I haven’t seen this film yet but I sure want to.
Werner Erhard and The Book of est were life transforming for me over thirty years ago.
Erhard created the in-your-face est seminar experience which was later reincarnated into the less intense but still powerful Forum. (I wrote about my experiences in the Forum in my book, Adventures Within.)
Erhard has been underground for decades. I’d love to know his thoughts and views of his own transformation and the multi-million dollar self-help industry he helped spawn.
Everyone should know the story of est. Tony Robbins and probably all of the self-helpers out there doing seminars today owe him more than a nod.
Get details here: www.transformationfilm.com
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS — I wonder what Erhard would think of Zero Limits?
12 Comments
Thank you Joe! I Love You! Werner Loves You! 😀
Werner is a genius… he knows how to cause transformation (openings for enlightenment) with the power of movement and language. Especially language.
I hope you (and Nerissa) found time to visit Laurence’s site… I find his essays mind shattering…purely experiential… leaving nothing but a pure opening for the Divine. Ahhhhhhhh…..:mrgreen:
In Absolute Love and Profound Gratitude,
Amy
For others who also want to read these powerful essays by Laurence Platt, long time friend of Werner Erhard. A link: http://laurenceplatt.home.att.net/wernererhard/
And we will get Mr. Green to show up properly this time!!
Profoundly Grateful,
Amy
PS… I Love You!
Joe.. I forgot to mention. Werner would LOVE Zero Limits! I’m sure Laurence would too! You should get in touch with Laurence and send him a copy. Zero Limits and the work of Werner Erhard? WOW!
I was profoundly blessed to have been able to participate in one of the last est Trainings, seminars and subsequent Seminar Leader Program. No one had any idea it was the end. I have never, ever experienced anything like it since. Participating in this work cracked my so called “reality” wide open in a way nothing else ever has.
I, like many who are indebted to Werner and his work, am extremely grateful to see this film made. It is time.
In Deepest Love and Endless Gratitude,
Amy
Joe I sent out the information about the book signing on the 28th hope you don’t mine it went out to the ho’opono group and I’m sending to other groups today.
blessing and I love you
julie
Joe,
Wow, the synchronicity of this post amazes me. Just last Friday, during my interview with Steve Chandler – he talked about Werner Erhard and est’s effect on his life – many moons ago.
Now I can’t wait for this movie!
David
Is the Book of est available? I can’t find it in my searches.
I♥U
“The Book of est” is long out of print and hard to get but well worth the search.
joe
🙂 Eh, Paisano! I knew it! A fellow est grad!! I was in the “March ‘A’ Training” in NYC in 1976. I was living & working in Baltimore at the time and the number of locations offering the training on the East Coast were limited. Since I could “crash” at my parents’ upper Westside apt., I went “home” to get It.
I took a number of the grad. courses and considered becoming a trainer. I was one of the finalists for the PR specialist position that opened up at est HQ in SF in the summer of 1976. They flew someone in to NYC to interview me that Nov. but by then we were expecting our firstborn and I realized I wasn’t willing to bring our infant into an active earthquake zone. The interview went well, and I followed up with a thank you letter withdrawing my name from further consideration.
I have the Werner’s biography and the little red paperback book of est, too!!
I’ve never hidden my est training and, when asked, have always shared what a wonderful contribution it made to my life.
I’ve often wondered what/where Werner’s up to currently. Hope anyone out there can share factual, up to date info.
I’ll look over the links the good folks above me, here, have posted, too.
MANY thanks, Joe and all our est brothers and sisters for sharing themselves and these tidbits of info.
Of course, I am loving reading ZERO LIMITS and sharing news of it with everyone I know who’d be open to it – and that’s a lot of folks!
Lovingly.
Lauralyn
😆 PS OK, now this is SYNCHRONICTY off-the-charts! I’ll be staying at Mom’s apt. next week for my annual megadose of NYC – Broadway shows, art museums, and walking, walking, walking all around my town! So guess who now owns a ticket to the FIRST showing on the FIRST day of the movie, ‘TRANSFORMATION; THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF WERNER ERHARD”? Yup!!
The other “coincidence” was that I was lunching with a fellow certified Dream Coach just yesterday and he was telling me of his negative reaction to the interactions he had with Landmark personnel recently when he attended a friend’s “graduation.” The dialogues he quoted certainly sounded judgemental to me, too; basically declaring him broken and in need of fixing. That is not how I remember the purpose and approach of the est enrollment conversations. So I told my friend about my history and experience with est, etc. And that was just hours before reading this post!
Woo-woo enough for ya? 😆
You’ll find my review of the movie on my blog July 27th: http://www.embodysuccess.spaces.live.com
As powerful as the seminars Werner developed were (and, I presume, continue to be.. since his brother runs Landmark Education), Werner failed to overcome the personal/organizational wall he and est hit in the 1980’s….when the attempt to expand the mission to include overtly reaching Buckminster Fuller’s vision of “a world that works for everyone” resulted in the negative publicity/claim that est wanted to be a “save the world cult”. I have fond memories of attending the “Shot Heard Around the World: A World That Works for Everyone” event in NYC sometime around 1981. Werner spoke passionately about Bucky’s work and vision. The negative publicity caused est to shut down its plans for a separate division devoted to this agenda. (Of course, The Hunger Project was already up and running… as a stand-alone entity. So, it continued.) I mention all this because there was a HUGE, negative “unintended consequence” of Werner’s failure to deal with this negative reaction. “Transformation” continued to be pumped out into our society without any overt guidance as to how it was to be used. And so, just as with any powerful technology, it has been used for both good and bad. And, regrettably, as can be seen in the actions of the “We create our own reality; the rules from past realities don’t apply to us” Bush/Cheney administration, the use of the technology of transformation to do bad has affected the world in ways from which it may never recover. I wonder if Werner addresses this issue in this film? I’ll be seeing it soon to find out.
I have had similar thoughts to yours for years and never found someone who put it this succinctly.
I’ve often though that the technologies involving transformation, effectiveness and productivity have been misused and squandered on goals and even “visions” that do little good for more than a few.
Thank you.
when will Joe vitale be in nyc for a conference