It has been said that: "Est" ( Erhard Seminars Training)  was founded in the 1970's by  Werner Erhard aka Jack Rosenberg.  In 1991 Erhard, a seminar guru called it quits and sold  his "company " which is now known as " Landmark Education"

The mass merchandising of responsibility assumption is nowhere more evident than in est--the most publicized and commercially successful of the growth workshops of the 1970s. Owing to this success and to its concern with the concept of responsibility, est warrants a particularly close examination.

The Forum is an offshoot of  Est, the self-awareness movement founded in California in 1971 by Werner Erhard, who is believed to have left the country amid numerous lawsuits and tax liens.

The est movement included encounter sessions that used an authoritarian indoctrination meant to help people free themselves from conventional ideas and transform their lives. In 1983, Erhard retired est and created The Forum, considered to be a watered-down form of est.

Est was characterized by a boot-camp approach, including insults, long hours on hard chairs without bathroom breaks, and psychological and emotional manipulation.

If you  have more insight or opposing understanding of Landmark Education, please share with us.