from Scientology.[41]

Bartley quotes Erhard as explaining that he felt est did not equate to Scientology, stating: "The est training is quite different from Scientology practices and processes."[1]

Baerbel Schwertfeger quotes how a book (with a foreword by Werner Erhard) published in the early 1980s summarized est: Es ist Scientology ohne den Hokuspokus ("It's Scientology without the hocus-pocus").[42]

[edit] The 60 Minutes broadcast

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According to the Navarros' self-published work Self Realization: The Est and Forum Phenomena in American Society,[8] the Church of Scientology had some influence on the March 3, 1991 60 Minutes television program[2] in which participants accused Erhard of sexual molestation of one of his daughters, rape of another, and physical abuse of his son and of his wife. Former Est Trainers also characterized Erhard (on camera) as a "cult leader who declared himself to be God at staff meetings."[8] As early as 1990, Erhard had begun to tell his staff that L. Ron Hubbard (who died in 1986) had left behind orders to the Church of Scientology to launch a conspiracy and a negative media campaign against him.[8] Scientology rejected these allegations.[11]

According to Lewis' Cults in America, after the March 3, 1991 60 Minutes broadcast, Erhard sued CBS[43]. However, he dropped the lawsuit before the court reached a decision.[43]

In 1992 Breakthru Publishing issued the book 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard by Jane Self.[12] In this book, the author claimed that the Church of Scientology influenced the 60 Minutes piece in order to discredit Erhard[12]. Self also wrote that in July of 1977, in the course of a raid on Church of Scientology offices, the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered documents that showed Scientology's attempts to influence the media in their views on Werner Erhard. The author went on to cite Erhard as claiming Scientology as one of "hundreds" of disciplines he had explored (Self:16).

Similar allegations regarding the Church of Scientology appeared in the Los Angeles Times article entitled "Scientologists Ran Campaign to Discredit Erhard, Detective Says."[44] The article stated that the Church of Scientology hired private detective Ted Heisig in 1986 to investigate Erhard.[44] Heisig stated that the Church of Scientology had documents on Erhard going back to his childhood, and that many of the documents consisted of written recollections of former Est members who later joined Scientology and were asked to write down what they remembered of Erhard.[44] As to their motives for the investigation, Heisig stated: "The reason, I think it comes down to, is competition ... Since Werner started his est program, he took potential customers ... away from the church."[44]

According to Heisig, Scientology lost millions of dollars "because Erhard had lured away potential customers."[44] Vicki Aznaran, a former top Scientology official who later sued the organization, stated: "Hubbard was very angry at Erhard's success. Nothing got under his skin worse than someone taking one or two of his courses and then running off and making some money off it and him not getting a slice of it."[44] Wakefield writes that Hubbard expressed anger at Erhard lifting some methodologies from the Scientology courses he had taken.[9][45] Snider wrote in The Believer that finds validated Erhard's paranoia: existing evidence at Scientology headquarters included: "five file cabinets filled with information tracking Erhard’s life and business."[10]

[edit] Church of Scientology actions

[edit] Condemnation

The Church of Scientology included "ERHARD, WERNER", "EST (ERHARD SEMINAR TRAINING)", a series of est offices, "FORUM, THE" and "WERNER ERHART AND ASSOCIATES" on (for example) a 1992 edition of its list of "Suppressive Persons and Groups".[4][6]

Snider described Erhard's classification as a "Suppressive Person" as part of a Scientological "Fair Game" policy against him, which she referred to as "a sort of Scientologic fatwah".[10]

[edit] Alleged investigations

Steve Jackson reported in 1996 that:

"Landmark contends that all the bad publicity ultimately can be traced to one enemy: the Church of Scientology. And in fact, there is some truth to the charge. The church's own records indicate that Erhard and his organization were placed on an enemies list by the late L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's founder. There's also evidence that the church hired private detectives to dig up dirt on Erhard and disseminate it to the press." [5]

According to an affidavit of Ted Heisig, Scientology referred to the operation to investigate Werner Erhard, Est and Werner Erhard and Associates internally as the "EST Project."[46] After Heisig gave this information to the Los Angeles Times, the law-firm Bowles & Moxon sued him, because they had hired him to investigate Erhard.[47] In 1994 the court entered a default judgment. [47]

[edit] Alleged threats

A 1994 report stated:

Controversial New Age training guru Werner Erhard, who has been out of the U.S. for several years, says that his absence is not due to any trouble with the IRS, as some think, but because his lawyers warned him of threats to do him physical harm. One of the attorneys said: “It's pretty gruesome when he [Erhard] describes the kind of harm one can put oneself in the way of when you're dealing with the kind of people who'd vow to destroy you, and whose public statements allow them to use any means to do it. The Church of Scientology has this thing called 'fair game.' and their published 'fair game' policy is 'by any means.' [7]

Harry Rosenberg called in to Larry King Live when his brother Werner Erhard appeared on the show on December 20, 1993. During the call, as "3rd Caller", he identified himself and alleged that another Larry King guest, Scientology President Heber Jentzsch, had utilized the Church of Scientology to threaten Erhard.[13]

On 8 December 1993,[9] Larry King interviewed Erhard via satellite, from Moscow, Russia[8]. Erhard told Larry King that he believed Scientologists had hired "hit men" to kill him — and gave this as his reason for fleeing the United States.[8] He stated that he did not wish to come back to the United States for fear of further "harassment" from Scientology.[9]

[edit] The "Est Repair Rundown"

New members of Scientology often have to go through an "Est Repair Rundown" if they have previously participated in Erhard Seminars Training.[48] This Est Repair Rundown has as its stated aim to "repair the damage done to a person mentally and spiritually by the practice of est (Erhard Seminars Training)."[48] The Scientology Missions International website also describes the "EST [sic] Repair Rundown," and encourages Scientologists to go through the Rundown procedure even if they had participated in an "offshoot" of Erhard Seminars Training, including The Forum.[49]

[edit] Published comparisons

The press[50][51][14], media and academics have compared, contrasted and/or linked the techniques utilized by The Forum and by the Church of Scientology:

In 1993, two years after the emergence of Landmark Education, Rev. Dr. Richard L. Dowhower polled clergy to assess their opinions of cults in a survey entitled "Clergy and Cults: A Survey". The 53 respondents came from the Washington, DC area and included 43 Lutheran clergy and seminarians, one Roman Catholic and one Jewish clergyman, and an Evangelical minister. The highest percentage (28%) of those questioned about "The cults I am most concerned about are", gave the answer of "Scientology, est/Forum, Lifespring".[52]

James R. Lewis' 2001 book Odd Gods: New Religions & the Cult Controversy (published 10 years after the establishment of Landmark Education in 1991) discusses Werner Erhard, Erhard Seminars Training and The Forum.[16] Odd Gods describes the spiritual influences on Erhard's coursework, including Zen Buddhism, Abilitism, Subud, Dianetics, Scientology and Asian spiritual leaders.[16] Melton and Lewis' book Perspectives on the New Age found the similarities between Werner Erhard's programs and Scientology "striking".[15]

Dr. Norbert Nedopil, head of the department of forensic psychiatry at the University of Munich, as a co-author of a 2003 study comparing Scientology and Landmark Education[17] commissioned by the German state of Bavaria, excluded the possibility of classifying Landmark Education as a cult, or as cult-like in any way[citation needed]. However, the study did state that both Scientology and Landmark Education had high risk factors for "controlling communications processes", and manipulation[17] The study stated its purpose thus: "The objective of the description and assessment of the Scientology and Landmark organizations was the investigation of the psychic, physical and social effects of the psycho- and social-techniques applied by those organizations respectively upon members and participants. The third objective also included the presentation of legal problems, conflicts or violations by the two organizations, along with pointers as to possible paths of resolution."[17]

In 2004, Mona Vasquez appeared in the French television documentary Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus addressing what she saw as extensive and precise similarities between Scientology terminology and the jargon utilized by Landmark Education.[18] A member of Scientology for seven years, Vasquez wrote the book Et Satan créa la secte: Mémoires d'une rescapée [And Satan Created the Cult: Memoirs of an escapee], ISBN 2-9519134-0-0.

In 2006, Susan J. Palmer discussed Landmark Education at a CESNUR conference. She referred to a statement by journalist Martin Mireille which effectively portrayed Landmark Education as "a branch of Scientology". However, in Palmer's remarks, she rejects this assertion.[53]

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Bartley, William Warren, Werner Erhard: the Transformation of a Man: the Founding of est. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. 1978. ISBN 0-517-53502-5, p. 121, 146-7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, James R. (2001). Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, Pages 382-387.. ISBN 1573928429 , ISBN 978-1573928427. 
  3. ^ a b Pressman, Steven (1993). Outrageous Betrayal. New York: St. Martin's Press, 25-26, 30-31. ISBN 0-312-09296-2. .
    "Impressed by Monk's auditing sessions, Erhard delved further into Scientology literature and lessons. Between August and December of 1968, he purchased several books from the San Francisco Scientology office and enrolled both himself and some of his sales employees in the introductory communications course. In October a local Scientology official wrote to Erhard asking him about his interest in joining the staff. Scientology had a place for enthusiastic new converts like Werner Erhard. Although Erhard did not respond to the offer, he continued to study Scientology over the next several months, gradually rising through the various training levels - 'grades' in Scientology jargon - that mark the path toward ultimate enlightenment. When a routine letter was sent in August 1969, letting him know that he had passed 'Grade II' in his Scientology studies, Erhard immediately responded with his own letter claiming he had reached Grade IV."
  4. ^ a b Suppressive Persons and Groups, Flag ED 2830RB, 25 July 1992.
  5. ^ a b c d Steve Jackson: "It Happens: Or does it? When it comes to Landmark Education corporation, there's no meeting of the minds", in Denver Westword. Published: April 18, 1996 .
  6. ^ a b THE SCIENTOLGY ENEMIES LIST, F.A.C.T.Net, Inc., Golden, Colorado
  7. ^ a b "Erhard in Exile Fearing Scientology", The Cult Observer, Vol.11, No.7, 1994. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Navarro, Espy M.; Robert Navarro (2002). Self Realization: The Est and Forum Phenomena in American Society. Xlibris Corporation, Page 16, 37, 41, 42, 44.. ISBN 1401042201. 
  9. ^ a b c d Wakefield, Dan. "Erhard's Life After Est: Erhard in Exile", COMMON BOUNDARY: Between Spirituality and Psychotherapy, March/April 1994. 
  10. ^ a b c Snider, Suzanne. "EST, Werner Erhard, and the Corporatization of Self-Help", The Believer, May 2003. 
    "Oddly enough, the driving force behind Erhard’s fall from grace, was most likely the Church of Scientology. Erhard went through 70 hours of what is called 'auditing' in the Scientology world, and though he left with good feelings toward Hubbard and Scientology, those feelings weren’t mutual. According to several accounts, Scientologists conspired to squash his empire, placing what they called a 'fair game' policy on him, a sort of Scientologic fatwah, and according to Erhard, they tried to kill him. His paranoia was justified based on evidence at Scientology headquarters, including five file cabinets filled with information tracking Erhard’s life and business."
  11. ^ a b Libaw, Oliver. "EST Is Back, More Popular Than Ever - Based on EST, the Landmark Forum Says It Can Help People Become Happier and More Productive", ABC News, ABC, August 13, 2002, pp. 1-4. 
  12. ^ a b c d Self, Jane (1992). 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard. Breakthru Publishing. ISBN 0-942540-23-9. 
  13. ^ a b Staff. "Inside the Church of Scientology", Larry King Live, CNN, December 20, 1993. 
    "Yes, this is Harry Rosenberg. My name is — and I'm Werner Erhard's brother. And I find it hard to believe that Mr. Jentzsch doesn't know about the campaign his own organization has run against Mr. Erhard, given that the L.A. Times in 1991 on a front-page article, their own agent outlined the campaign to destroy Werner's reputation. And so I would just like to know how it would be possible for him not to know... There is no — Mr. Jentzsch, there is no law enforcement in the United States that's after Werner Erhard. You are continuing to do what you've done for years now. There is no law enforcement. How do you — how do you know that there's law enforcement?"
  14. ^ a b Lalor, Peter. "Why you will find yourself at the Forum", The Daily Telegraph (Australia), February 2, 2002. 
  15. ^ a b c d Melton, J. Gordon; James R. Lewis (1992). Perspectives on the New Age. SUNY Press, 132. ISBN 079141213X. 
  16. ^ a b c Lewis, James R. (2001). Odd Gods: New Religions & the Cult Controversy. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 382-387. ISBN 1573928429 , ISBN 978-1573928427. 
  17. ^ a b c d Heinrich Kuefner, Norbert Nedopil, Heinz Schoech, Robert Doerr, Stefanie Eiden, Raik Werner, "Expert opinion: Effects and risks of unconventional psycho- and social- techniques" [1], Munich, Germany, February 17, 2003. A more complete version of the report, in German: Expertise: Auswirkungen und Risiken unkonventioneller Psycho- und Sozialtechniken appears online at http://www.stmi.bayern.de/imperia/md/content/stmi/sicherheit/verfassungsschutz/scientology/4.pdf, retrieved 2007-12-13
  18. ^ a b c "Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus", France 3, Pièces a Conviction, May 24, 2004, Mona Vasquez.
  19. ^ Clancy, Ray. "Professionals Fall Prey To New Age Gurus", The Times, July 21, 1992. (English) 
    "A year ago Landmark Education International, based in Covent Garden, London, changed its name from Werner Erhard and Associates."
  20. ^ Larson, Bob (2004). Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 197. ISBN 084236417X. 
    "Best known for founding est, Erhard announced in 1984 that the est training was being 'retired.' In its place was a new course produced by Werner Erhard and Associates. In 1985 that course was redesigned and retitled Landmark Forum."
  21. ^ Chappell, Clive (2003). Reconstructing the Lifelong Learner. Routledge, 94. ISBN 0415263476. 
    "The Landmark Education Corporation was founded in 1991 when Werner Erhard and Associates was purchased by a group of former employees... Based on Erhard's 'technology', Landmark developed Erhard's original approach into the Landmark Forum — a short training course claiming to offer personal growth and transformation."
  22. ^ Pinzur, Matthew I.; Rob Barry. "New school to open amid high hopes: The founders of a new charter school -- the first in Miami Beach -- are active in a controversial self-awareness group.", Miami Herald, July 16, 2006. 
    "Landmark has its roots in Erhard Seminars Training, or est, the personal-growth program created in the 1970s by ex-Scientologist Werner Erhard... Erhard dropped from public view in 1991 after selling the est system to Landmark, which is now operated by two siblings."
  23. ^ Hellard, Peta. "Stress fear in $700 child forum: WA children as young as eight who attend "life-changing" coaching sessions by a controversial US company could have difficulty with their schoolwork afterwards, according to experts.", The Sunday Times, Australia, June 11, 2006. 
    "Previously known as Est, Landmark Education was founded in 1971 by Werner Erhard, a former used-car and door-to-door encyclopedia salesman, after he quit Scientology."
  24. ^ Silva, Horacio. "The Cult of Fashion", The New York Times, August 28, 2005. 
    "But its impact is nothing compared with that of Landmark Forum, called est in an earlier incarnation, which has all but seduced the front row."
  25. ^ O’Brien, James. "Defending Your Life: The Landmark Forum is a self-help program that offers to make you anew, more powerful dude. The catch? Try three days of scant sleep, humiliating revelations, and verbal abuse. So why are people signing up by the thousands?", GQ Magazine, May 2005. 
    "The Landmark Forum is the streamlined, slightly gentler offspring of that pinnacle of the 70’s encounter movement, EST... In 1991, with lawsuits pending and a potentially damning 60 Minutes exposé about to create loads of bad publicity, Erhard sold the technology of transformation to a group of his former employees and split the country."
  26. ^ Libaw, Oliver. "'Transformation' in a Weekend? - Based on EST, the Landmark Forum Says It Can Help People Become Happier and More Productive", ABC News, ABC, August 13, 2002. 
  27. ^ Pendergast, Sara; Tom Pendergast (2000). St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. St. James Press, 42. 
  28. ^ Pressman, Steven (September 1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile. New York: St. Martin's Press, 37. ISBN 0-312-09296-2. 
  29. ^ Pressman, Steven (September 1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile. New York: St. Martin's Press, 25-31. ISBN 0-312-09296-2. 
  30. ^ Lewis, James R (2001). Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 382-387. ISBN 978-1573928427. 
  31. ^ Pressman, Steven (September 1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile. New York: St. Martin's Press, 25-31. ISBN 0-312-09296-2. 
  32. ^ Stark, Rodney; William Sims Bainbridge (1986). The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation. Berkeley: University of California Press, 182. ISBN 0520057317. 
  33. ^ Cogswell, Betty E.; Marvin B. Sussman (1982). Family Medicine. Haworth Press, 190. ISBN 0917724259. 
  34. ^ Bent Corydon and Ronald DeWolf: L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?. Lyle Stuart Inc.: Secaucus, New Jersey, 1987, pg. 15, ISBN 0818404442
  35. ^ Pressman, Steven, Outrageous Betrayal, p.125-126
    "Still enamored of the Scientology practice of auditing, Erhard had incorporated Scientology's confessional practice into est's 'consulting services group', which was patterned after Hubbard's teams of auditors and organized as a separate branch of est. Under the overall supervision of Bob Larzelere, all est consultants received extensive training in the Scientology practice of confessional auditing sessions in which the consultant (or auditor, in the case of Scientology) asked a series of questions designed to elicit frank responses on topics ranging from personal matters and job satisfaction to loyalty to Erhard."
  36. ^ Stark, Rodney; William Sims Bainbridge (1986). The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation. University of California Press, Page 182.. ISBN 0520057317. 
  37. ^ Evans, Simon. "Dangers of a musical hit with bells on", The Birmingham Post, Midland Newspapers Limited, July 8, 1999. 
  38. ^ Kaufman, Robert (1972). Inside Scientology. Olympia Press, Chapter: Raw Meat. ISBN 0700401105 , ISBN 978-0700401109. 
    "To help the trainee acquire this ability, Hubbard devised a drill in which a coach played the role of a preclear, rampant with reactive mind and out to shake up the auditor in any way possible. Hubbard called the drill 'bull-baiting.'"
  39. ^ Cooper, Paulette (1971). The Scandal of Scientology. Tower Publications, Chapter 17: The Secret Scientology Sessions. 
    "The second T.R. is called "Bull Baiting" and it is somewhat similar; one Scientologist again stares directly at the other without moving, only this time the other partner tries to make the immobile one "flinch" or react by insulting him, humoring him, taunting him, or leading him on — usually about his physical flaws or sexual problems."
  40. ^ Lande, Nathaniel (1976). Mindstyles, Lifestyles: A Comprehensive Overview of Today's Life-changing Philosophies. Price/Stern/Sloan, 133, 135, 143.. 
  41. ^ Wilson, Brian R.; Karel Dobbelaere (1994). A Time to Chant: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. Oxford University Press, 221. ISBN 0198279159. 
  42. ^ Baerbel Schwertfeger, Vorwort [Foreword]. In : Martin Lell: Das Forum: Protokoll einer Gehirnwäsche: Der Psycho-Konzern Landmark Education [The Forum: Account of a Brainwashing: The Psycho-Outfit Landmark Education], Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich, 1997. Second edition. Page 8. ISBN 3-423-36021-6
  43. ^ a b Lewis, James R. (November 1, 1998). Cults in America: A Reference Handbook. ABC-Clio Inc, 84-85. ISBN 157607031X , ISBN 978-1576070314. 
  44. ^ a b c d e f Welkos, Robert W.. "Scientologists Ran Campaign to Discredit Erhard, Detective Says: Religion: Competition for customers said to be the motive behind investigation launched into activities of the est founder.", Los Angeles Times, December 29, 1991, pp. A1, 12, 22-23, 26. 
  45. ^ Staff. "Movies and the Mob, Nicholson's 3 Moms, EST in Exile", The Boston Globe, The New York Times Company, March 16, 1994. 
  46. ^ Affidavit of Theodore Heisig, Jr., November 1, 1991, Tustin, California.
  47. ^ a b Bowles & Moxon vs. Ted J. Heisig, Jr., Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, No. BC 071626
  48. ^ a b Scientology Glossary of Terms, Church of Scientology Official Site, 2006.
    "Est Repair Rundown: an auditing action designed to repair the damage done to a person mentally and spiritually by the practice of est (Erhard Seminars Training). est was an offbeat group which used destructive techniques and some people new to Scientology are found to have been previously involved with est. It is necessary to undo the harmful effects of est before such persons can make adequate progress in Scientology auditing."
  49. ^ Scientology Missions International, website, 2006, "EST Repair Rundown". Retrieved 2007-02-19.
    "If you attended Erhard Seminar Training (EST) or Forum (one of its off-shoots), this rundown can repair any damage done by this off-beat activity. EST practices contained just enough truth, “borrowed” from Scientology processes, to get a case into restimulation — and then left it in that state without any means to repair it. This rundown undoes the damage and removes any stops so you can get everything Scientology has to offer."
  50. ^ Soul Strip Tease, Stern, Germany, April 2, 1998.
    "They consistently promise total control to the same people whom are then subjected to total control. A good example to read up on in regards to this is Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard."
  51. ^ Green Party detects a scandal in hall rental, Frankfurter Neue Presse, May 29, 1998., by Kristiane Huber.
  52. ^ "Clergy and Cults: A Survey", The Rev. Richard L. Dowhower, D. D., Cult Observer, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1994).
  53. ^ Susan J. Palmer, "France's About-Picard Law and Neo-Phare: The First Application of Abus de Faiblesse", CESNUR 2006 International Conference, July 16, 2006.
    "Landmark Education, founded under the name 'est' by Werner Erhardt in the early 1970s, incorporates techniques from the Human Potential Movement, and is not, as journalist Martin Mireille wrote, 'a branch of Scientology'."

[edit] Further reading

[edit] See also

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