What is Landmark jargon?

We are all professionals who each interact with people from many different backgrounds and professions. One commonality is that each trade and profession has a unique use of language and vocabulary. For example the field of psychology has hundreds of terms that are unique and essential to conveying and communicating ideas, concepts and distinctions of this field of study.

Similarly, Landmark uses some language particular to their field -- key words and phrases that support their teaching technique and allow people to consider and grasp new ideas and ways of viewing things.

Here are examples of a few of Landmark’s key terms/phrases and descriptions from Landmark’s syllabus, which can be found on their website:

Already Always Listening™
While we think of ourselves as open-minded and objective, in fact our approach to ourselves, our circumstances, and others is often filtered and even obscured by pre-existing notions and ideas – by our upbringing, our values, our past experiences. These filters (which are already and always there) profoundly color our relationships with people, circumstances, and even ourselves. An awareness of these filters, and recognition of the striking limits that they impose, allows for a refreshing freedom.

The Vicious Circle™
The Vicious Circle suggests that it is a human tendency to collapse what happened; with the story we tell about what happened. This collapsing happens so fast, it becomes hard to separate the two, and we think of them as one and the same. Almost immediately, and certainly over time, the story we tell ourselves becomes the way it is – the reality we know. It limits what is possible in our lives, robbing us of much of our joy and effectiveness. When we are able to separate what happened from our story or interpretation, we discover that much of what we considered already determined, given and fixed, may in fact not be that way. Situations that may have been challenging or difficult become fluid and open to change. We find ourselves no longer limited by a finite set of options, and able to achieve what we want with new ease and enjoyment.

Rackets™
Rackets are defined as an unproductive way of being or acting that includes a complaint that something shouldn’t be the way it is. Often, we don’t notice that while our complaints may seem justified, even legitimate, there is a certain payoff – some advantage or benefit we are receiving that reinforces the cycle of behavior. At the same time, this way of being has steep costs, whether in our vitality, affinity, self-expression, or sense of fulfillment.
By recognizing this pattern, its costs, and how we have been keeping the pattern in place, we have the choice to interrupt the cycle and discover new ways of interacting that lead to new levels of happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment in the areas of life that are most important to us.


Transformation
We take for granted that things “are” a particular way. To effect change, we tend to go to work on altering circumstances, the people around us, even ourselves. In Landmark courses, however, participants explore the difference between change and transformation. Change is essentially a comparison to something that previously existed. By its very nature, change is past-based. Essentially, change yields more, better, or different from what came before. Transformation, on the other hand, is an act of bringing forth or inventing. It is something created, and is inherently expansive and infinite.

 

What other people say:

People have commented that Landmark’s terminology was created to exclude those who had not participated in their courses. We find that assertion preposterous! Clearly, anything new requires a certain learning curve. And given Landmark publishes and defines these phrases on their very own website, we hardly think they are seeking to create some exclusive, insider-only language. People do not need to be protected from a few new words or new meanings.

Just as people unfamiliar with computers might find the lingo of bits and bytes impenetrable or even off-putting until they learn what the terms are referencing, people who participate in Landmark’s programs learn and use the specialized vocabulary to avail themselves of new ways of thinking.