I was both saddened and dismayed by the recent deaths and injuries that
occurred during self-help "guru" James Arthur Ray's "Spiritual Warrior"
retreat in Sedona, Arizona last week. There are so many things
about this retreat that are disturbing that I felt the need to
write about it. The most tragic, of course, is that such recklessness
led to the death of two people, sickened another 20 and one remains in
critical condition.
It is unfathomable that James Ray would conduct a sweat lodge with over
60 people in makeshift lodge without proper ventilation. In this case, for the price tag of $9650 (the cost to attend Ray's Spiritual Warrior event) Ray, could have easily afforded to build several properly constructed sweat lodges.
I am truly disturbed by the ego and greed of those who are
masquerading around as "guru's claiming to possess the "magic
bullet" that will make you rich and successful. Pfff!
Like the tooth fairy.
I wish there were a "magic bullet" or something that I could
recommend to you that would make you instantly rich and
successful...but there isn't. And, I sincerely hope that people will take heed
and stop wasting their precious lives and hard-earned money searching
for it.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't seek guidance or help. There are plenty of
legitimate ways to get help in healing your mind, body and spirit and
to becoming more personally and spiritually aware and awake. But at what cost and whom can you really trust to assist you?
So, how do you spot a Charlatan? Here's my perspective and I hope it helps everyone out there to ask more questions and to become more discerning:
By definition, a charlatan is someone who claims to have "special"
knowledge, powers or abilities, but doesn't actually possess them.
Charlatans can be very persuasive and evangelical in their ability to
entice people who greatly want or desire something they perceive
someone else to have.
The minute anyone claims to have the ability to make you rich or change
your entire life forever in a weekend, you should run. You can
learn and grow a lot in a well-run workshop or retreat, without a
doubt. However, meaningful change takes time, commitment and often hard
work.
People or workshops that charge you unreasonably high fees in order to grace you with their presence are usually great at pumping
you up (it's called an adrenaline high), but are unlikely to be there
for you when you the rush is over.
- Here’s some perspective. For $10,000 you could hire a coach and a therapist for a year who
will give you individualized therapy and coaching that addresses your specific issues, goals and needs. Literally, a year of personalized support and guidance.
- Many people have gone into serious debt to attend these events and this is of no concern to the Charlatan. What's more, I've had several clients who created more financial problems for
themselves by impulsively signing up for workshops they
could not afford only to find they signed a binding contract and could
not get a refund. So, please read the fine print.
Charlatans may try to lure you in with a sense of
"exclusivity." Unfortunately, the only thing exclusive about their offering is your
willingness to pay to play with them. Sad, but generally true.
This is my opinion, but my experience is that most really good work is done one-on-one with people who know you and
your personal circumstances and who are interested in having a real relationship
with you.
Nothing replaces individual prayer, meditation and your personal connection with God
on a daily basis. If you did nothing else but this you will probably feel
better and I believe it would improve the quality of your life. And this help is free and available to everyone!
Lastly, it is good and right to want to improve your life, heal the past, or
manifest your dreams, but we need to become more discerning. Get
referrals from people who have made lasting positive changes. How did
they achieve their goals or change their lives? Who helped them along
the way? These are the role models I would recommend you seek out for
guidance.
The Charlatans out there can rob us of more than our money, they also rob of us of our faith and trust in humanity. Let's not let that happen.
For today, there is still hope and real help is available, but please be careful where you go to find it.
Peace and Blessings!
May you be blessed with the powers of wisdom and discernment .
posted October 14, 2009 at 1:22 am
the release that everyone who attends a James Ray seminar has to sign has been posted online.
it says right in there, that people are risking their lives and could die.
http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?12,77450,77484#msg-77484
posted October 14, 2009 at 2:01 am
Great Article. As someone who has attended many workshops and retreats I can say like everything else it’s buyer beware. Do the homework, define the true purpose of your attending, ask for and read the fine print before sending the $$$. I have learned the hard way, I have lost a few bucks here and there, but I’m still alive. Even getting ripped off is a lesson as well as learning “all we need is already within us, given to us when we are born, and it’s free!
That said, I am very saddened about this and my prayers go out to all involved, the deceased and even those responsible.
posted October 14, 2009 at 2:02 am
very well put…. and very good advice!
Unfortunately, I am one of those that is currently in debt due to my not so smart decisions and some very good convincing and persuasion by James Ray to fork out money that i didn’t have in order to attend the workshops that would make me a millionaire and get everything I have ever wanted and dreamed! I sure wish I would have “seen the light” a little earlier than i did! But I am also thankful that i quit when i did and didn’t end up a victim in the news.
posted October 14, 2009 at 4:25 am
This is a first hand account from a Sedona radio broadcaster who was supposed to assist but got there late. When she got there is when people were outside the lodge needing help. This is her experience… to listen you have to click on her little player or click right below it and you can listen on your default player.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ShawnaBowen/2009/10/13/Support-and-Insight-for-Parents-with-troubled-Teen
posted October 14, 2009 at 10:51 am
I would remove the “get referrals” suggestion.
Remember, that most people teaching “how to change your life overnight” use their own story (let me highlight that: STORY) of how they changed their life as the proof that they know what they’re doing.
Then they’ll bring out a statistically small (insignificant, actually) number of students who testify that the teacher’s methods worked.
Ask most seemingly successful people how they achieved their success, and they’ll revise history to create a narrative in which they star. But that narrative is often grossly inaccurate.
Cognitive psychology research has shown that we tend to attribute credit to ourselves for success, and to outside influences for failure… and we dramatically underestimate the role of luck, chance, randomness, etc, in our achievements.
Better, frankly, to find students who got NOTHING out of the teachings and see why… since there will be a much greater number of that population, you’re more likely to have something in common with that group (even though, sadly, another of our cognitive biases is to believe that we are unique and special and will succeed even if millions before us have failed).
posted October 14, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Thank you for writing such an informative article. I too teach and try to help others but always emphasize that it takes time and effort and lots of healthy choices every day to make any lasting change. I am always concerned when people believe or are made to believe that success, abundance, higher consciousness, psychic abilities or even meditation and enlightenment are an instant and quick event. Our physical, emotional, and mental bodies took a long time to be what they are, and to transmute them, to change them and change our life also takes a long time and dedicated effort.
There is another side to this, which is to educate the public and start to move away from needing and wanting “instant change.” I believe it is that mentality that gets people into trouble because there is always someone out there who wants to take advantage of a vulnerable and hurting person. When we feel vulnerable, better to go to a qualified person who can spend the time and help us see what we need to do to have systemic change.
I don’t know all the circumstances of this tragic event, so I am withholding judgment on the teachers involved. We all bear responsibility, both the public and those who put themselves in the position of authority, to care for the welfare and health of human beings.
Thank you,
Gita
posted October 14, 2009 at 1:40 pm
people die, so what … far too much hoopla is being made in the community-whose-identity-is-spiritual community … all with a subtext that he is bad and therefore i am not …
posted October 14, 2009 at 2:03 pm
“By definition, a charlatan is someone who claims to have “special” knowledge, powers or abilities, but doesn’t actually possess them.”
Deborah, NOBODY possesses the “”special” knowledge, power or abilities” they might claim to have. These are all entirely within the purview of folk theory, myth and superstition. The whole flimflam known as “The Secret” is based on these folk theories. It’s time for you folks to wake up and finally understand that you don’t get something for nothing.
posted October 14, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Anyone attacking so-called “new age” gurus, without also attacking Christian proselytizing, corruption within the clergy, and snake-oil-pushing TV “preachers,” is engaging in hypocrisy of the highest order. Same goes for Islam, Hinduism, Buddism, or any non-rational “belief system.”
Fairy tales don’t help the world–whether they are “new age” or
“bronze age.”
posted October 14, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Many people searching to get rich underestimate the ‘cost’. Abundance inevitably brings crisis. This crisis appears in many, many forms, and this story represents just one of those forms.
The very first mistake we make in pursuing our desire to achieve abundance is that we do it for selfish reasons. We are not creating a healthy flow of abundance that way. Self serving abundance causes blockages in the world system, just as clogged arteries do in the human body. Cancer cells act in the same way, taking over and monopolizing healthy cells, and eventually breaking down the entire system.
I agree that pointing to others who are being selfish and greedy is not the best policy. Let’s look deep within to discover how we contribute to this crisis and start the changes at home.
Love to all.
posted October 14, 2009 at 5:19 pm
LOGICALLY is so correct. No matter who is trying to control you, be it pastor, preacher or one of The Secret gurus, beware. None of them has special knowledge.
And sometimes, you may not need to change at all. Consider focusing on what is right with you, not what is wrong and you might find out you don’t need to spend money to get what you are looking for.
posted October 17, 2009 at 7:06 am
I thought this was a well written article, until the author invoked the sectarian part about prayer, etc. Irrational belief is just that, whether it is Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or any of these new age belief systems.
Presently and urgently, and in no other time during the course of human history, does our species need to embrace critical thinking skills to solve our problems.
posted October 17, 2009 at 7:41 am
This new account is truly shocking. If it is at all true, James Ray is starting to look like a very dangerous man, an outright sociopath, and needs to be stopped from recruiting new victims immediately.
http://tinyurl.com/yfy7e7r
http://www.examiner.com/x-11245-Philadelphia-Speculative-Fiction-Examiner~y2009m10d16-Breaking-news-Inside-accounts-of-James-Ray-sweat-lodge-tragedy-and-retreat
posted October 17, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Thank you for writing this. I agree with your points. When I think of how simple it is to open up to the available resources one already has at home, close by, in a person’s own community, and how by opening up to the love that is already here, folks can see what they need to do, and make appropriate changes.
posted October 17, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I also attended a James Ray event and was knocked down – right in front of him – during one of his exercises. And even though I was attacked from behind and knocked down, he never stopped his fast paced sales pitch to ask if I was okay – or to make sure that he didn’t step on me!
I waited in line after the event to tell him about my injury. His response? “It sure got crazy, didn’t it?” He was smiling broadly.
You can read about my entire experience at my Blog (link above). It’s been published since January20th – well before this happened.
IMO, James Ray has a long history of putting people into dangerous situations – and honestly, I do not think he cares.
posted October 18, 2009 at 11:05 pm
It simply amazes me that people fork out money to ANY so-called guru with the expectation it will improve their lives.
People have become so lazy.
Only way to help yourself is to HELP YOURSELF. And unless you have no clue as to what to do to do that, then you are hopeless.
Only people gaining from the self-help industry are the creeps raking in the cash. Really unbelievable to me people are so weak and stupid!