Landmark Education vs. The World

I went to Landmark last weekend, probably about a year after my friends who had participated in it had started bugging me about it. Landmark's premise, as best as I can summarize it, is based on the concept of creating a new life full of possibilities unique to one's honest desires. Landmark doesn't claim to change the person you are, but simply the way you react to things - all in a three day, one evening super-intensive 44 hr. seminar. The course goes from Friday to Saturday, 9am-10pm, and then Tuesday evening, 7pm-10pm. I had to finish my Installation presentation and attend Roxi's goodbye dinner in between, so I never made it to the Tuesday session.

I'll be the first to say that Landmark definitely seemed cultish. I felt like I was a part of those broadcasts you see on Saturday mornings, where there's a preacher standing before an auditorium full of people, screaming (in a Southern accent, my Landmark "coach" had a thick one) about salvation while people nod their heads, clap, and sob...constantly. There was a lot of that. The forum (as they call it) requires you to arrive promptly at 9am, sit amongst the other participants in tight rows of stackable chairs, and listen to your coach until 10pm. You can't take notes, you can't eat, and going to the bathroom during the forum is frowned upon. During break times (30 minutes for the first two, an hour-and-a-half for the last), you're given Landmark assignments to work on independently and with other participants, and the progress of the next segment is dependent on whether or not you did your homework. The forum creates a new vocabulary and uses it so thoroughly, you're guaranteed to walk out of a forum speaking differently. Participants are convinced to share personal stories about abuse, rape, breakups, divorce, death - pretty much everything traumatic - and the result is an intense feeling of solidarity in the room that takes a bunch of strangers and turns them into sheep-like best friends. Every example is planned, every minute is choreographed, every kind of attitude is anticipated. Landmark has an answer for every concern.

All that being said...

Landmark definitely brainwashed me - understandably so; that's what happens when you're in the company of the same group of strangers, speaking a new language, sharing your most personal secrets for 39 hours straight. But, once I snapped out of my Landmark delirium, I realized that there were good things I took away from the experience. The forum allows you to step outside of the framework with which you usually analyze your relationships and situations and look at them as being what they are, outside of stories. This has been one of my biggest challenges in life, and it's a fundamental aspect of the way I allow things to affect me. It also challenges you to overcome behaviors that hold you back - in my case, tardiness, stubbornness, pride. Landmark forces you to open yourself to the idea of complete self-expression, which is hard. People are so dishonest with themselves and each other - the world is full of inauthentic (that's a Landmark word) people who are behaving for the sake of some intended effect. Landmark teaches people to just...be.

So, Landmark is both good and bad. I resent the fact that I felt pressured to cough up so much money and attend, only to be pressured again to sign up for the next seminar ("$795, but if you sign up by Tuesday, we'll let you register for only $595!"). It took so much away from the messages I was getting. I resent the fact that I was constantly accused of being "in the stands" and not "on the court" because I wasn't as heavy of a participant as others - I didn't want to force myself to do anything unnatural. Mostly, I just resent the fact that there were so many valuable lessons to be taught, and they were taught in such a "sneaky" manner - it was like everyone was hypnotized out of fright towards their leaders (they were super intimidating) and these things were inserted into their heads. Ultimately though, as I said, I got a lot of good stuff out of the Landmark Forum. I feel a lot more at peace with myself, I cleared up some rough patches in my life (somewhat awkwardly...it's really strange to explain to people that you're in an empowerment seminar and suddenly feel like being open) and no longer feel comfortable with being "inauthentic". Would I tell people that they absolutely need Landmark and insist they register (as the forum pushes you to do)? No...Landmark is a tool, not a necessity - you have to want to use it to be able to get anything out of it. However, I would actually recommend it to people with repeated relationship/career/life issues - Landmark will help. So, in short, Landmark Education is a cultish kind of forum that may actually help you - so long as you can separate yourself from the enterprising end of the entire organization. If you're feeling a little frustrated in life and don't mind ponying up $440 and an entire weekend, check it out. Not for the faint-hearted.