On February the second last year, I received an email from Dr Joe Vitales company Hypnotic Marketing, inviting me to purchase the BOOK OF est
I was curious, but somewhat annoyed that Dr Joe Vitale and Mark J Ryan had simply taken a 1976 publication and repackaged it as an eBook, which they were charging $19.95 for.
A quick look on Amazon and I discovered the book was a collectors item and I could buy an original copy for around $200.
Not wanting to do that and being an avid user of eBay I decided I would run a search for ‘Werner Erhard’ and then forgot all about it.
Little did I know, that search would lead me on a journey which would end with a new understanding of enlightenment experience. An enlightened about being enlightened experience. An experience of now.
On my personal journey of self discovery, one of my more profound experiences was as a participant on Landmark Education’s Forum.
I completed the 3 day course in 1999, followed up with the Advanced Course and the Self Expression and Leadership Program, as well as a number of seminars.
I touch briefly on the experience in my book. And while I understood that this isn’t a place to get to, what I had yet to learn was, the foundation of reality is always a good place to start out from.
Because I already know Werner Erhard’s material as the corner stone of Landmark Education’s programs, my curiosity is always aroused when his name is mentioned.
So… I had now programmed my InBox to receive messages about Werner each time he was mentioned on eBay.
I discovered and purchased a film about him, bought it, watched it and enjoyed my opinions about it.
On the recommendation of my friend Amy, I also signed up for Laurence Platt’s Essays.
I bought another book about Werner by William Warren Bartley III and put it to one side.
All very interesting, but no BOOK OF est
Then in October or November, for some inexplicable reason, I suddenly crashed into a horrible depression.
Struggling to find a way back to my usual positive self, I started to read about Werner.
I took a very long walk and something shifted in me. I escaped the black hole.
Then at the start of December I finally found the book and $54.98 later it was mine.
On 9th December my book was shipped from the USA.
I realised that while I have attended some brilliant courses over the years, Landmark provided me with the tools to make the biggest and longest lasting changes I have yet made in my life.
I suddenly wondered why I was reading a book and not doing the forum. A quick call to the Landmark offices in London and I was signed up for the next course.
On completing the course, what I got about myself and this book is, I always do things the hard way.
Yes, the eBook costs $19.95 but buying it would have saved me ten months, some dollars and a depression.
The original author also would have benefited in the process. I am forever angry that I am not paid my dues for the music I have created in the past, file sharing and so on, so how does buying a second hand book benefit Luke Rhinehart.
I visited Dr Joe Vitale’s blog.
I bought him a $19.95 Amazon book token and wrote him a letter of apology.
After what seems like an eternal search for this rare book on the Internet, I am eventually reading Luke Rhinehart’s BOOK OF est
I am present to the genius of the man and my own experience of the Forum.
And on reflection, reading through Joe’s sales pitch I noticed something I missed before. Dr Joe Vitale is a Landmark Forum graduate and endorses the program.
No wonder he is so keen to publish this book.
He calls it the best self help book of all time, which coming from a man who has written and published many books on the best seller lists is humble praise in itself.
Reading a book is not like watching a movie. It is an experience that requires imagination. Luke Rhinehart has somehow captured the est experience in a way that is both believable and sits you on a chair in an est training.
the BOOK OF est provides the experience for those who cannot or do not wish to participate.
For me, the Landmark experience is clearly not the est experience.
The est training ceased to exist when I was a teenager, so the closest thing I can have to the est experience is to read this book.
My recommendation, for anyone who wishes to add depth to their experience of Landmark, would be, read this book.
My recommendation, for anyone who wishes to add depth to their experience of this book, would be, do the Forum.
I’ll leave it at that.
See you on the other side of the looking glass,
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Mark Ty-Wharton
