Thank you very much for your compliments. I appreciate the comments about allowing others to share their opinions. I, of course, have my own opinion of everything I discuss here, but I don’t feel my opinion is any more or less valid than the opinion of anyone else. If someone takes the time to write in a comment, I appreciate the opportunity to see the topic from their point of view. I am always happy to publish thoughtfully written comments regardless of whether or not I agree with the comment because it adds depth to the discussion and an opportunity for me to learn how others came to their opinions. I’d much rather have a quality discussion of a topic exploring several opinions than a bunch of “me too” post that don’t add nothing new .

I have not paid a lot of attention to the media, mainly because I find the media to be too negatively focused and I don’t want to waste my time and energy dwelling on negative news items. So I don’t know a lot of the details surrounding the deaths at James Ray’s event, such as James Ray refusing to cooperate with authorities as you mention. I agree, that is no excuse for it. It makes it look like he has something to hide. Sure he may end up being completely responsible for it but had he have been open about it, fully cooperative, and offering sincere condolences to the families when the news broke, would have gone a long way towards credibility in the court of public opinion. Unfortunately, the court of public opinion seems to have more importance than a court of law, just ask O.J. Simpson.

Like you, I am sadden by hearing that some people are suggesting that followers of James Ray should die. Wow. That’s terrible. I had not heard that one prior to your comment, but I am not surprised by it at all. There always seems to be naysayers that are there to chime in the moment something goes wrong. I remember being disgusted by people who felt people who live in Malibu deserve to lose their homes the last time there were major fires in the area. I see no benefit in blaming the people who chose to put their faith and money in James Ray’s teachings since I would imagine most of them were looking for a sense of spiritual enlightenment. Whether they were there because of high pressure sales tactics or because they felt James offered the best opportunity to meet what they were seeking, the fact is something bad happened that was not the experience they were looking to have.

In any case, I again want to thank you for finding my blog and taking the time to write in. I really appreciate your comments here and thank you again for the compliments.

Ryan

Thank you so much for your honesty, humility, and willingness to ask the opinions of others. I have read 100’s of articles, blogs, etc. regarding JAR, LGAT’s, the sweat lodge incident, cults, etc. I am thoroughly impressed with how you are sharing your opinions & thoughts here. I hear you taking responsibility and are owning them vs. blaming, blasting, attacking others (JAR, the participants of his retreats, etc.)

I get really down when I read comments on the internet that are so hateful; for example-the postings that say James’
“followers” deserved to die. How awful!

Yes, I am pissed about the sweat lodge deaths. And, I am very disturbed about James’ handling of the event he was responsible for and his refusal to cooperate with the authorities. There is no excuse for that!

I have participated in a variety of seminars, transformational weekends, healing events, etc. for 15 years, including Holotropic Breathwork (which Ray may have included in his Spiritual Warrior retreat). I also studied transpersonal psychology in grad. school.

I highly value and seek out professionals with the proper education, training, license, etc. I am very wary of all sales people. I prefer not to focus on “getting rich” or wealth creation. (perhaps, not enough)

Anyhow, James did have great things to say in “The Secret”. I have not read his books, met him in person, etc, so I can’t share my personal experience with him.

I can say I have learned (sometimes painfully) to trust my inner voice, AKA “gut”, intuition. Also-when I remember, I ask my Higher Power what lessons do I need to learn or messages do I need to hear-when I am taking in information from other individuals, groups, belief systems, etc.

Again….Thank YOU!!! for creating this intelligent, open, honest, and respectful dialogue.

Sherri

My pleasure to post your comment. I like to showcase the variety of opinions, that don’t necessarily agree with what I wrote. And I think contrasting opinions are beneficial to see as well because they’re always more than one side to every story. It helps paint a more complete picture when more than one side is shown.

I also don’t like that tactic of peer pressure to claim you aren’t willing to grow by choosing not to continue paying for additional courses. Obviously if you’ve gotten what you need out it, there’s no need to continue, but there’s no reason to alienate the person because it just closes off the potential of coming back at a later time because that kind of pressure just sours the good feelings towards good experiences.

I agree that intuition is an important instinct to trust. You instinctively know when you’ve gotten what you need and when its time to move on. The trick is learning to recognize it and act up on it.

Ryan

Welcome back to my blog. You must have had good intuition to know when to “jump ship” and got out at the right time. In any case, I hope you found some value in what you learned at the events you did attend and feel relieved you didn’t take it to the next level. Thanks again though for your comment about having a good experience initially meeting James, it provides a good contrast from the the other comment to show he wasn’t always interacting badly with everyone. Thanks again.

Ryan

I know what you mean about those high pressure environments, hell, anyone who’s attended a time share presentation has undergone one of those situations albeit without as much of the sleep deprivation, fasting, and intense experience. But I do know what it’s like to be suckered into an expensive seminar, so I can’t say I’ve been able to completely avoid the experience, but overall I don’t regret any of the events I’ve attended I just haven’t been able to translate them into profitable experiences yet.

Thanks so much for writing in.

Ryan

Please do be careful with all Large Group Awareness Trainings (LGATs). I took est (Werner Erhard’s precursor to this whole movement)in the early 80’s, and strange things happen when you get large groups of people together, use sleep deprivation, fasting, and other controls to break down defenses, and provide an intense experience. By the end, you’re so open and suggestible. That’s when the pitch for the next (bigger, better, more pricy) experience comes in. It sounds like you’ve been smart enough to avoid these things so far, but please believe me when I tell you they are not worth the risk. Even if you have some kind of peak experience, it’s in a vacuum and will not, in the long run, change your life the way only you can.

It sounds like you met James right around the same time I did. It was in early 2007 as well. I’m glad to hear you had a better experience presenting your song to James than I had with the CD I had prepared. I think it does provide some nice counter-point to some of the other comments I’ve gotten so far. Had I have gotten a similar response, I would have later come back for a seminar when I could take one, but I did not, so ultimately I decided I wasn’t going to invest any of my money into any of his Harmonic Wealth Weekends.

Thanks so much for a positive comment about James Ray.

Ryan