Life Spring










    

    I.
Profile Report


    

      

    1. 
Name:
 Life Spring or Lifespring

      

    2. 
Founder:
John Hanley

      

    3. 
Date of Birth:
 Not available

      

    4. 
Birth Place:
 Not available

      

    5. 
Year Founded:
 1974

      

    6. 
Brief History:
 John Hanley, once a member of Mind Dynamics (as was Werner Erhard of est fame),
  formed Lifespring during the popularity of the human potential movement. With the help
  of John Enright (of the Gestalt Institute), Hanley established Life Spring as a seminar
  based group that focused on introspection and the manipulation of reality. Hanley hoped
  that attendees would gain an appreciation for the control that each human has over his
  or her life.

      

    7. 
Sacred or Revered Texts:
 Hanley has written a number of pamphlets and books about the techniques used in Life
  Spring seminars, but they do not have the status of sacred texts.

      

    8. Cult or Sect:
      9. 
Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" 
and "sect" are employed in popular discourse.  Since the Religious 
Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and 
appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious 
diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative 
concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes.  For a 
more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the 
concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our 

Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find 
additional links to related issues. 

      

    9. 
Beliefs:
 Life Spring emphasizes that "truth" is a relative concept that can be interpreted in
  many different manners. The source of "truth" lies at the "core" of each human soul. The
  core contains this "truth" as well as love and identity. The goal of Life Spring is to
  draw this core out and actualize it in everyday life. It is the belief of members that
  they can achieve this state through the seminars conducted by leaders in the group.
  Leaders pair members off (into dyads) so that exercises involving sharing and
  confronting can take place. By breaking down an individual, the potential hidden in the
  "core" is discovered. Through further training, the "core" becomes actualized.

      

    10. 
Size of Group:
 In 1977, Life Spring claimed to have over 20,000 people involved in training
  seminars. By 1989, officials state that over 300,000 people had enrolled in the
  seminars.

      

    11. 
Remarks:
 The similarities between Life Spring, Scientology and the Forum are remarkable. All
  involve diads where partners share and confront, hoping to bring about an awareness of
  human potential. It seems the popularity of the human potential movement, which holds
  high the idea that each person has a spark of the divinity in them, continues unabated.
  It also seems as if a large portion of the population is willing to pay in order to
  discover their "core potential." Life Spring seminars cost $450 in 1984, further
  training seminars cost upwards of $750. Many attendees are reported to be businessmen
  interested in improving performance at work.

      

    

    

    

    II. Links to Life Spring Web Sites

    

    
Established Disciplines


    This is a personal testimony from an individual who attended Lifespring training in
  New York. He includes some details about the cost of the program, the history of Mind
  Dynamics, and what benefits are involved.

    
http://www.transcore.com/b5.html


    

    

    

    III. Selected References

    
Articles


    

    

    

    Haaken, Janice. 1983.

    "Pathology as 'Personal Growth': A Participant-Observation Study of Lifespring
  Training."
Psychiatry
 46, 3, 270-280.

    

    

    Masalkov, I. K. 1990.

    "
Lifespring
 in Moscow: Impressions, Problems, Outlook."
Sotsiologicheskie-Issledovaniya
 17, 7 145-151.