Landmark in the News

The Landmark Forum (excerpt)

The following is a series of excerpts from an article that appeared in The Sydney Tribune in June 1994.

“Every person experiences a number of turning points in his or her life that are, in effect, milestones whose significance is likely to be felt in one form or another for the rest of his or her life. I have recently experienced such a milestone and would like to share it with Sydney Tribune readers.

The Landmark Forum is an intensive seminar extending over three days and one night, whose aim is, in the words of Forum Leader David Miles, to allow people who are already successful in living their lives create something that is truly extraordinary of their life experience. The seminar does not espouse any spiritual or religious doctrine, nor any dogma. No ‘quick and easy fix-it’ solutions are offered to the issues that all of us deal with on a day to day basis. What the course does do, is examine what it means to be human, and offer an alternative framework of seeing ourselves, our fellow humans and our potential in the world that we live in and create. The concepts introduced and applied in The Landmark Forum allow for an unprecedented freedom of action, self-empowerment, and self-expression.

The Landmark Forum functions on a number of levels. The Leaders, who are highly trained and professional communicators with a high level of life knowledge and experience (David Miles, for example, was a General Practitioner before becoming a Forum Leader) lead a discussion on what it is to be human.”

“Both participation in the discussion part of The Landmark Forum and the actioning of the insights gained through The Landmark Forum is completely voluntary. One can simply sit in the seminar room for the three days and one night, do nothing but listen and still come out a more effective and self-empowered person for the experience. However those in The Landmark Forum, even those who initially considered themselves to be ‘shy’ tend to forget their self-imposed limitations and participate freely.

The Landmark Forum does not seek to invalidate any forms of behavior or attitudes. It does not deal in ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ or ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts.’ Its central tenet is that of CHOICE. You may choose to view yourself and the world around you in a certain way, and that will lead to certain consequences. Or, you may choose to base your actions on premises which may necessitate you giving up certain things such as the need to ‘always be right and make others wrong. The latter decision allows for a vastly increased scope for self-expression and a life with possibilities that you probably wouldn’t have considered possible in the past.

One can attempt to describe what The Landmark Forum is about, which is what I have done here. Unfortunately, any description of The Forum will fall far short of doing justice. Most people who participate in it do so on trust, on recommendation from somebody in their life who has participated in The Forum in the past. I hate to sound like an advertising pitch, but if you want a life that is extraordinary in its quality, possibilities and achievements, and are committed to being all you can be, I ask for your trust – enter The Landmark Forum.