Werner Erhard - Est Era (1971–1984)

Est Era (1971–1984)

"est", short for Erhard Seminars Training, also Latin for "It is," offered intensive communications and self-empowerment workshops. Their purpose was "to transform one's ability to experience living so that the situations one had been trying to change or had been putting up with, clear up just in the process of life itself." Participants at est workshops had to adhere to strict rules and were given designated breaks for bathroom visits and one meal break. They were not permitted to smoke, eat or drink during the workshop. Sessions lasted from 9:00 am to midnight or the early hours of the morning, with one meal break. Participants were frequently referred to as "estholes"; they had to hand over wristwatches and were not allowed to take notes, or to speak unless called upon, in which case they had to wait for a microphone to be brought to them. The second day of the workshop featured the "danger process". Groups of participants were brought onto the stage and confronted by est staff, trying to provoke a reaction; afterwards, participants were asked to "imagine that they were afraid of everyone else and then that everyone else was afraid of them." This was followed by lectures on the third and fourth days, covering topics such as reality and the nature of the mind, ending with the conclusion that "what is, is and what ain't, ain't," and that "true enlightenment is knowing you are a machine." Participants were told they were perfect the way they were and were asked to indicate by a show of hands if they "had gotten it".

While Erhard led all the early est courses himself, by the mid-1970s there were ten trainers trained by him. Once est proved to be successful, Erhard contacted his first wife and the children he had left behind; both his ex-wife Pat and his own younger siblings subsequently took jobs in the est organization. Further est centers opened in Los Angeles, Aspen, Honolulu and New York, and est was enthusiastically endorsed by celebrities such as John Denver and Valerie Harper.