Scientology and Werner Erhard

Werner Erhard studied many disciplines and practices in the 1960s, among them scientology. Initially he had a positive response to his education in Scientology beliefs and practices. He purchased books from the Church of Scientology and reached the Scientological level of "Grade II".

Later, the Church of Scientology listed Erhard as a "Suppressive Person". After he left the United States, he said that Scientology agents and private investigators hired by the Church of Scientology had investigated and harassed him. Scientology rejected these allegations.cite news
last = Libaw
first = Oliver
coauthors =
title = EST Is Back, More Popular Than Ever - Based on EST, the Landmark Forum Says It Can Help People Become Happier and More Productive
work = ABC News
pages = 1-4
language =
publisher = ABC
date= August 13, 2002
url = http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=91388&page=3
accessdate = ] In 1992, in the book "60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard" by the journalist Jane Self,cite book
last = Self
first = Jane
authorlink = Jane Self
coauthors =
title = 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard
publisher = Breakthru Publishing
year= 1992
location =
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-942540-23-9] the author wrote that the Church of Scientology influenced the "60 Minutes" piece in order to discredit him.

On 20 December 1993, Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg, CEO of Landmark Education, called in to "Larry King Live" at a time when that program featured Heber Jentzsch (president of the Church of Scientology International), and said that the Church of Scientology had threatened his brother. In a subsequent appearance on "Larry King Live" by telephone from Moscow, he claimed that he had fled the country because he believed Scientologists had hired "hit men" to kill him.

In more recent years, academics and the press have compared and contrasted Scientology techniques with those used in The Forumcite news
last = Lalor
first = Peter
coauthors =
title = Why you will find yourself at the Forum
work = The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
pages =
language =
publisher =
date= February 2, 2002
url =
accessdate = ] cite book
last = Lewis
first = James R.
authorlink =James R. Lewis
coauthors =
title =
publisher =Prometheus Books
year= 2001
location =Amherst, New York
pages =382-387
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 1573928429 , ISBN 978-1573928427 ] Heinrich Kuefner, Norbert Nedopil, Heinz Schoech, Robert Doerr, Stefanie Eiden, Raik Werner, "Expert opinion: Effects and risks of unconventional psycho- and social- techniques" [http://www.lermanet.com/cisar/germany/030217.htm] , Munich, Germany, February 17, 2003. A more complete version of the report, in German: "Expertise: Auswirkungen und Risiken unkonventioneller Psycho- und Sozialtechniken" appears online at http://www.stmi.bayern.de/imperia/md/content/stmi/sicherheit/verfassungsschutz/scientology/4.pdf, retrieved 2007-12-13] "Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus", France 3, "Pièces a Conviction", May 24, 2004, Mona Vasquez.] , the initial materials of which Erhard developed [cite news
last = Clancy
first = Ray
coauthors =
title = Professionals Fall Prey To New Age Gurus
work = The Times
pages =
language = English
publisher =
date= July 21, 1992
url = http://www.rickross.com/reference/landmark/landmark27.html
accessdate =
"A year ago Landmark Education International, based in Covent Garden, London, changed its name from Werner Erhard and Associates."] [cite book
last = Larson
first = Bob
authorlink = Bob Larson
coauthors =
title = Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality
publisher = Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
year= 2004
location =
pages = 197
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 084236417X
"Best known for founding est, Erhard announced in 1984 that the est training was being 'retired.' In its place was a new course produced by Werner Erhard and Associates. In 1985 that course was redesigned and retitled Landmark Forum."] [cite book
last = Chappell
first = Clive
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Reconstructing the Lifelong Learner
publisher = Routledge
year= 2003
location =
pages = 94
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0415263476
"The Landmark Education Corporation was founded in 1991 when Werner Erhard and Associates was purchased by a group of former employees... Based on Erhard's 'technology', Landmark developed Erhard's original approach into the Landmark Forum — a short training course claiming to offer personal growth and transformation."] [cite news
last = Pinzur
first = Matthew I.
coauthors = Rob Barry
title = New school to open amid high hopes: The founders of a new charter school -- the first in Miami Beach -- are active in a controversial self-awareness group.
work = Miami Herald
pages =
language =
publisher =
date= July 16, 2006
url = http://www.rickross.com/reference/landmark/landmark218.html
accessdate =
"Landmark has its roots in Erhard Seminars Training, or est, the personal-growth program created in the 1970s by ex-Scientologist Werner Erhard... Erhard dropped from public view in 1991 after selling the est system to Landmark, which is now operated by two siblings."] [cite news
last = Hellard
first = Peta
coauthors =
title = Stress fear in $700 child forum: WA children as young as eight who attend "life-changing" coaching sessions by a controversial US company could have difficulty with their schoolwork afterwards, according to experts.
work = The Sunday Times, Australia
pages =
language =
publisher =
date= June 11, 2006
url = http://www.rickross.com/reference/landmark/landmark216.html
accessdate =
"Previously known as Est, Landmark Education was founded in 1971 by Werner Erhard, a former used-car and door-to-door encyclopedia salesman, after he quit Scientology."] [cite news
last = Silva
first = Horacio
coauthors =
title = The Cult of Fashion
work = The New York Times
pages =
language =
publisher =
date= August 28, 2005
url = http://www.rickross.com/reference/landmark/landmark90.html
accessdate =
"But its impact is nothing compared with that of Landmark Forum, called est in an earlier incarnation, which has all but seduced the front row."] [cite news
last = O’Brien
first = James
coauthors =
title = Defending Your Life: The Landmark Forum is a self-help program that offers to make you anew, more powerful dude. The catch? Try three days of scant sleep, humiliating revelations, and verbal abuse. So why are people signing up by the thousands?
work = GQ Magazine
pages =
language =
publisher =
date= May 2005
url = http://www.rickross.com/reference/landmark/landmark87.html
accessdate =
"The Landmark Forum is the streamlined, slightly gentler offspring of that pinnacle of the 70’s encounter movement, EST... In 1991, with lawsuits pending and a potentially damning 60 Minutes exposé about to create loads of bad publicity, Erhard sold the technology of transformation to a group of his former employees and split the country."] [cite news
last = Libaw
first = Oliver
coauthors =
title = 'Transformation' in a Weekend? - Based on EST, the Landmark Forum Says It Can Help People Become Happier and More Productive
work = ABC News
pages =
language =
publisher = ABC
date = August 13, 2002
url = http://www.rickross.com/reference/landmark/landmark76.html
accessdate = ] . Currently, Scientology employs a practice called the "Est Repair Rundown" to rid individuals of impurities supposedly related to the Est Training or The Forum. Landmark Education in comments to the media attributes the bad press surrounding Erhard to the Church of Scientology.

Erhard's initial responses to Scientology

According to Lewis' "Odd Gods", Erhard began to train in Scientology "auditing" practices in 1968.cite book
last = Lewis
first = James R.
authorlink = James R. Lewis
coauthors =
title =
publisher = Prometheus Books
year= 2001
location = Amherst, New York
pages = Pages 382-387.
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 1573928429 , ISBN 978-1573928427 ]

Pressman's "Outrageous Betrayal" discusses some of Erhard's connections with Scientology in the 1960s and subsequent periods, even including his purchase of Scientology books, and states that he had reached the training grade of "Grade II" (though Erhard said that he made "Grade IV")cite book
last = Pressman
first = Steven
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Outrageous Betrayal
publisher = St. Martin's Press
year= 1993
location = New York
pages = 25-26, 30-31
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-312-09296-2.
"Impressed by Monk's auditing sessions, Erhard delved further into Scientology literature and lessons. Between August and December of 1968, he purchased several books from the San Francisco Scientology office and enrolled both himself and some of his sales employees in the introductory communications course. In October a local Scientology official wrote to Erhard asking him about his interest in joining the staff. Scientology had a place for enthusiastic new converts like Werner Erhard. Although Erhard did not respond to the offer, he continued to study Scientology over the next several months, gradually rising through the various training levels - 'grades' in Scientology jargon - that mark the path toward ultimate enlightenment. When a routine letter was sent in August 1969, letting him know that he had passed 'Grade II' in his Scientology studies, Erhard immediately responded with his own letter claiming he had reached Grade IV."] Pendergast writes in the "St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture" that Erhard progressed through five Scientology levels. [cite book
last = Pendergast
first = Sara
authorlink =
coauthors = Tom Pendergast
title = St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
publisher = St. James Press
year= 2000
location =
pages = 42
url =
doi =
id = ] Lewis writes that Erhard read such Scientology books as "Problems of Work", "A New Slant On Life", and "Dianetics: The Original Thesis".

While working as a Mind Dynamics franchise-holder (1971), [ cite book
last = Pressman
first = Steven
authorlink = Steven Pressman
title = Outrageous Betrayal: The dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile
year = 1993
month = September
publisher = St. Martin's Press
location = New York
isbn = 0-312-09296-2
pages = 37
quote = ] Erhard decided to have some of his staff there enroll in Scientology communications coursework as a way to train them in sales-techniques. [ cite book
last = Pressman
first = Steven
authorlink = Steven Pressman
title = Outrageous Betrayal: The dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile
year = 1993
month = September
publisher = St. Martin's Press
location = New York
isbn = 0-312-09296-2
pages = 25-31
quote = ] [cite book
last = Lewis
first = James R
authorlink = James R. Lewis
title = Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy
year = 2001
publisher = Prometheus Books
location = Amherst, New York
isbn = 978-1573928427
pages = 382-387
quote = ] When Erhard started his own group, Erhard Seminars Training, it is claimed that he incorporated portions of Scientology practices into the trainings, initially including the usage of the e-meter. [ cite book
last = Pressman
first = Steven
authorlink = Steven Pressman
title = Outrageous Betrayal: The dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile
year = 1993
month = September
publisher = St. Martin's Press
location = New York
isbn = 0-312-09296-2
pages = 25-31
quote = ] According to L.Ron Hubbard, Erhard had hired Scientologists in order to develop these techniques as his own [ cite book
last = Stark
first = Rodney
authorlink = Rodney Stark
coauthors = William Sims Bainbridge
title = The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation
year = 1986
publisher = University of California Press
location = Berkeley
isbn = 0520057317
pages = 182
quote = ] and the Church of Scientology did not take kindly to this usage of their materials without their permission.Fact|date=December 2007

Erhard has stated that he benefited greatly from the practice of Scientological auditing, declaring: "It was the fastest and deepest way to handle situations that I had yet encountered. I immediately wanted to learn to do it." Erhard received 70 hours of Scientology audit counseling. [cite book
last = Cogswell
first = Betty E.
authorlink =
coauthors = Marvin B. Sussman
title = Family Medicine
publisher = Haworth Press
year= 1982
location =
pages = 190
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0917724259 ]

In the 1987 work, "", the author (L.Ron Hubbard's son) states that "Werner Erhard, of EST fame, called L. Ron Hubbard the 'greatest philosopher of the twentieth Century.'"
Bent Corydon and Ronald DeWolf: "". Lyle Stuart Inc.: Secaucus, New Jersey, 1987, pg. 15, ISBN 0818404442] "Odd Gods" quotes Erhard as stating of Hubbard: "I have a lot of respect for L. Ron Hubbard and I consider him to be a genius and perhaps less acknowledged than he ought to be."

Erhard allegedly incorporates Scientological elements into est and The Forum

Bartley (Erhard's first biographer) characterized Scientology as one of the "major steps" in the development of Erhard's "independent training", stating that "Werner encouraged his whole staff to take the Scientology communication course, and hired Peter Monk to help train them."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. 121, 146-7.] Pressman reports that: "all est consultants had received extensive training in the Scientology practice of confessional auditing sessions." [
Pressman, Steven, "Outrageous Betrayal", p.125-126
"Still enamored of the Scientology practice of auditing, Erhard had incorporated Scientology's confessional practice into est's 'consulting services group', which was patterned after Hubbard's teams of auditors and organized as a separate branch of est. Under the overall supervision of Bob Larzelere, all est consultants received extensive training in the Scientology practice of confessional auditing sessions in which the consultant (or auditor, in the case of Scientology) asked a series of questions designed to elicit frank responses on topics ranging from personal matters and job satisfaction to loyalty to Erhard."] According to Stark and Bainbridge's "The Future of Religion", Erhard hired two Scientologists to specifically adapt Scientology practices for his own usage.cite book
last = Stark
first = Rodney
authorlink =
coauthors = William Sims Bainbridge
title =
publisher = University of California Press
year= 1986
location =
pages = Page 182.
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0520057317] Simon Evans describes Erhard as a "Scientology renegade". [cite news
last = Evans
first = Simon
coauthors =
title = Dangers of a musical hit with bells on
work = The Birmingham Post
pages =
language =
publisher = Midland Newspapers Limited
date= July 8, 1999
url =
accessdate = ]

Lewis writes that Erhard acknowledged some of the terminology utilized in Est and later in The Forum as "partially taken from Scientology."

Lewis in "Odd Gods" portrays a technique (called the "danger process") utilized on the second day of the Est Training as: "an exercise that Erhard had adapted from the Scientology communications course." Lewis described the "danger processs", writing that a row of the audience would stand on stage while one person would "bullbait" all of the participants at once. Melton and Lewis also note that Est used the Scientology techniques of "bullbaiting" and "confronts".cite book
last = Melton
first = J. Gordon
authorlink = J. Gordon Melton
coauthors = James R. Lewis
title = Perspectives on the New Age
publisher = SUNY Press
year= 1992
location =
pages = 132
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 079141213X] Books on Scientology describe this technique of "bull-baiting" as developed by L. Ron Hubbard.cite book
last = Kaufman
first = Robert
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Inside Scientology
publisher = Olympia Press
year= 1972
location =
pages = Chapter: Raw Meat
url = http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/isd/isd-1a.htm
doi =
id = ISBN 0700401105 , ISBN 978-0700401109
"To help the trainee acquire this ability, Hubbard devised a drill in which a coach played the role of a preclear, rampant with reactive mind and out to shake up the auditor in any way possible. Hubbard called the drill 'bull-baiting.'"] cite book
last = Cooper
first = Paulette
authorlink = Paulette Cooper
coauthors =
title = The Scandal of Scientology
publisher = Tower Publications
year= 1971
location =
pages = Chapter 17: The Secret Scientology Sessions
url = http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/tsos/sos-17.html
doi =
id =
"The second T.R. is called "Bull Baiting" and it is somewhat similar; one Scientologist again stares directly at the other without moving, only this time the other partner tries to make the immobile one "flinch" or react by insulting him, humoring him, taunting him, or leading him on — usually about his physical flaws or sexual problems."]

According to Lande, Erhard also incorporated the "cause" concept from Scientology into Est, [cite book
last = Lande
first = Nathaniel
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Mindstyles, Lifestyles: A Comprehensive Overview of Today's Life-changing Philosophies
publisher = Price/Stern/Sloan
year= 1976
location =
pages = 133, 135, 143.
url =
doi =
id = ] and Wilson also recognized that the "at cause" concept in Est had "clear echoes" from Scientology.cite book
last = Wilson
first = Brian R.
authorlink =
coauthors = Karel Dobbelaere
title = A Time to Chant: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain
publisher = Oxford University Press
year= 1994
location =
pages = 221
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0198279159]

Bartley quotes Erhard as stating that Est did not equate to Scientology, "The est training is quite different from Scientology practices and processes."

Baerbel Schwertfeger quotes how a book (with a foreword by Erhard) published in the early 1980s summarized est: "Es ist Scientology ohne den Hokuspokus" ("It's Scientology without the hocus-pocus"). [Baerbel Schwertfeger, Vorwort [Foreword] . In : Martin Lell: "Das Forum: Protokoll einer Gehirnwäsche: Der Psycho-Konzern Landmark Education" [The Forum: Account of a Brainwashing: The Psycho-Outfit Landmark Education] , Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich, 1997. Second edition. Page 8. ISBN 3-423-36021-6]

The "60 Minutes" broadcast

According to the Navarros' self-published work "Self Realization: The Est and Forum Phenomena in American Society",cite book
last = Navarro
first = Espy M.
authorlink =
coauthors = Robert Navarro
title = Self Realization: The Est and Forum Phenomena in American Society
publisher = Xlibris Corporation
year= 2002
location =
pages = Page 16, 37, 41, 42, 44.
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 1401042201] the Church of Scientology had some influence on the March 3, 1991 "60 Minutes" television program in which participants accused Erhard of sexual molestation of one of his daughters, rape of another, and physical abuse of his son and of his wife. Former Est Trainers also characterized Erhard (on camera) as a "cult leader who declared himself to be God at staff meetings." As early as 1990, Erhard had begun to tell his staff that L. Ron Hubbard (who died in 1986) had left behind orders to the Church of Scientology to launch a conspiracy and a negative media campaign against him. Scientology rejected these allegations.

According to Lewis' "Cults in America", after the March 3, 1991 "60 Minutes" broadcast, Erhard sued CBScite book
last = Lewis
first = James R.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Cults in America: A Reference Handbook
publisher = ABC-Clio Inc
date= November 1, 1998
location =
pages = 84-85
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 157607031X , ISBN 978-1576070314 ] . However, he dropped the lawsuit before the court reached a decision.

In 1992 Breakthru Publishing issued the book "60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard" by Jane Self.cite book
last = Self
first = Jane
authorlink = Jane Self
coauthors =
title = 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard
publisher = Breakthru Publishing
year= 1992
location =
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-942540-23-9] In this book, the author claimed that the Church of Scientology influenced the "60 Minutes" piece in order to discredit Erhard. Self also wrote that in July 1977, in the course of a raid on Church of Scientology offices, the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered documents that showed Scientology's attempts to influence the media in their views on Erhard. The author went on to cite Erhard as claiming Scientology as one of "hundreds" of disciplines he had explored (Self:16).

Similar allegations regarding the Church of Scientology appeared in the "Los Angeles Times" article entitled "Scientologists Ran Campaign to Discredit Erhard, Detective Says."cite news
last = Welkos
first = Robert W.
coauthors =
title = Scientologists Ran Campaign to Discredit Erhard, Detective Says: Religion: Competition for customers said to be the motive behind investigation launched into activities of the est founder.
work = Los Angeles Times
pages = A1, 12, 22-23, 26
language =
publisher =
date = December 29, 1991
url = http://www.wernererhard.com/wernererhardlosangelestimes.htm
accessdate = ] The article stated that the Church of Scientology hired private detective Ted Heisig in 1986 to investigate Erhard. Heisig stated that the Church of Scientology had documents on Erhard going back to his childhood, and that many of the documents consisted of written recollections of former Est members who later joined Scientology and were asked to write down what they remembered of him. As to their motives for the investigation, Heisig stated: "The reason, I think it comes down to, is competition ... Since Werner started his est program, he took potential customers ... away from the church."

According to Heisig, Scientology lost millions of dollars "because Erhard had lured away potential customers." Vicki Aznaran, a former top Scientology official who later sued the organization, stated: "Hubbard was very angry at Erhard's success. Nothing got under his skin worse than someone taking one or two of his courses and then running off and making some money off it and him not getting a slice of it." Wakefield writes that Hubbard expressed anger at Erhard lifting some methodologies from the Scientology courses he had taken. [cite news
last = Staff
first =
coauthors =
title = Movies and the Mob, Nicholson's 3 Moms, EST in Exile
work = The Boston Globe
pages =
language =
publisher = The New York Times Company
date= March 16, 1994
url =
accessdate = ] Snider wrote in "The Believer" that finds validated Erhard's paranoia: existing evidence at Scientology headquarters included: "five file cabinets filled with information tracking Erhard’s life and business."cite news
last = Snider
first = Suzanne
coauthors =
title = EST, Werner Erhard, and the Corporatization of Self-Help
work = The Believer
pages =
language =
publisher =
date= May 2003
url = http://www.believermag.com/issues/200305/?read=article_snider
accessdate =
"Oddly enough, the driving force behind Erhard’s fall from grace, was most likely the Church of Scientology. Erhard went through 70 hours of what is called 'auditing' in the Scientology world, and though he left with good feelings toward Hubbard and Scientology, those feelings weren’t mutual. According to several accounts, Scientologists conspired to squash his empire, placing what they called a 'fair game' policy on him, a sort of Scientologic fatwah, and according to Erhard, they tried to kill him. His paranoia was justified based on evidence at Scientology headquarters, including five file cabinets filled with information tracking his life and business."]

Church of Scientology actions

Condemnation

The Church of Scientology included "ERHARD, WERNER", "EST (ERHARD SEMINAR TRAINING)", a series of est offices, "FORUM, THE" and "WERNER ERHART AND ASSOCIATES" on (for example) a 1992 edition of its list of "Suppressive Persons and Groups". [http://www.xenu.net/archive/enemy_names/enemy_list.html Suppressive Persons and Groups] , Flag ED 2830RB, 25 July 1992.] [http://www.whyaretheydead.net/misc/Factnet/SPLIST.TXT THE SCIENTOLGY ENEMIES LIST] , F.A.C.T.Net, Inc., Golden, Colorado]

Snider described Erhard's classification as a "Suppressive Person" as part of a Scientological "Fair Game" policy against him, which she referred to as "a sort of Scientologic fatwah".

Alleged investigations

Steve Jackson reported in 1996 that:

"Landmark contends that all the bad publicity ultimately can be traced to one enemy: the Church of Scientology. And in fact, there is some truth to the charge. The church's own records indicate that Erhard and his organization were placed on an enemies list by the late L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's founder. There's also evidence that the church hired private detectives to dig up dirt on Erhard and disseminate it to the press."Steve Jackson: [http://www.westword.com/1996-04-18/news/it-happens/full "It Happens: Or does it? When it comes to Landmark Education corporation, there's no meeting of the minds"] , in "Denver Westword".Published: April 18, 1996 .]

According to an affidavit of Ted Heisig, Scientology referred to the operation to investigate Werner Erhard, Est and Werner Erhard and Associates internally as the "EST Project." [ [http://www.holysmoke.org/mo/affidavit-theodore-heisig.htm Affidavit of Theodore Heisig, Jr.] , November 1, 1991, Tustin, California.] After Heisig gave this information to the "Los Angeles Times", the law-firm Bowles & Moxon sued him, because they had hired him to investigate Erhard.Bowles & Moxon vs. Ted J. Heisig, Jr., Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, No. BC 071626] In 1994 the court entered a default judgment.

Alleged threats

A 1994 report stated:

Controversial New Age training guru Werner Erhard, who has been out of the U.S. for several years, says that his absence is not due to any trouble with the IRS, as some think, but because his lawyers warned him of threats to do him physical harm. One of the attorneys said: “It's pretty gruesome when he [Erhard] describes the kind of harm one can put oneself in the way of when you're dealing with the kind of people who'd vow to destroy you, and whose public statements allow them to use any means to do it. The Church of Scientology has this thing called 'fair game.' and their published 'fair game' policy is 'by any means.' [http://www.whyaretheydead.net/misc/Factnet/CO0794.TXT "Erhard in Exile Fearing Scientology"] , "The Cult Observer", Vol.11, No.7, 1994. Retrieved 2007-12-13.]

Harry Rosenberg [http://www.holysmoke.org/heber/heber07.htm called in] to "Larry King Live" when his brother Werner Erhard appeared on the show on December 20, 1993. During the call, as "3rd Caller", he identified himself and alleged that another Larry King guest, Scientology President Heber Jentzsch, had utilized the Church of Scientology to threaten Erhard.cite news
last = Staff
first =
coauthors =
title = Inside the Church of Scientology
work = Larry King Live
pages =
language =
publisher = CNN
date = December 20, 1993
url = http://www.holysmoke.org/heber/heber07.htm
accessdate =
"Yes, this is Harry Rosenberg. My name is — and I'm Werner Erhard's brother. And I find it hard to believe that Mr. Jentzsch doesn't know about the campaign his own organization has run against Mr. Erhard, given that the "L.A. Times" in 1991 on a front-page article, their own agent outlined the campaign to destroy Werner's reputation. And so I would just like to know how it would be possible for him not to know... There is no — Mr. Jentzsch, there is no law enforcement in the United States that's after Werner Erhard. You are continuing to do what you've done for years now. There is no law enforcement. How do you — how do you know that there's law enforcement?"]

On 8 December 1993,cite news
last = Wakefield
first = Dan
coauthors =
title = Erhard's Life After Est: Erhard in Exile
work = COMMON BOUNDARY: Between Spirituality and Psychotherapy
pages =
language =
publisher =
date= March/April 1994
url = http://www.esatclear.ie/~dialogueireland/landmark/lifeafterest.htm
accessdate = ] Larry King interviewed Erhard via satellite, from Moscow, Russia. Erhard told Larry King that he believed Scientologists had hired "hit men" to kill him — and gave this as his reason for fleeing the United States. He stated that he did not wish to come back to the United States for fear of further "harassment" from Scientology.

The "Est Repair Rundown"

New members of Scientology often have to go through an "Est Repair Rundown" if they have previously participated in Est. This Est Repair Rundown has as its stated aim to "repair the damage done to a person mentally and spiritually by the practice of est (Erhard Seminars Training)." [http://www.scientology.org/html/opencms/cos/scientology/en_US/feature/glossary/index.html#e Scientology Glossary of Terms] , Church of Scientology Official Site, 2006.
"Est Repair Rundown: an auditing action designed to repair the damage done to a person mentally and spiritually by the practice of est (Erhard Seminars Training). est was an offbeat group which used destructive techniques and some people new to Scientology are found to have been previously involved with est. It is necessary to undo the harmful effects of est before such persons can make adequate progress in Scientology auditing."] The "Scientology Missions International" [http://www.smi.org/index.htm website] also describes the "EST [sic] Repair Rundown," and encourages Scientologists to go through the Rundown procedure even if they had participated in an "offshoot" of Est, including The Forum. [ [http://www.smi.org/route/page41.htm Scientology Missions International] , website, 2006, "EST Repair Rundown". Retrieved 2007-02-19.
"If you attended Erhard Seminar Training (EST) or Forum (one of its off-shoots), this rundown can repair any damage done by this off-beat activity. EST practices contained just enough truth, “borrowed” from Scientology processes, to get a case into restimulation — and then left it in that state without any means to repair it. This rundown undoes the damage and removes any stops so you can get everything Scientology has to offer."]

References

Notes

Further reading

* [http://www.holysmoke.org/mo/affidavit-theodore-heisig.htm Affidavit of Theodore Heisig, Jr. — November 1, 1991] , recounts Heisig's role as a private investigator hired by Scientology to investigate Werner Erhard, Est, and Werner Erhard and Associates, in the program called the "EST Project" by Scientologists.
* [http://www.wernererhard.com/wernererhardlosangelestimes.htm Scientologists Ran Campaign to Discredit Erhard, Detective Says] , "Los Angeles Times", (December 1991)
* [http://www.holysmoke.org/heber/heber07.htm Inside the Church of Scientology] , Heber Jentzsch on "Larry King Live", Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg calls in to show. (December 1993)

See also