Erhard Seminars Training

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Erhard Seminars Training, an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, offered a two-weekend (60-hour) course known officially as 'The est Standard Training.' The purpose of est was to allow participants to achieve, in a very brief time, a sense of personal transformation and enhanced power. The est course was offered from late 1971 to late 1984.

The est Standard Training

Werner Erhard in 1977

The first est course happened at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco, California in October 1971. Within a year, trainings were being held in New York City, and other major cities in the US followed soon after. By 1979 est had expanded to Europe and other parts of the world. The popularity of est peaked in 1981, then enrollment for the various courses began to decline. The last est Training was held in December 1984 in San Francisco; in its place came a newly developed course called 'The Forum,' which began in January 1985. The est Training presented several concepts, most notably the concept of transformation and taking responsibility for one's life. The actual teaching, called "the technology of transformation," emphasizes the value of integrity.^[2] 'est, Inc.' evolved into 'est, an Educational Corporation', and eventually into 'Werner Erhard & Associates'. WE&A purchased the assets of est in 1981.^{[citation needed]}

Early influences

In William Bartley's biography, Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man, the Founding of est (1978), Erhard describes his explorations of Zen Buddhism. Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging Zen as the essential contribution that "created the space [for est]."^[1] Bartley details Erhard's connections with Zen beginning with his extensive studies with Alan Watts in the mid 1960s.^[3] Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging:

Of all the disciplines that I studied, practiced, learned, Zen was the essential one. It was not so much an influence on me, rather it created space. It allowed those things that were there to be there. It gave some form to my experience. And it built up in me the critical mass from which was kindled the experience that produced est.^[4]

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 assets to Werner Erhard and Associates and est ceased operations^[5]

Notable participants

• John Denver ^[6]
• Valerie Harper^[7]
• Mike Oldfield^[8]
• Harry Mathews^[9]

Related organizations

• The Hunger Project 1977 - Present
• Landmark Education

See also the list of associated organizations.

See also

• Large Group Awareness Training
• Human potential movement

Related publications

Books

• Bartley, William Warren (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
• Pressman, Steven (1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 289. ISBN 0-312-09296-2. 
• Bry, Adelaide (1976). est (Erhard Seminars Training): 60 Hours That Transform Your Life.. Harpercollins. 
• Fenwick, Sheridan (1977). Getting it: the psychology of est. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-004467-1. 
• Frederick, Carl (1974). est: Playing the Game the New Way. Delacorte. 
• Hargrave, Robert (1976). est: Making Life Work. Delacorte. 
• Rhinehart, Luke (1976). The Book of Est. Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston. 
• Samways, Louise (1994). Dangerous Persuaders: An expose of gurus, personal development courses and cults, and how they operate. Penguin. 
• Self, Jane (1992). 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard: How America's Top Rated Television Show Was Used in an Attempt to Destroy a Man Who Was Making A Difference. Houston, Texas: Breakthru Publishing. 

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)[1]
• "Research on Erhard Seminar Training in a Correctional Institution" (Hosford, Ray, E., Moss, C. Scott, Cavior, Helene, & Kerish, Burton. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1982, Manuscript #2419, American Psychological Association)

References

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Erhard Seminars Training

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Erhard Seminars Training

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Werner Erhard

• www.wernererhard.com
• Erhard Seminars Training, at the Open Directory Project
• est and Werner Erhard, The Skeptic's Dictionary
• www.erhardseminarstraining.com, The Graduate Review Website
• American Journal of Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Association, Psychiatric disturbances associated with Erhard Seminars Training"