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James Arthur Ray. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Meredith Ann
Murray)
Floyd Hand, Jr., the Oglala Indian leader who brought a lawsuit against James Ray, the self-help pitchman who lead three of his customers to their deaths and 18 to illness during the Sedona, Arizona sweat lodge fiasco on October 8, 2009, called James Ray a "spiritual vampire".
Mr. Hand said, "Ray is a spiritual vampire who will use whatever means necessary to turn a profit. He and others like him that profit from our culture must be held accountable for their continual fraud and desecration."
The lawsuit filed against Ray and his cohorts by the Oglala Lakota Nation charges the respondents committed wrongs against them as mentioned in the 1868 U.S. Treaty with the Lakota Nation.
Ginny and George Brown, the parents of one of the three deceased victims of James Ray, Kirby Brown, had attended some of the two day seminars conducted by James Ray. It is reported that Ginny was impressed with Ray, but George thought he was just a "pitch man." At the time they didn't realize he was dangerous. Ginny is quoted as saying, "I don't want to crucify James Ray. But Kirby doesn't have a voice anymore, and I want to be her voice and make sure this never happens again."
Perhaps one way to stop James Ray and others like him from fleecing people and from leading more people to their deaths is to take the immense profit out of their scams. People like Ray appear to be in it for the cash. If the lawsuits against him can financially break him he may seek another source of income. Also, people who claim they are only trying to help others shouldn't want huge sums of cash for themselves. If they only paid themselves a reasonable amount, say $50,000.00 per year, and didn't have any loop-holes in it like Jim and Tammy Bakker and other evangelists did and do which allows them grotesque perks which makes their reasonable salary meaningless, only sincere people would do it and those who went to them for help would be much better protected. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be a lot better than it is now.
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Comments
It is important for me to allow Floyd Hand, Jr. to believe he knows the best way for someone to follow an ancient tradition, even though, in reality that is a falsehood. At the same time I must allow James Ray to live the life he has decided to create.
It is important to remember that all things are just perfect.
A true teacher does not enlighten for profit.
I don't think the problem is that James Ray took money for teaching. The problem is that he became greedy, and the power he had over certain people went to his head. Hence his comment, "You've never done a sweat lodge until you've done it James Ray style."
If he had stuck to teaching law of attraction principles, even if he had done sweat lodges but had done them sensibly, the way they were meant to me, rather than trying to bully people into relinquishing their common sense, then no one would have died and he wouldn't be in hot water right now.
Anyone who truly understands the law of attraction realizes that greed and grasping is totally unnecessary, and actually run counter to the law of attraction.
The lawyers representing victims of this fiasco are looking for stories from other JRI participant. Check out www.sweatlodgeinvestigation.com
James Ray should be held accountable for his actions, both from an economic and legal perspective. The most important way he is to be held to account for his actions will come on his death bed...
Bob
I totally agree that charging huge amounts of money to supposedly help others tends to scream 'unethical person in it for the money'. At the same time though, why do we feel the need to say 'they should only be paid a reasonable amount, say $50 000 a year' but don't make the same request of banking, pharmaceutical and health insurance executives who receive 6 figure plus salaries and bonuses. They too are supposedly helping people but more often than not are lately found scamming people. Why is it that people jump on the whole self help movement as being dubious because of one person, yet industries renowned for shady practices are accepted and we don't blink at their profits???
"Also, people who claim they are only trying to help others shouldn't want huge sums of cash for themselves"... Why Not? What does cash have to do with helping people? And $50,000 per year? That is not much for a successful business owner, someone who puts 12-16 hours a day into doing all of the work, market, reasearch etc.. and spends the years developing thier craft or products. So Stephen Covey is morally wrong because he has sold $20 million copies of his book and his companies charge $100,000 to help major corporations grow? Please Wake Up Bob. Your vendetta is aimed at the wrong target.
Agreeing with WakeUpBob... Who are you, Bob Johnson, to say what the 'correct' amount of money one should make to be moral and right? What a ridiculous and naive statement!
On the right we have Ray, a charlatan, and on the left we have Hand, a professional victim. Neither is very appealing.
Still, Hand has a point (although it's a little mysterious why he thinks the Lakota have any special interest in this -- not like they invented the sweat lodge). Seems that a person performing a Native American rite should at a minimum disclose what if any sanction the performance of that rite has from a recognized tribe. I would draw an analogy here to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
Of course all that will happen if such a plan is implemented is that people like Ray will plunder traditions of other cultures that use the ceremonial sauna. Siberian shamans perhaps. The Sami. Who knows.
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