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[GliderGuider]

13. Yes, you understood what I was getting at about being trapped there.

I get the impression that in some ways Landmark is similar to many other motivational/positive thinking/self-help groups. But that's just an outsider's impression. In my opinion, such programs appeal to two broad categories of people: those who are stuck in Victim state and have figured out that it's a pathological place to be; and those who feel they have a tenuous hold on the Victor state and are worried about stalling or sliding back to Victim. It sounds like your daughter fits the second description pretty well.

I was all set to go to a Landmark weekend with a previous partner a few years ago, but we backed out at the last minute. The reason at the time was that the Landmark dynamic wasn't what we were was looking for, since we had both done a number of different Inner Journey programs. In retrospect my underlying reason was that I knew I'd be expected to buy in to the program at least for the weekend, and it would have felt like a charade. As well, I'm allergic to motivationalism and extroversion in general.

Were I in your shoes I'd worry that a Landmark workshop would be a difficult setting to communicate your own growth path to your daughter. What she might see is that it's not the one that "works" (for her...) and she could be doubly emphatic about trying to bring you "on board". Pure speculation on my part, of course.

The Inner Journey that I was involved with is a very small organization. Last I heard they have a presence in Washington, Chicago, San Francisco and Ottawa Canada. It's the brain child of one man named Michael Schiesser. The program blends a lot of East/West influences - depth psychology, Vipassana meditation, some of Osho's tantric work, transactional analysis, holotropic breathwork from Stan Grof, Enneagram work from A.H. Almaas etc. They also have ties with the Oneness movement out of India as well as Henninger's Constellation work. The program is quite experiential, and is aimed at tapping one's blocked or disowned emotions and bringing the emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects into better balance. For a small organization it's tremendously ambitious, and quite successful.

I'm just barely on the periphery of it now, but I was fairly involved for about 4 years. I had a massive transformational breakthrough during a breathwork session on my first weekend intensive in early 2007 - not quite an enlightenment experience, but definitely an awakening. I also learned how to meditate properly and started "peeling the onion" of my true self, a process that hasn't stopped since then. Given that I was borderline suicidal from eco-despair when I went in, I think they're definitely worth a recommendation.

One other reason I recommend them is because the participants all come out of the weekend more different from each other than when they went in. One of the marks of cultishness in my opinion is that the participants all end up seemingly more homogeneous - they've been given a groupthink recipe. I didn't find IJ to be like that at all. Because it's so personal, there is no single recipe for authenticity, let alone for "success".

I moved on because the follow-on programs were a little too "bhakti" for my comfort - too much kirtan etc. I'm more comfortable in the pure-consciousness realm of Advaita, which is where I've been happily for the last 3 years. But it was all built on a foundation of IJ. It may not have helped me completely figure out who I am, but it gave me a pretty good handle on who I wasn't.

They have a web presence that should be able to tell you more:

http://www.michaelschiesser.com/the-inner-journey.html

Good luck!