ERHARD SEMINARS TRAINING

'Erhard Seminars Training, Inc.', an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, presented to the general public a wildly popular and sometimes controversial weekend workshop known as 'The est Training'. (The word 'est' is an acronym for 'erhard seminars training', and is also Latin for 'what is'.) The goal of 'the Training' was to allow participants to achieve a sense of personal transformation, a concept that became important during the socially turbulent and war-weary early 1970's, the era of Watergate and Vietnam. The est Training was delivered, unchanged save for minor modifications to the program, for over 13 years, from late-1971 to late-1984.[1]
The first est Training took place at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco, California in October 1971. From there, est grew rapidly, expanding out of California, going nationwide, then worldwide, as word of mouth about the new program spread. In December 1984 the est Training was formally retired by the company, to be replaced by a newly-developed workshop called 'The Forum', which began to be offered in January 1985. By this time, over 750,000 people around the world had done 'the Training', and many others had participated in any of the other public seminars and courses offered by est. The est Training presented several concepts to the American public, most notably the concept of transformation and taking responsibility for one's life.
'est, Inc.' evolved into 'est, an Educational Corporation', and eventually into 'Werner Erhard & Associates'. WE&A purchased the assets of est in 1981.

Contents

Erhard Seminars Training

Timeline

Staff, participants, and other individuals

Related organizations

Related publications

Books

Biographies of Werner Erhard

Other

Articles in periodicals

External links

References

Erhard Seminars Training

Timeline

• 1971 - Erhard Seminars Training Inc, first est Training held in San Francisco, California

• 1973 - The Foundation for the Realization of Man - incorporated as a non-profit foundation in California (subsequently the name of the foundation was changed to the est Foundation in 1976, and in 1981 to the Werner Erhard Foundation)

• 1975 - est, an educational corporation

• 1981 - Sold assests to Werner Erhard and Associates and est ceased operations ^[2]

Staff, participants, and other individuals

★ Valerie Harper^[3]

★ Mike Oldfield^[4]

★ Yoko Ono

★ Diana Ross

Related organizations

★ The Hunger Project 1977 - Present
See also the list of associated organizations.

Related publications

Books

Biographies of Werner Erhard

★ William Warren Bartley (1978). Werner Erhard The Transformation of a Man: The Founding of est. New York, New York, USA: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. ISBN 0-517-53502-5

Other

★ Adelaide Bry ''est (Erhard Seminars Training): 60 Hours That Transform Your Life''. Harpercollins, 1976

★ Sheridan Fenwick ''Getting it: the psychology of est''. Penguin, 1977. ISBN 0-14-004467-1

★ Carl Frederick ''est: Playing the Game the New Way''. Delacorte, 1974.

★ Robert Hargrave ''est: Making Life Work''. Delacorte, 1976.

★ Ray E Hosford, C Scott Moss, Helene Cavior and Burton Kerish "Research on Erhard Seminar Training in a Correctional Institution"

★ Rhinehart, Luke, ''The Book of Est''

Articles in periodicals

★ Mark Brewerk. "We're Gonna Tear You Down and Put You Back Together", ''Psychology Today'', August 1975

★ L. L. Glass, M. A. Kirsch and F. N. Parris. "Psychiatric disturbances associated with Erhard Seminars Training", ''American Journal of Psychiatry''. 1977; 134(3): 245-7.

★ Peter Marin. "The New Narcissism", ''Harper's'', October 1975, 251:45-56.

★ Perry Pascarella. "Create Breakthroughs in Performance by Changing the Conversation,” by Perry Pascarella. Industry Week, Vol. 233, No. 6 (June 15), 1987.

★ Eliezer Sobel. “This Is It: est, Twenty Years Later” (''QUEST Magazine'', Summer 1998)[2]

External links

★ An account of the life, influences and controversies surrounding Erhard

★ Conversations For Transformation: Essays By Laurence Platt Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard, And More, A friend of Werner Erhard shares light on Werner's work.

★ Independent Research, Case Studies, and Surveys (Landmark Education Website July 2005)

★ [http://skepdic.com/est.html A skeptic's take on the mythology of est. (The Skeptic's Dictionary)

★ Independent Pro and contra presentation of est and Landmark Education, followed by series of links to articles (Apologetics Index - Resources on Religious Cults, Sects, Religions, Doctrines, etc.)

★ Series of awareness-raising articles about est/Landmark Education (at SIMPOS, a Dutch "foundation for information on social problems and occult tendencies")

References

1. Pressman, Steven, ''Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. ISBN 0-312-09296-2
2. http://www.wernererhard.info/career.html
3. It Happens Steve Jackson
4.
"1978 saw a dramatic change in Mikes public persona. He surprised the music press by changing his image and starting to talk with the media. The change was due to Mike's participation in the radical and controversial "Exegesis" or EST programme. As a result of the EST, Mike organised his first tour in 1979, together with an entourage of almost 100! In spite of all the concerts selling out, the tour ended with heavy debt." -- http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/hub/A616835 -- Retrieved 2007-02-19