Erhard Seminars Training, Inc., an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, presented to the general public a wildly popular and sometimes controversial weekend workshop known as 'The est Training'. (The word 'est' is an acronym for 'erhard seminars training', and is also Latin for 'what is'.) The goal of 'the Training' was to allow participants to acheive a sense of personal transformation, a concept that became important during the socially-turbulent and war-weary early 1970's, the era of Watergate and Vietnam. The est Training was delivered, unchanged save for minor modifications to the program, for over 13 years, from late-1971 to late-1984.[1]

The first est Training took place at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco, California in October 1971. From there, est grew rapidly, expanding out of California, going nationwide, then worldwide, as word of mouth about the new program spread. In December 1984 the est Training was formally retired by the company, to be replaced by a newly-developed workshop called 'The Forum', which began to be offered in January 1985. By this time, over 750,000 people around the world had done 'the Training', and many others had participated in any of the other public seminars and courses offered by est.^{[citation needed]} The est Training introduced several new concepts to the American public, most notably the concept of transformation and taking responsibility for one's life.

'est, Inc.' evolved into 'est, an Educational Corporation', and eventually into 'Werner Erhard & Associates'. WE&A purchased the assets of est in 1981.

The technology of the est Training was significantly influenced by that of Unity Church through Werner Erhard's earlier association with Alexander Everett and his Mind Dynamics program. Werner Erhard had been a Mind Dynamics trainer for Alexander Everett before he founded Erhard Seminars Training. Everett credited Unity Church with having a major impact upon the formation and technology of Mind Dynamics. This connection between the est Training and Unity Church is particularly evident in the theory that one's beliefs, commitments and perceptions create one's reality (a major aspect of the est concept of "responsibility") and the use of affirmations or "declarations" (as est called that which Unity terms "affirmations"). Formulation of the est Training was significantly influenced as well by the American author, philosopher and Zen Buddhist Alan Watts.

PRO: The two-weekend workshops concerned the way we live. The topics were presented and discussed in such a way that participants could learn about that in small, simple steps. Once they learned how to tell the difference between "reality" and "fantasy," they found that many things they typically worried about and tried to deal with existed only in their imaginations. When that happened, they found they suddenly (and almost inexplicably) had a great deal more confidence and time to think about, focus on, and deal with the real problems in their life. Suddenly they were able to accomplish much more of what they wanted (think family, friends, and emotional satisfaction). It also allowed them to recognize and understand the vast, profound similarities in everyone. Consequently they were able to interact with each other (and everyone else) in a new, refreshing, direct, and almost completely unprecedented manner. Since they no longer paid attention to and were no longer concerned about nonsense and hogwash, they appeared to be almost magically "transformed." Few if any "graduates" expressed any real concerns or complaints about the training or it's results. Most of the people who signed up for the "est training" did so because of the changes they saw in their friends who completed the workshops.

CON: Most of the information about the basic, underlying techniques used in the two-weekend workshops was communicated in jargon. That created confusion about what actually went on in the workshops and why the "graduates" seemed to be so transformed. That allowed people who did not take the "est training" to cast aspersions on it without fear of contradiction or exposure. So almost all the complaints about the "est training" or its results come from people who don't know what they're talking about. (Much like someone criticizing a book they haven't read, a movie they haven't seen, a meal they haven't eaten, or somebody else's ideas about politics, religion, sexual practices, etc., etc., etc.)

• 1971 - Erhard Seminars Training Inc, first est Training held in San Francisco, California
• 1973 - The Foundation for the Realization of Man - incorporated as a non-profit foundation in California (subsequently the name of the foundation was changed to the est Foundation in 1976, and in 1981 to the Werner Erhard Foundation)
• 1975 - est, an educational corporation
• 1981 - Sold assests to Werner Erhard and Associates and est ceased operations ^[2]

est incorporated in 1973 as a non-profit foundation in the State of California under the name of the Foundation for the Realization of Man. An amendment to the articles of incorporation, filed in July 1976, renamed it as the est Foundation.

In 1981 est, an educational corporation, ceased operation.

• Valerie Harper^[3]
• Mike Oldfield^[4]
• Yoko Ono
• Diana Ross

• Harry Margolis organized the accounting and distribution of profits
• Robert W. Fuller - est participant, co-founder, The Hunger Project
• Lynne Twist - est participant, founding executive and past director of global funding for The Hunger Project
• Steven Pressman - author of Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile, (1993), St. Martin's Press
• James Slee - est participant, died suddenly during an est training session in 1983. It was determined that the est training did not cause his death.
• Charles "Raz" Ingrasci - headed est mission to the USSR; past officer of Lifespring and board member of The Hunger Project; now President and CEO of the Hoffman Institute
• David R. Hawkins - est participant, psychiatrist and spiritual teacher, has referenced est in lectures disparagingly.
• Gary R. Renard - est participant, author of The Disappearance of the Universe and teacher of A Course in Miracles.
• John J. Considine - est and Landmark Forum participant, spiritual teacher and minister of the Unity Church who has referenced the est Training and Landmark Forum favorably in his lectures.

• The Hunger Project 1977 - Present
• Exegesis, an est-like organization functioning in the United Kingdom in the 1980s
• The Conversation Toward Autonomy/Arnold Siegel & Company, Inc. - website
• IAMATHON or Discovery Institute of Palo Alto Ca. 1975-1977 - website

See also the list of associated organizations.

• William Warren Bartley (1978). Werner Erhard The Transformation of a Man: The Founding of est. New York, New York, USA: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. ISBN 0-517-53502-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Adelaide Bry est (Erhard Seminars Training): 60 Hours That Transform Your Life. Harpercollins, 1976
• Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change. 2nd edition, Stillpoint Press, 1995. [2] ISBN 0-9647650-0-4
• V.J. Fedorschak The Shadow on the Path: Clearing the Psychological Blocks to Spiritual Development. Hohm Press, 1999. ISBN 0-934252-81-5
• Sheridan Fenwick Getting it: the psychology of est. Penguin, 1977. ISBN 0-14-004467-1
• Carl Frederick est: Playing the Game the New Way. Delacorte, 1974.
• Robert Hargrave est: Making Life Work. Delacorte, 1976.
• Ray E Hosford, C Scott Moss, Helene Cavior and Burton Kerish Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology 1982, Manuscript #2419, American Psychological Association)
• Ray E Hosford, C Scott Moss, Helene Cavior and Burton Kerish "Research on Erhard Seminar Training in a Correctional Institution"
• Steven Pressman (1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile. New York, New York, USA: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09296-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Rhinehart, Luke, The Book of Est
• Jane Self (1992). 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard: How America's Top Rated Television Show Was Used in an Attempt to Destroy a Man Who Was Making A Difference. Houston, Texas, USA: Breakthru Publishing. ISBN 0-942540-23-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Steven M. Tipton Getting saved from the sixties: moral meaning in conversion and cultural change. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. ISBN 0520038681

• Mark Brewerk. "We're Gonna Tear You Down and Put You Back Together", Psychology Today, August 1975
• L. L. Glass, M. A. Kirsch and F. N. Parris. "Psychiatric disturbances associated with Erhard Seminars Training", American Journal of Psychiatry. 1977; 134(3): 245-7.
• Peter Marin. "The New Narcissism", Harper's, October 1975, 251:45-56.
• Perry Pascarella. "Create Breakthroughs in Performance by Changing the Conversation,” by Perry Pascarella. Industry Week, Vol. 233, No. 6 (June 15), 1987.
• Eliezer Sobel. “This Is It: est, Twenty Years Later” (QUEST Magazine, Summer 1998)[3]

• An account of the life, influences and controversies surrounding Erhard
• Conversations For Transformation: Essays By Laurence Platt Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard, And More, A friend of Werner's shares light on Werner's work.
• Independent Research, Case Studies, and Surveys (Landmark Education Website July 2005)
• [http://skepdic.com/est.html A skeptic's take on the mythology of est. (The Skeptic's Dictionary)
• Independent Pro and contra presentation of est and Landmark Education, followed by series of links to articles (Apologetics Index - Resources on Religious Cults, Sects, Religions, Doctrines, etc.)
• Series of awareness-raising articles about est/Landmark Education (at SIMPOS, a Dutch "foundation for information on social problems and occult tendencies")