James Arthur Ray arrested, charged with manslaughter.

James Arthur Ray was arrested yesterday and charged with 3 counts of manslaughter in connection with the sweat lodge deaths that occurred at a spiritual retreat back in October. Three people died and many others suffered various degrees of distress during a sweat lodge ceremony that took place near the end of a James Ray event in Sedona, AZ.

I’ve shared several postings about this story as important developments took place and watched as this bizarre tragedy unfolded. But I found myself having mixed reactions to the news of James Ray’s arrest.

Much like some readers, I am happy that the legal system is moving forward, taking action, and trying to solve this difficult situation. The victims and their families deserve nothing less.

But at the same time I can’t help but to feel sorry for James Ray. I’ve never attended a James Ray workshop or event, but I have developed a respect for the man and his teachings. What he espouses is very much in line with my own work – which makes it difficult to understand how he ended up in this situation.

My biggest question, and one that many others share, is this: Did James live and act in harmony with what he teaches? In other words, he’s been talking the talk, but did he walk the walk? It’s one thing to talk and teach about personal power and responsibility and another to actually live that way.

I don’t want to get caught up in the legal issues of the case, there will be enough of that all over the web and other media, but I do think that it is important for each of us to pay attention to this tragedy because there is a lesson in here that can help us avoid similar situations in our own lives.

Taken by itself the incident seems to be a case of misplaced personal responsibility, of not knowing your own limits and not knowing when to get out. People make mistakes in judgment every day, and sometimes it costs them dearly.

But is that the case here? There are too many unanswered questions, too many discrepancies between accounts from survivors and from James Ray. Too many past incidents.

You can read the details of his arrest here: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/spiritual-leader-james-ray-arrested-sweat-lodge-deaths/

What do you think?

James Arthur Ray interview out about sweat lodge deaths

James Arthur Ray, the leader of the retreat that ended in the tragic sweat lodge deaths of three people last October, has finally broken his silence about what happened.

This is the first time James has spoken publicly about the tragedy.

In an exclusive interview that appears on New York magazine’s website, James Ray is questioned about his actions that night and his response to the events of that evening.

The interview was done over the phone, and James Ray was assisted by his lawyers during the call. James was willing to answer most of the interviewer’s questions, but his lawyers didn’t let Mr. Ray answer a couple of questions and instead referred people to the two white papers that James Ray’s company, JRI, (James Ray International), released detailing the results of their own investigation into the sweat lodge deaths.

You can read the entire interview here: http://nymag.com/news/features/63259/

You can also read the two white papers his lawyers mentioned here: http://jamesray.com/sedona/ This page on James’ site summarizes the white papers, and a link to the original documents can be found at the bottom of that page.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about this interview. Did James open up? or is he holding back? What do you think of the differences between what James Arthur Ray says, and the published reports of retreat attendees and JRI staffers?

There are still lots of unanswered questions.

Peace,

Bob Crawford
Success Coach, Speaker,
Creator of Growing Your SELF!

p.s. Here are quick links to previous posts about James Arthur Ray and the events in Sedona:

• James Arthur Ray – Sweat Lodge Deaths – News Updates

• James Arthur Ray Cancels Seminars In Wake of Sweat Lodge Deaths In Sedona

• Latest News – James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Death Investigation

• Update on James Arthur Ray – Sweat Lodge Death Tragedy

• James Arthur Ray Spiritual Retreat Turns Deadly

Lawsuits begin, James Arthur Ray troubles continue.

There have been several new developments in the James Arthur Ray sweat lodge death investigation since my last update. Here is a quick look at what’s happening:

Survivor Stories

First, several attendees have come forward and publicly shared their version of what transpired inside the sweat lodge on that fateful day.  Beverly Bunn is one of those attendees. During the retreat Beverly was roommates with Kirby Brown, one of the three people who died from their injuries. Beverly appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America to share her story. You can also read her account in an AP story here.

Beverly claims that James was unconcerned when people started getting sick. She also claims that when the crisis occurred her attempts to help were rebuffed by James Ray staff members.

“I told them about 10 times, ‘I know CPR, I know CPR,’” she said. “They kept pulling me away and pulling me away.”

Beverly also spoke about James Ray’s response to the tragedy, saying that James ‘abandoned’ the participants the night of the tragedy, and that they awoke the following morning to find a note from a James Ray staffer that James was in meditation. That, she says, was the last they heard from James Ray.

Second, as expected the lawsuits have begun. Two were filed this week, one by a victim’s family and one by a survivor. You can read about it on the channel 12 website here and also in an AP story about the lawsuits here.

I’m sure this is just the beginning, as other attorneys representing victims and survivors are said to be gathering evidence in preparation for similar suits.

It looks like a long road ahead for James Arthur Ray. I don’t know how deep his pockets are, but it appears he is going to be experiencing a cash flow problem very quickly.

Last week, Ray’s book publisher Hyperion Books announced that it was delaying the November release of two of James Ray’s books. Although the publisher wouldn’t comment on the reason for the delay, it is obvious that they want no part of this scandal, and will delay the release until they see how things turn out.

I also shared with you in an earlier post that James Arthur Ray canceled all his remaining events for 2009. That’s going to hurt!

The announcement that James was canceling his events came shortly after the Green Valley Hotel in Las Vegas canceled one of James’ upcoming ‘Quantum Leap’ events that was scheduled there. The hotel notified all attendees via email that their reservations and the event itself had been canceled.  You can read the Green Valley Hotel cancels James Arthur Ray event story here. (My thanks to Bonnie, a reader who gave me a heads up on the hotel story.)

Now, according to a Los Angeles Times report, James has put his Beverly Hills mansion up for sale.

The mansion, which he bought for $4 million in March is listed for sale at $5,495,000.

This saga will continue unfolding and I’ll keep posting news as I hear about it, but every story I read about this tragedy reminds me that I, and I alone, am responsible for my growth. As a teacher, it also reminds me that I am responsible for the influence that I exert on others.

You and I spend a lot of time talking about influence, both here on this blog and over on the Growing Your SELF! radio show, but usually we are talking about the amount of influence that we allow others to have on us. I always stress that it is your choice to allow someone else’s thoughts or opinions effect your decisions and actions.

But it is also important to be aware of the influence you are putting out towards others. Your intentions may be good, and you may have the other person’s best interests at heart, but that doesn’t mean that your version of reality is better for them than their own.

Just something for you to think about as you go through your day.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a comment below!

Peace,

p.s. There are exciting things coming soon. The Growing Your SELF home study course is almost wrapped up and ready for release. I’ll keep you posted.

p.p.s. Be sure not to miss any of the great resources, self growth tips and more available in each issue of the Peaceful Spirit newsletter.  Now includes a free copy of my latest law of attraction ebook. Click here to get yours today!

James Arthur Ray cancels remaining 2009 events.

James Arthur Ray announced today that he is canceling all of his remaining seminars and engagements for the rest of 2009. The announcement comes in the wake of the three tragic deaths that occurred during a sweat lodge ceremony that also left 19 people hospitalized. The sweat lodge ceremony was the culmination of a spiritual retreat led by James Ray in Sedona, Arizona.

The announcement, posted today, (October 29, 2009), on his website at www.jamesray.com, and in a duplicate message posted on the James Arthur Ray blog, states that:

“…I’m postponing all the events I had planned for the remainder of 2009. These events will be rescheduled as soon as possible in 2010—once the essential work that must be done on the Sedona tragedy has been completed.”

The work James Ray is referring to is getting to the bottom of the deaths and illnesses and discovering just what happened inside that sweat lodge.

“In the days following the terrible accident, I struggled to respond in the right way. This is the most emotionally wrenching situation I’ve ever faced, and it’s now clear I must dedicate all of my physical and emotional energies to helping bring some sort of closure to this matter. That means helping the authorities and the families get to the bottom of what happened.

I’m committed to devoting all of my time, for as long as it takes, to achieve this goal.

The lives of the families impacted by the Sedona tragedy have been changed forever. These families deserve to have the questions raised by the tragedy answered as quickly and authoritatively as possible. That is the goal I’m dedicated to achieving.”

This is a 180 degree turn around for the self help teacher who was running seminars and carrying on business as usual immediately following the sweat lodge deaths. In a blog post on October 20, 2009, James spoke about the ‘heat’ he was receiving for his decision to keep working, but that

“I have chosen to continue with my work. It’s too important not to. One of the lessons I teach is that you have to confront and embrace adversity and learn and grow from it. I promise you I am doing a lot of learning and growing. I have taken heat for that decision, but if I chose to lock myself in my home, I am sure I would be criticized for hiding and not practicing what I preach.”

I’ve spent some time reading various blogs and media reports about the incident and it was clear that some people seemed to support his decision to keep working and to keep running seminars and others seemed appalled that he could even think about running another seminar so soon after the tragic events in Sedona.

Evidently the pressure to stop became too great and resulted in today’s announcement that James will be canceling the remainder of his 2009 seminars.

In my opinion, this is the only right thing to do. There are so many unanswered questions about this tragedy and many of James Arthur Ray’s actions following the fiasco have appeared slightly less than honorable. Hopefully, he will cooperate with authorities and provide some of those answers that he claims to be looking for.

Yes, this might be a career ending event for James, only time will tell. I’m sure he is scared and I’m sure he has more than a few lawyers ‘advising’ him on what to do.

But come on!

If embracing adversity is what you preach, then stand up and take responsibility. Running seminars or not running seminars is not the issue… frankly, it doesn’t matter to me either way. The issue is communicating and cooperating with the authorities and families of the victims to get to the bottom of this.

Stay tuned for updates as I get them.

Peace,

p.s. Be sure to grab your free copy of 31 Ways to Supercharge Your Manifesting Ability! at www.freelawofattractionreport.com It’s packed with ways that you can begin changing the results you are getting, right now!

More on the James Arthur Ray tragedy.

Here is the latest info on the James Arthur Ray sweat lodge death investigation. I know that this tragedy and its aftermath strike close to home for many readers, so I’ll keep you updated as new information comes out.

One of the survivors of the sweat lodge, who passed out and spent four days in the hospital, is speaking out about her ordeal. The story in the Arizona Sun relates Sidney Spencer’s experience at the sweat lodge and sheds a little light on what was actually going on inside the lodge. You can read the story here.

In another story on the Anderson Cooper 360 blog, a CNN video report reveals that there was similar trouble last year at the same James Arthur Ray event. Click here to watch the video.

It appears that an attendee of last year’s retreat was ready to come forward and report that about 20 people got sick at last year’s sweat lodge ceremony, but changed her mind about appearing on camera at the last minute, saying that she was being pressured by people still loyal to James Ray, and that she was confused and conflicted.

Who isn’t?

These tragic deaths and injuries are almost beyond comprehension.

But apparently this isn’t the first time that James Arthur Ray has had trouble related to his seminars. There have been several stories published recently detailing some other incidents, including a suicide, that happened at events James was running. Here is one of the stories about those incidents from the New York Post.

Will James Arthur Ray survive the backlash of these deaths?

At the moment James is still maintaining his schedule of seminars and talks, and business as usual. In fact, you can even book your spot at next years Spiritual Warrior retreat in Sedona, Arizona. Just $9695 per person.

Hmmmm.

I find myself thinking about some other spiritual leaders and wondering what their reaction would be if these deaths had occurred during one of their events. Would they still be planning and accepting registrations for next years event?

Or would they stand up and do the right thing?

Or what if this happened at an event that I was leading? Would I continue on? Or would I shift gears and focus my energy on cooperating with authorities to try to discover what went wrong?

Would I stand up and do the right thing?

Would you?

I’ll keep you posted as I learn more!

Peace,

p.s. To learn the true principles that can make a real difference in your life grab your free copy of my latest ebook, “31 Ways to Supercharge Your Manifesting Ability!”.  Yours free at www.freelawofattractionreport.com.

p.p.s. Previous posts about James Ray and the sweat lodge deaths can be found here and here.

Self growth news!

The tragedy continues in the James Arthur Ray sweat lodge deaths case.  Sadly, another person has died from their injuries, making a total of three individuals who lost their lives in this tragic event.

There still aren’t a lot of details since my first post about these tragic sweat lodge deaths, but there have been two major developments that I thought you would want to know about.

The first is the sad news that a third person has died. You can read about it here. Apparently, she was an avid follower of James Ray, and in addition to attending many of his events she was also the leader of the Minneapolis-area “Journey Expansion Team”, a fan group that meets to talk about Ray’s ideas and teachings.

Second, according to an AP story on Google, found here, the police are now investigating the deaths as a homicide. What this means remains to be seen, but it doesn’t bode well for somebody down the line.

At least one of the victims’ families are planning to sue, and I’m sure the others will be quick to follow suit once authorities determine who or what was to blame for the deaths.

Over the past several days I have heard and read many interviews and many people are speaking out on both sides of the case. Many of James Ray’s students, seminar attendees and colleagues are rising to provide support for James, but there are just as many people angrily lashing out, painting the spiritual retreat the victims were attending as a cult-like gathering, with James Ray controlling his students through mental and physical control.

What a crock. I would be willing to bet that half of the attendees at any self improvement seminar are hoping against hope that the guy running it would ‘take control’ of their lives and just fix things.

But it doesn’t work like that does it?

You and I know that no one else can fix your life except you.

At first I was disheartened by some of the comments I was hearing about my beloved self improvement field. It hurts when someone bashes what you do for a living. But it served to open my eyes to the real problem… I wasn’t seeing clearly.

That’s right. Me. I wasn’t seeing clearly.

That’s why the comments bothered me, that’s why the response to this tragedy troubled me so much.

One of the great lessons in life is that any obstacle that is troubling you out there in the physical world is simply a reminder of a similar problem inside yourself that still needs to be addressed.

Sometimes I forget this important truth.

In this case it was my own perception of people and their reactions that had changed over time. The more deeply involved I become in helping people grow and improve, the more that I forgot that not everyone is ready to grow, or ready to improve.

How quickly I had forgotten those days in my own past when I scoffed at ‘self-help’ books and speakers. I myself had allowed many years to go by without taking conscious control of my own life.

It was an eye opening experience and showed me that the path I’m on never fails to teach and empower me to become a better person.

But how about you?

Are you able to see the events of your life for what they really are?

What was your reaction to this tragic story?

Has it changed as details about the story come out?

I suspect that this case will have long ranging effects upon the entire self help and holistic fields, and will probably change the way that at least the larger seminars and retreats are run.

I hope you’ll share your thoughts and feelings about this by leaving a comment below.

Once again, my sympathies and love go out to the victims and their families.

Peace,

p.s. To stay up to date with the latest in personal development, including a free law of attraction ebook click here now.

Self growth in the news.

I was shocked when I read the news article detailing the tragic deaths of two people attending a sweat lodge ceremony during a spiritual retreat in Arizona. The retreat, a five day event called Spiritual Warrior, was hosted by James Arthur Ray, one of the teachers featured in the movie, The Secret.

The sweat lodge ceremony took place on the final day of the retreat, an event that guests paid almost $10,000 to attend.

There aren’t a lot of details at this point about what actually happened inside the sweat lodge, but the end result is that 2 people died and 19 others were hospitalized. One person remains in critical condition.

While the police and other authorities are continuing their investigation into this tragedy, trying to discover exactly what happened and what went wrong, I can’t help but wonder if this was another case of bad judgment being influenced by group or peer pressure.

Before I talk about that though, I want to offer my condolences and sympathy to the victims and their families. My heart goes out to them and I know that any answers or causes or blame don’t change the reality of this loss.
It is hard to make sense of a tragedy like this, and as I said, the police investigation is continuing into the causes of it, but I hope that this story in some way causes you to look inside yourself and see how alike or different you are from the people who suffered this event.

There are a couple of very basic truths at play here.

First, sweat lodges, saunas, hot tubs, and the like all have inherent risks involved with their use. There are very real dangers. You can die from overheating or heat stroke if you overuse them or use them when you are ill. But on the other hand, there are also very real dangers simply driving your car to work too, aren’t there? It is all a matter of using your judgment and making good decisions.

Second, when people are in a group situation they act differently, they lose a little of their boundaries and they are more likely to engage in actions or behaviors that they normally wouldn’t do. You see that all the time in teenagers, but it is just as true for adults.

When you are with a group of your peers and everyone else is doing something, you want to be a part of it. That is natural. You find yourself suspending your personal judgment and doing things you never thought you would.

Now this is precisely the reason that self help seminars like the retreat put on by James Arthur Ray are so uplifting. As a participant at one of these events you find yourself being swept along with the energy of the crowd and you may surprise yourself by moving forward in positive, empowering ways that you never thought you could.

Your desire to do what everyone else is doing, to feel the same rush of success, actually allows you to lower your resistance to yourself. You find the courage to move past those self-limiting beliefs that have been holding you back, or you look closely at the excuses you have been using and decide that they are no longer valid.

These types of growth are possible because of your desire to be a part of the moment, to fit in, to be accepted.

But there is a dark side to this phenomena. The same force, the same response to group pressure that allows you to go beyond your self-limiting beliefs doesn’t discriminate, it lowers your resistance to ALL of your beliefs. Including the ones that keep you safe and well.

Learning to maintain your control over yourself in those situations is critical, whether you are talking about being a part of a self growth seminar or about finding yourself in an angry mob of people.

It is easy to allow yourself to get swept along in a feeling of euphoria and it can have profound effects on your life… if you stay in control and move in positive directions.

I’m not sure if there is a lesson in this tragedy, as I said, the police are still looking into the causes, but every event in life offers you an opportunity to pause and look inside yourself… to examine your beliefs and dreams… and to see if you are headed in the right direction.

I hope you’ll join me in sending love and healing energy to all of the people involved in this terrible event.

Peace,

p.s. Are you looking for ways to get better results in life?  Have you downloaded your free copy of my latest eBook? It’s called “31 Ways to Supercharge Your Manifesting Ability” and it is your gift simply for subscribing to the Peaceful Spirit newsletter. Click here to grab your copy.