Landmark defines itself:
The Reason for The Existence Of Our Enterprise
As an enterprise, we exist to empower and enable people in fulfilling those matters that are of interest or importance to them, and in the process leave them transformed with more power, freedom self-expression, and peace of mind.
It's an experience that anyone can use to look newly and more deeply into their life to produce new results.
It's called "a course", but it's unlike other courses. It's not about getting new information or tips, and many new ideas are presented. It could be called a course in introspection, but that's just one of many kinds of thinking one can do in the course. It's been called a course in "being", but that's just one aspect, and for most of us, it doesn't say much. It's been called a course in Transformation, but again, one pretty much has to take The Forum to see this clearly.
The Forum takes a full 3-day weekend plus a Tuesday night. It costs about $500 and the tuition includes a seminar. The seminar is ten evenings, 7-10pm, every week or two, supporting you in using the ideas of the Forum in your life.
If you look at the results people produce, you might think so.
Almost everything in our life is of our own making. Most of us accept reasonable limits to our lives, even if they bother us. Usually, they are "reasonable" because we have a whole world of thinking behind it, a ton of "reasons" based on how we see the world. In The Forum, one does a lot of looking at who we are and how we see the world and others. People discover that the reasons and the world-view that arises from it are much more limiting than necessary, and many of these reasons were accepted when we were too young, and often too upset, to do a good job of laying an accurate foundation.
In The Forum, there's no magic, just an in-depth inquiry into what and who we are as humans and how we put our lives together. Many new ways of thinking are introduced and one uses them in exercises to see life in new ways, ways that free us up from old patterns.
Before the Forum, when I looked around at people I thought of all the differences between myself and them and it was natural to use those differences to justify not having some of what they had. Now I can also look at anything they have and see it's possible for me to have the same. The courses also teach powerful ways to translate possibility into results.
In general, the Forum doesn't fix anything. People use what they learned in the Forum to address the issues they want fixed.
Should, for what purpose? The first problem is, all of their courses are great. Start with the Forum and the seminar that's included with it. Be aware there are other courses, but just focus on the first.
Three courses comprise their "Curriculum for Living". Toward the end of the Forum, you'll be introduced to the second, the Advanced Course.
To me, the Advanced Course was an introduction to enlightenment, centered around the actual architecture of one's ego. In the Forum I saw what amounted to the design of a human ego and how my experiences were consistent with this design. It allowed me to break through the haphazard design I had picked up as a child and build a life I loved. In the Advance Course, we explored our own egos more thoroughly, and contrasted it with freedom, along with a number of other topics. Getting to the heart of my limits made freedom much more accessible.
The Advanced course is also a 3-day weekend plus an evening. It's a bit more expensive, $850, with a discount if you sign up for it soon after your Forum. (If you want to give yourself more time, sign up for one a few months out.)
The third course is the SELP, the Self Expression and Leadership Program. This is a longer course, 4 full days and 12 evening sessions over a course of 4 months in which you learn to express yourself through leadership. It's only $220.
People rave about The Communication Courses, which I haven't taken yet. I'll take the first by 2015.
Seminars: I love seminars. These are inexpensive in both time and money. They currently cost a bit over $100. Each inquires deeply into a topic over the course of 10 sessions. With these, I ensure I stay actively engaged in life, instead of falling into patterns.
I'm addressing this here because some people have a problem with it.
Landmark's goal is not to make money. Making money is necessary for the welfare of the employees and the long-term stability and viability of the enterprise. They charge money so the enterprise can achieve the above purpose:
to empower and enable people in fulfilling those matters that are of interest or importance to them, and in the process leave them transformed with more power, freedom self-expression, and peace of mind.
They originally organized as a for-profit company instead of a non-profit because it allowed more flexibility in organization and operation. (Note that Landmark is not a public corporation, which would limit its flexibility.)
Some people complain, "Why does it cost so much?" I've priced other seminars that claim vaguely similar results. The cheapest I found costs over 10 times as much, and Landmark as methodology that's been delivered to millions of people globally, has been evaluated by independent researchers, is under continual improvement, and has a dedicated, expert staff.
In many ways, it's not expensive. A vacation costs much more and studies say a vacation has little lasting effect. Or compare it with counseling, which costs $50-$200 per hour. So The Landmark Forum costs the same as 3-10 hours of therapy. Rarely does this amount of therapy provide much help. With the tools gained in the Forum and the seminar that's included, healthy people get much more for their lives, and often handle many of the challenges they would have brought to counseling.
To take the Forum, identify three areas of life that are important to you where you'd like to have new results, breakthroughs. The could be areas where you have problems or where you're stuck or it could be a new area that you want to tackle.
At the same time, be ready for lots of other areas to open up.
Then go to their website and click on the register link. Pick "The Landmark Forum" and your location and for date, choose "All". Then select a 3-day weekend that works for you.