Editing Erhard Seminars Training (section)

== History ==
Werner Erhard reported having a personal transformation, and created the est training to allow others to have the same experience.<ref>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. 165.</ref> Erhard changed the name of The first ''est'' course was held at a [[Jack Tar Hotels|Jack Tar Hotel]] in [[San Francisco]], California, in October 1971.<ref name=sf>{{cite news|title=Hotel to hospital: Farewell to S.F. era|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=October 31, 2009}}</ref> Within a year, trainings were being held in twelve major cities and had over 62,000 graduates.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kazickas |first=Jurate |date=23 December 1975 |title=EST Experience -- Why People Pay to 'Get It' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune/170399881/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=The Tampa Tribune |pages=1}} and {{Cite news |title=EST |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune/170400080/ |pages=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Beginning in July 1974 the est training was delivered at the U.S. Penitentiary at [[Lompoc, California|Lompoc]], California, with the approval of the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]].<ref name=ReferenceA>{{cite journal|last1=Woodward |first1=Mark |title=The est Training in Prisons: A Basis for the Transformation of Corrections? |journal=Baltimore Law Journal |date=1982 |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/38713955/Werner-Erhard-s-est-Training-in-the-Prisons |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113104720/http://www.scribd.com/doc/38713955/Werner-Erhard-s-est-Training-in-the-Prisons |archive-date=November 13, 2013 }}</ref><ref>"est in Prison" by Earl Babbie, published in American Journal of Correction, Dec 1977</ref><ref name="archive.org">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/GettingitInPrison|title=Getting 'It' in Prison – The First est Training at the Federal Correctional Institution at Lompoc, California in 1974 |first=Neal |last=Rogin |work=Internet Archive|date=7 June 1978 }}</ref> Initial est training in Lompoc involved participation of 12–15 federal prisoners and outside community members within the walls of the maximum security prison and was personally conducted by Werner Erhard.

By 1979, est had expanded to Europe and other parts of the world. In 1980 the first est training in Israel was offered in Tel Aviv.<ref>Despair and deliverance: private salvation in contemporary Israel by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi page 121</ref> The est training presented several concepts to these new attendees, most notably the concept of [[spiritual transformation]] and taking responsibility for one's life. The actual teaching, called "the technology of transformation," emphasizes the value of integrity.<ref>''The Herald Sun''; March 1, 2008; http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23298425-664,00.html</ref> As est grew, so did criticism. It was accused of mind control and labeled a cult by some critics who said that it exploited its followers by recruiting and offering numerous "graduate seminars."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html|title=The Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-help|last=Haldeman|first=Peter|date=2015-11-28|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 6, 2017|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1983 in the United States, a participant named Jack Slee collapsed during a portion of the seminar known as "the danger process" and died at the hospital to which he had been transported.<ref name="Slee_v">Ragland, Jr., Gerald F. (1984). [[Wikisource:Slee v. Erhard, Complaint in Trespass For Wrongful Death Demand for Jury Trial (1984)|"Complaint in Trespass for Wrongful Death – Demand for Jury Trial"]]. ''Civil Action No. N 84 497 JAC'' ([[United States District Court for the District of Connecticut]]).</ref> A court subsequently found that the est training was not the cause of death.<ref name="Slee_v"/> A jury later ruled that Erhard and his company had been negligent, but did not give Slee's estate a monetary award.<ref name="Lewis2001"/>{{page needed|date=September 2019}} Also in 1983, the organization moved into a large facility built for the [[Marine Cooks and Stewards]] in [[Santa Rosa, California]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Norberg |first=Bob |date=25 January 1992 |title=Ex-Erhard School Goes On the Block |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-press-democrat/170381158/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=The Press Democrat |pages=A1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} and {{Cite news |date=25 January 1992 |title=Erhard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-press-democrat/170381404/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=The Press Democrat}}</ref>

The [[United States Tax Court]] in 1986, upheld an [[Internal Revenue Service]] (IRS) claim that est owed the federal government more than $3.3 million in back taxes "because of sham transactions involving the movement's 'Body of Knowledge."<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 October 1986 |title=Tax Court Upholds Judgment Against EST |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tyler-morning-telegraph/170399377/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=Tyler Morning Telegraph |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

According to a 1991 report by the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', est had been the target of a smear campaign by the [[Church of Scientology]]. This campaign had spanned several years, with examples being found in documents [[Operation Snow White|seized by the FBI]] in 1977. This smear campaign involved hiring personal investigators to spy on Erhard, recruiting Scientologists to covertly enroll in and disrupt est courses, and compiling information from disgruntled former est participants which could be used to discredit est. Scientology founder [[L. Ron Hubbard]] (who died in 1986) believed that Erhard had copied Scientology. Erhard disputed this, saying that est was essentially different despite some similarities.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Welkos |first1=Robert W. |title=Founder of est Targeted in Campaign by Scientologists : Religion: Competition for customers is said to be the motive behind effort to discredit Werner Erhard. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-29-mn-2102-story.html |access-date=December 2, 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 29, 1991}}</ref>

In their 1992 book ''Perspectives on the New Age'' [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]] and [[J. Gordon Melton]] said that similarities between est and Mind Dynamics were "striking", as both used "authoritarian trainers who enforce numerous rules," require applause after participants "share" in front of the group, and de-emphasize [[reason]] in favor of "feeling and action." The authors also described graduates of est as "fiercely loyal," and said that it recruited heavily, reducing marketing expenses to virtually zero.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Melton| first1 = J. Gordon| author-link = J. Gordon Melton|last2=Lewis|first2=James R.|author-link2=James R. Lewis (scholar) | title = Perspectives on the New Age| publisher = SUNY Press| year = 1992| pages = 129–132| isbn = 0-7914-1213-X}}</ref> The last est training was held in December 1984 in San Francisco.

It was replaced by a gentler course called "The Forum," which began in January 1985. "est, Inc." evolved into "est, an Educational Corporation," and eventually into [[Werner Erhard and Associates]]. In 1991 the business was sold to the employees who formed a new company called Landmark Education with Erhard's brother, Harry Rosenberg, becoming the CEO.<ref name="lauramcclure">{{cite journal |title=The Landmark Forum: 42 Hours, $500, 65 Breakdowns |last=McClure |first=Laura |journal=Mother Jones |url=https://motherjones.com/media/2009/07/landmark-42-hours-500-65-breakdowns |date=July–August 2009 |access-date=October 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018174746/https://motherjones.com/media/2009/07/landmark-42-hours-500-65-breakdowns |archive-date=October 18, 2010 }}</ref> Landmark Education was structured as a for-profit, employee-owned company; since 2013, it operates as [[Landmark Worldwide]] with a consulting division called Vanto Group.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Soul Training: A Retooled Version of the Controversial est Movement – Seekers of Many Stripes Set Out on a Path of Self-examination |last=Bass |first=Alison |journal=The Boston Globe |url= http://boston.com/globe/search/stories/reprints/soultraining062199.htm |date=March 3, 1999 |access-date=October 11, 2010}}</ref>