Sweat Lodge Update: James Arthur Ray Arrested
EmailThere has been a major development this evening in a story we’ve been investigating for several months. Self-described spiritual guru James Arthur Ray, pictured above, whose philosophies were once featured on “Oprah” and whose workshops cost clients thousands, has just been charged with three counts of manslaughter. The charges follow three deaths tied to a sweat lodge ceremony at his spiritual retreat in October. Ray was arrested at the office of his attorney, Luis Li. In a statement, Li called the charges "unjust," the deaths an accident, and said Ray has contributed with auhorities throughout the investigation. Here is a link to the ABCNews.com story. Here is a link to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office release. Embedded below is one of two investigations, a full half-hour broadcast reported by Dan Harris that aired in December, entitled “Sweat Lodge Secrets.”
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What cracks me up about James Ray is that he is not sorry those people died under his care.
Posted by: anony | February 3, 2010, 8:21 pm 8:21 pm
So Jim, if you live according to ‘The Secret’, why did you manifest this situation in your life? Jerk.
Posted by: rick | February 3, 2010, 11:09 pm 11:09 pm
I shook hands with this guy, ?He is most likely guilty of neglect. His testimony does not match the policemen’s testimoney, either. Interestingly, among the ‘Secret’ crowd, he is the only one that openly mocks his Christian upbringing.
Posted by: william | February 3, 2010, 11:23 pm 11:23 pm
I saw this guy on Larry King a couple years ago and enjoyed his views on positive thinking. He should have just stuck with that. Too bad he decided to get into the sweat lodge business. I guess he wasn’t selling enough books.
Posted by: Lance | February 4, 2010, 1:07 pm 1:07 pm
It’s folks like these that give the Law of Attraction its bad name. Among the basic tenets of LOA are that you *don’t* let your ego get out of control, that you’re always acting with responsibility and integrity, and that you wear your true intentions on your sleeve; you can’t be a shyster or a cheat if you really believe in LOA. It’s obvious that Ray didn’t practice what he preached; if he had, he would have known that this could be the outcome of his actions. In his world, he really did play god (literally) and thought he could get away with it. With LOA, though, as with other traditions, you really do “reap what you sow.” He’s getting exactly what he attracted, in other words, and it’s very deserved.
Posted by: Kim | February 4, 2010, 1:46 pm 1:46 pm
Folks like James Ray give the Law of Attraction a bad name. If he *really* believed in it, he wouldn’t be facing these consequences; he’s a fake.
Among the basic tenets of LOA are that you don’t let your ego get out of control, you act with responsibility and integrity, and you wear your true intentions on your sleeve. He did none of those things, and even worse sought to control others, disrespecting them and their search for self-empowerment.
A true teacher would have been advising people to listen to themselves above all; he not only didn’t do that, he belittled them when they tried to. He’s now facing the consequences of his *true* intentions, which is that he wanted to control others for his own gain. If he really believed in LOA, IMO, he wouldn’t be, because he wouldn’t have been an egomaniac who literally “played god,” and he would have known such actions could lead to these kinds of results. He did most definitely attract this to himself, and it’s most deserved, IMO.
Posted by: Kim | February 4, 2010, 2:00 pm 2:00 pm
It doesn’t matter what side your on, let us all learn the lesson to TRUST OUR OWN INSTINCT.
Posted by: iris blue | February 5, 2010, 10:08 am 10:08 am
I agree that if one follows the beliefs of the Law Of Attraction, this should never have happened. I do like a lot of what James wrote in his book but I feel somewhere along the line he got lost. He seems to have taken his popularity to another level and totally let it go to his head. Originally, I feel he believed what he taught but it got way out of hand. This tragedy should never have happened.
Posted by: Shawnne | February 7, 2010, 9:52 am 9:52 am
Kim said: “Folks like James Ray give the Law of Attraction a bad name. If he *really* believed in it, he wouldn’t be facing these consequences; he’s a fake.”
Well, not exactly, he’s ignorant to what LOA is doing. LOA creates with the mind and the mind is an instrument of polarity (that’s why there’s a left side and a right side). LOA practitioners use the mind to constantly manifest the ‘good’ and are ignorant that the polar opposite also gets created somewhere in their experience.
Posted by: pete | February 8, 2010, 12:07 am 12:07 am
It is easy for the ego to get out of control. It is easy for spiritual teachers to succumb to the ego and fall. It appears that this is what may have happened here. I think he may have started off with good intentions and got a bit enamored with himself and bought his own press – the kiss of death. It is amazing how the fallen ignore the reality of what is really happening around them because they are so bought into what the ego wants to believe ie. that these people were just processing their stuff and would come out stronger in the end. The ego is meant to be a servant. It makes a terrible master as we have seen here. I wonder if he will ever really get it!
Posted by: Mel | February 10, 2010, 2:12 am 2:12 am
Pete said:
>LOA practitioners use the mind to constantly manifest the ‘good’ and are ignorant that the polar opposite also gets created somewhere in their experience.
That is your opinion, but I disagree; I don’t believe the polar opposite MUST be created in experience. The potential is there, to be sure, but it’s the manifestation, what is actually brought into reality, that’s important, and is what LOA focuses on. Nor do I believe Ray was “ignorant” of LOA’s workings. I just don’t think he really believed in them at all and thought he could manipulate people as he pleased by professing belief and expertise.
I’m always on the lookout for fresh new voices in LOA and the unique perspective they can bring, so I read one of his books (might have been the first, but I don’t remember). I was struck by its utterly smug, “I know better than you” tone, and never read another. I also remember him saying something in it to the effect of, “You can visualize all you want” — in regard to correcting financial difficulty — “but if you don’t DO something, they’ll come and take your furniture away.”
I read that and thought, “Nice. Let’s introduce fear into the LOA equation so we can teach people to attract that experience too, shall we?” I just remember thinking he was so negative and so smug, and I stayed away from his material after that.
Kim
Posted by: Kim | February 16, 2010, 8:43 am 8:43 am
As someone who has done a dozen sweat lodges in my life (Native-led), I can tell you that they are no joke. I’m not sure how anyone could possibly monitor the wellbeing of 60 people inside a lodge. While I’m sure Ray’s original intent was to help people cleanse their bodies and psyches in this purification ritual, he’s clearly negligent in that he was not qualified to run a sweat. In 100-degree heat and with 60 inexperienced people, he should have only allowed a “baby sweat” (very short rounds, only a few rocks, plenty of drinking water in the lodge to ensure hydration, people encouraged to leave anytime, more than one exit, etc.). I’ve done a Summer sweat in 95-degree heat, and I never did a Summer sweat again.
I’ve also done “breathwork,” as the woman in the video describes. It is a very safe and healing experience when done with an experienced breathwork therapist. It allows people to–at their own breathing pace–enter an altered state (or not, like hypnosis, it’s their choice how deep they go). Much like dreaming, you can get some great insight into things you might otherwise repress from consciousness.
Posted by: Gretchen | February 27, 2010, 10:44 am 10:44 am
It’s now September 2010 and I’ve lost the thread of this story since there have been some pretty terrible news events this year.
What’s the latest develpment with James Ray? Is he in custody? Not only did people die in his care, but Ray stunned everyone with his complete lack of concern.
Hoping to hear an update soon.
Thank you.
Terry
Posted by: Terry | September 6, 2010, 11:51 am 11:51 am
I bought the movie, in 2006. I liked it. It is a ‘feel good movie’. We can have everything we want.
Beautifully written spiritual princples. It teaches we are responsible for everything that happens in our lives. We atract everything. we get married. We attracted it. We get divorced, we attracted it. (it of course leaves the cheater off the hook) We get mugged, (Of couse it’s not the mugger, because we attracted it.
Likewise… If you are not attracting everything you want, it’s not the LOA teachers fault! You attracted your own lack. . Never mind how much they may have charged you, to teach you how to attract all of this.
All the while these “teachers” have been laughing all the way to the bank… Nothing is their fault.
Oh what a twisted teaching if there ever was one…
I feel so truly sorry for their victims, and the families of the victims.
Posted by: barbara | October 4, 2010, 4:00 pm 4:00 pm
James obviously made a big mistake and from what I know, he is quite concerned! Here is a quote from the last email I received from him:
“Hey Marco! Thanks for your support. One of the grand illusions is that if you learn enough and grow enough you’ll have no problems. I’ve found just the opposite is true. Our problems are how we grow the most. Thanks again my friend, much love. James.”
He truly wants the best for people and in his heart he felt he was doing a service for those who attended the event. Unfortunately, many suffered and people were killed. I know that if he could have known the outcome, he would have prepared and taken more precautions.
Posted by: Marco | April 17, 2011, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm