Werner Erhard

I realized I could go above my house and I could go above my city and I could go above my state and I could go above the whole planet.

And, uh, but that really started as a child, but things like the Werner Erhard experience gave me tools and opened up, you know, as much as I have of things I don't like about Werner.

I'm also very grateful to have had them show me what these abilities were that for me in the classroom, there were only me and my brothers were the only kids in the whole entire class.

It was a hundred and it'd be anywhere from a hundred to 150 people, but we were Werner's second class that he ever taught of anything ever anywhere.

They were blown away.

So they then started using me in front of their crowds and it would be in a hotel, in different places.

My last experience with Werner Erhardt was him regressing me on video.

I've never seen the video, but it was at the St. Francis Hotel.

I'm talking more about the excuses we use to cast doubt on our responsibility for our own actions.

It reminds me of a Werner Erhard exercise from his S-Seminars.

He'd ask someone to choose between two flavors of ice cream, chocolate or vanilla.

They'd make their choice, and he'd ask why.

There are teachers who are always wanting to push and the work value of living on the edge, stress.

Werner Erhard, he always considered keeping himself and those around him on edge and as awake as possible.

And there's definitely a danger of falling asleep, becoming complacent when there is no edge.

But in my experience, the edge is something that doesn't require an external stimulus.

Oh, yeah.

You know, I don't know if you remember Werner Erhard training.

That's a precursor to Landmark.

In the '70s.

Yeah.

For people who-

But the guy, Werner Erhard, was like a used car salesman.

You know, probably from Detroit or somewhere near there.

I'll tell you the definition that I've been using for years and years about love.

And it was given to me by Werner Erhard in the S training back in the 1970s in San Francisco, where I lived and spent some of my major growth.

He said that love is giving something the space to be the way it is.

and giving something the space to be the way it isn't.

Yeah.

What, to your knowledge, how is all that footage being used? Like, what's it being saved for? Like, and we hear about this library, I don't even know if it's still happening, the whole Werner Erhard Center for Leadership Development in the Landmark Hall at the Cal State University building, which they, you know, donated-

Right.

Right

So there was-

...

Werner Erhard & Associates, all that.

Yeah

Uh, certainly, uh, uh, Carnegie and, um, and, uh-

...

Werner Erhard, you know, it goes on and on.

Uh, uh, I did it from behind the scenes, which was good in some ways, because if you're employing 70 to 100 high-ego trainers, they love it when they can be the star.

[laughs]

But when I...

So when I wrote the book, I was scared because I knew I'd have to be out in public, you know? Or I'd have a warehouse full of books.

But you were sort of around.

Did you do Est with Werner Erhard? I did, yes.

I loved it, by the way.

Est was

I saw one of your TikToks where you put the little bunny ears on top of your head.

The last little bit was what Werner Erhard taught me 70, 70 years, 50 years ago, oh my God, 50 years ago in the training rooms of San Francisco.

We did experiences and processes lying on the floor, yelling and screaming and doing things like that.

But it got to the point where you realize that the reason why you're not knocking on their door is you're afraid.