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From: leed@orstcs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: History of EST?Lifesprings/PSI
Message-ID: <11700007@orstcs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 11-Jun-84 00:02:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: orstcs.11700007
Posted: Mon Jun 11 00:02:00 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 14-Jun-84 23:44:56 EDT
Organization: Oregon State University - Corvallis, OR
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Nf-ID: #N:orstcs:11700007:000:5715
Nf-From: orstcs!leed    Jun 10 20:02:00 1984


Subject: History of EST/Lifesprings/PSI

I have just started reading net.singles (it's not just because I've just
become one), and noticed with interest several articles relating to
Lifesprings/EST.  I have never taken either, although I plan on taking EST
soon.  I have taken several seminars put on by an organization called
PSI World, PSI standing for People Synergistically Involved.

I was very interested in the chronology of PSI, and some questions and
research has been quite interesting.  I will fill in the information that
I have, and would like to request that people knowing more send me
USENET or USPS mail (address at end of article).


History:

Earlier in this century, a young reporter named Napolian Hill had the good
fortune to interview William Carnige.  As a result of their immediate
friendship, Mr. Carnige offered Hill a job: Interview the world's most
successfull people, over 10 years, without pay.  Carnige offered to give
Hill letters of introduction to the world's wealthy, and told him that he
could any "knowledge" he gleaned from these interviews.

Napolian took that challenge, and spent 10 years studying the greats.  I
will not give details, as Mr. Hill deposited all the knowledge he gained in
several sets of books.  He first wrote a series of volumes, with a title
something like "The Law of Success", or some other such presumptious name.
These did not sell to well (surprised?), so he summarized all that he had
learned in a book entitled "Think And Grow Rich".  (NOTE: The title really
summarizes the secret that Hill discovered). This book was an enormous
success, and Hill also went on to write several other books.  Most of these
can be found in bookstores to this day, but are usually ignored as "another
one of those success books".

The next saga in the PSI/Lifesprings/PSI story (remember that?) opens with
a man named William Penn Patrick.  Some may recognize the name.  He was not
nearly so well known as Carnige, but he was significantly richer when he
died.  Anyway, he started out broke.  He was so broke that Ma Bell was
tearing the phone off of his wall for non-payment.  Well, to make a long
story a little less long, he had read "Think And Grow Rich", and not done
all the things suggested in there.  He decided to try it and give it a
chance, and he did just that.  Nine years latter, he was one of the richest
people in the U.S., owning 143 corporations, several airplanes, including a
B-something bomber (not a B-52), a P-51 Mustang (a WWI fighter prop plane),
a jet, etc. etc.

By the way, for those who don't believe that he earned his riches through
the techniques in "Think And Grow Rich", I have a few things to say:
1. Have you read and tried these techniques?  If not, what do you know?
2. Mr. Patrick is not the only person who has done this, but he is the only
   one important for this discussion
3. I don't care what you think anyway.

Continuing on, one of the companies that Patrick owned was called "Mind
Dynamics".  Guess who used to work there!  Mr. Gerhardt (who started EST),
the guy who started Life Springs, and Mr. Thomas Whilhite.

Let me say at this point that I have met Mr. Whilhite, and alot of what I
know about William Penn Patrick, and about PSI World come from him.  I am
trying to keep as much bias as possible out of this history, but I'm sure
I won't succeed, so this is just a warning.

Anyway, when Mr. Patrick died in a plane crash (remeber the P-51 I
mentioned above) in the late 50's, his empire scattered.  I am not clear on
how Life Springs or EST started from here.  As far as PSI world is
concerned, I'll continue on.

Whilhite went back to Minn. or somewhere (his home turf) and started a
"seminar" similar to the Mind Dyncamics one he had learned from.  It became
so popular that he raised enough money to go back and buy the "Patrick
Ranch".  I didn't mention this above, but one of Patrick's toys was a very
nice valley that he called "High Valley Ranch", about 30 minutes out of
Santa Rosa, CA.  Whilhite bought this ranch for PSI, and PSI is still there
to this day.  As a matter of fact, some of their classes is there, and I've
attended one of them.

Well, finally, we've come to a close of this history lesson.  Those of you
that haven't already skipped to the next article might be interested to
know that the person who was president of Mind Dyncamics, the company that
spawned all three of what I like to call the "Life Success" classes holds
his own seminar to this day.  It's a one-weekend affair, held in Eugene,
OR.

END OF HISTORY


I'll close out the epic with some BRIEF comments on my personal opinion of
these "Life Success" classes.  The PSI seminars I've taken have helped me
tremendously.  I spent alot of money, but would do it all again (even
though I'm still paying off a loan for the last class I took).

It's obvious that people that don't go are afraid.  With a moneyback
garuntee (sp?), why else would they not go.  Oh, before you flame, I've heard
all the "reasons", and there are no good ones.  So go ahead, make excuses for
your lack of progress if it makes you feel better.  It's only when you face
that, honestly, and realize that it really can be better, that you'll give
yourself (and these types of classes) a chance.  (If this last paragraph
generates a few *FLAMES*, good!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Learning is a process of continually un-learning old un-truths"
(A paraphrase of Robert Heinlen)
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