Yesterday I’d spent the morning getting my quarterly tax documents ready for my accountant.  While I was making photocopies on my all in one printer – you know how fast those are – I’d pop in to Facebook and update my status, telling my buddies what I was doing.  “I’m almost through the quarterly paperwork for my tax chick. Dang, I send the IRS a bunch of $$. I guess that’s a good thing though. Like it keeps me outa jail and stuff.”  I know if I’m paying taxes, that means I’m making money. I know taxes are a good thing.  I figure it’s like their tip for letting me eat. A friend wrote that it was more like the advanced version of the playground bully shaking the other kids down for lunch money. I laughed “Yes, we pay and they let us live.”  I got the usual comments about how the IRS and the government are doing all sorts of shady stuff, but I’m glad to pay taxes in a country that lets me live in freedom.  Continue reading →

I just re-read a favorite book by Peter McWilliams entitled Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You. The introduction is entitled What does a rampaging guru have to do with you? McWilliams got taken by John-Roger, a self proclaimed guru known for abusing his power. It’s a fun and enlightening read, as are all of McWilliams’ books. Life 102 is not simply an expose’ of misrepresentation, scandal and fraud relative to one man, one incident.  The book goes into the intricacies of the programming aspect of indoctrination in organizations that purport to be self help but are instead cash cows.  The book is particularly relevant in light of the James Arthur Ray incident. I literally stayed up overnight reading it, although I did skip over the dialogue of John-Roger’s harrassing phone calls and hateful notes to naysayers, and skipped over the legal findings of specific criminal acts.  Essentially, the story began when John-Roger, a self proclaimed all knowing ascended guru, told Peter McWilliams that he could see in his aura that McWilliams had AIDS and tuberculosis and that he was going to die in 9 months.  BUT, if McWilliams put Roger’s name as co-author on some books and shared profits with him, Roger would heal his illness for him.  McWilliams was under his spell from 1978 until 1994, at which time he was medically treated for depression.  As his depression lifted, he began to see what others had been telling him about John-Roger, and he began to break ties.  Roger retaliated, as he always did, and it is all documented in the book. Continue reading →

There’s still confusion over the 2 versions of The Secret DVD. I wrote in my Horizons Magazine blog post Why Does “The Secret” No Longer Contain The Secret? The Abraham-Hicks Back Story that the original version that contains Abraham-Hicks is the one with clear information on law of attraction, the least rhetoric and hyperbole.  With new attention on James Ray and his connection to The Secret, I see a lot of comments and discussion online by people who have only seen the extended, revised version of the DVD, and not the original one with Esther Hicks.  They still haven’t learned “The Secret” because the revised (they call it the EXTENDED version) DVD removed Abraham-Hicks, who were the only ones who actually explained law of attraction so it could be easily understood.  The same with Rhonda Byrne’s book The Secret, which came later.  The revised version is like being fed a beef soup minus the beef.  It might be good, but you can’t call it beef soup if you leave out the cow.

Hear Esther Hicks on Oprah here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E1hZMZWJNY explaining in her own words  Continue reading →

The other day I noticed water on the floor in the garage, and I followed it to my water pump motor and expansion tank. The tank was replaced 9 years ago but the motor was the original Red Jacket Quick Set Jet installed in 1984 when Uncle Jimmy built the house for me. I immediately did what any rational person facing that situation would do, and took photos of it to post on Facebook.  My Facebook peeps always have helpful comments that help me save time.  I got several referrals and several suggestions on what might be causing it.  I got enough information that I could begin my Google search for information.  The first thing I wanted to know was, what do the parts DO and how do they interact?  Because when I know that, I will be able to understand what the service dudes tell me when they come out to give me estimates. Continue reading →

This page has evolved into the page for updated links on this matter – see the links list below for a chronological timeline. I am keeping track of this story since I get so many emails and Facebook messages asking about it.  I’m not personally out to get anyone, but I believe people who do this type of work need to be responsible and accountable.  This matter going public has drawn out past participants who were afraid to speak up on their own.  As someone who has done dozens of vision quests and sweat lodges since the 70’s, a main interest in them for me is the psychological changes they bring about in everyone involved.  A bonding together for a common purpose.  An awakening to a deeper understanding of the world around you.  That is why I am following this story.  It is interesting watching it unfold, and interesting to see reactions to it.  Oh, we are in interesting times. Beverly Bunn, Sweat Lodge Survivor, Speaks Out, Reveals Details Of Tragic Incident excerpt: When participants exhibited weakness, Ray urged them to push past it and chided those who wanted to leave. “I can’t get her to move. I can’t get her to wake up,” Bunn recalls hearing from two sides of the 415-square-foot sweat lodge. Ray’s response: “Leave her alone, she’ll be dealt with in the next round.”

$9,695 New Age sweat lodge session kills 2, injures 19 This is a very long extensive post but has some interestesting tidbits about the James Arthur Ray sweat lodge incident, James Ray’s past time line, The Secret, Ray’s Practical Mysticism pitch, what secret spiritual warrior tradition did James Ray study in Peru and the Amazon?  The page also contains a link to an interview with Shawna Bowen who was on the scene. Shawna Bowen website here.

UPDATED LINKS AS THEY CAME IN: (Note, when The Examiner was sold, they dropped the articles)
10-21-09, an Inside Account
10-22-09: James Ray urged sweat lodge participants to stop prescription medications
10-22-09: Mind altering breathing techniques used by James Ray at Sedona retreat
10-23-09 update interview with survivors Sidney Spencer and others
10-23-09 James Ray Spiritual Warrior Participant Guide, Welcome letter
10-24-09 Interview with Dr. Stanislav Grof: James Ray not certified
10-26-09 Did James Ray use coercive persuasion
10-28-09 Sweat Lodge Victim’s Family: Guru James Arthur Ray Lied to Us
10-27-09  Story unfolds of James Ray, who hosted fatal sweat lodge
10-30-09 James Ray Spiritual Warrior worksheet: Shocking questions
10-31-09 First lawsuits filed in Arizona sweat lodge tragedy
10-31-09 James Ray has no degree/licensure to do psychological trauma work
10-31-09 James Ray jewelry thief, refusing to return items handed over
11-4-09  James Ray lists his Beverly Hills home for sale
11-9-09 Lawsuit filed By survivor Sidney Spencer
11-13-09  Lakota Nation files lawsuit against parties in sweat lodge incident
11-16-09 Who Built the James Ray Sweat Lodge? Photo of it partially completed
11-24-09 Interview with Lorena Bathey; James Ray Escalating Patterns of Abuse
11-27-09 What next for James Ray cult survivors?
12-8-09 ABC Video, former James Ray employee tells of his actions after ceremony
12-9-09 Former Employee: Ray Did Not Help People Dying in Sweat Lodge
12-10-09 The Nightline Interview with James Ray Staff
12-11-09  Breaking news: Fifth death associated with James Ray
12-15-09 James Ray Facing Criminal Charges, Authorities Say
12-15-09 Complete transcript of the “Anderson Cooper 360″ segment
12-16-09 James Ray drugged participants and forced snake handling
12-29-09 Ray Ignored Broken Bones, More, Leading Up To 3 Deaths, Say Court Docs
12-30-09 New police info released – police reports revealed
12-31-09 James Ray drugs and disease
12-31-09 Particpant Interviews from PrescottNews.com
1-14-10  Detailed look at newly released police reports: part 1 
1-24-10 Q & A with James Arthur Ray by Michael Joseph Gross
2-3-10 Motivational speaker CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER in sweat lodge deaths
2-4-10 More Damning Eyewitness Information About Fatal James Ray Sweat Lodge
2-9-10 Employees Rat Out Self-Help Guru, Get Immunity (a lot of links at this website)
2-10-10 Religious Practices on Trial in Arizona: The Problem With “Experts”
2-11-10 Interview with James Ray Intl Director of Operations
2-16-10 Interview with Josh Fredrickson: part 1
3-11-10 Interview with Angel Valley Nurse
3-24-10 Police interview with Owner of Angel Valley

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Older posts:

Link to video segment of James Ray on Larry King Live
James Ray sweat lodge survivors continue to speak out
Related Post: How did James Arthur Ray attract this?
2 die at James Arthur Ray’s Sedona Spiritual Warrior Retreat
Questions About Sweat Lodge. Creating New Neurological Pathways
Update from NPR on this matter
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6/22/11:  James Ray Found guilty of negligent homicide

Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Who would you be without your story?  Who would you be without your current limiting beliefs?  What is a belief anyway?  When we believe something, we think it is true.  That makes it a belief.  All beliefs distort our perception of reality, since they are the filter through which we see the world. We are emotionally attached to our beliefs.  Being emotionally attached to something prevents us from seeing it objectively.  When we examine a belief and diffuse the emotional power of it, we eliminate the distortion and that in itself automatically dispels the illusory belief.

There are a lot of practitioners in the personal development field who will charge you hundreds and thousands of dollars to attend a workshop or private sessions designed to help you reframe your past experiences with the advertised goal to eliminate your negative beliefs.  I’m sure many of them are effective.  But you can do the work with a little self inquiry on your own, as well. Continue reading →

Yesterday was a great day of staying home and doing lots of homey type things right here.  I’d finished the magazine early on and then spent the day wandering around the yard with the kitties, transplanting loquat seedlings, and lounging around on the back porch.  I made a couple of soups throughout the day, my Asian spiced shrimp asparagus soup, and later a tomato, onion, corn and green bean chowder.  I like making mini-soups, enough for one serving at a time.  Soup is so fun to make, and I like to do it often.  I make just a pint or quart at a time and I eat it out of big oriental bowls, with bean sprouts and basil, using chopsticks.  By the end of the day, I was very relaxed, with very few thoughts going on in my head.  I love when that happens. Especially when I wake up and my thoughts are only about how comfy the bed is and how nice and warm it is under the covers, rather than waking up with my To Do List running a million miles an hour in my head. Continue reading →

I wrote in Getting so caught in our own spin that we don’t see our own wobble about friends on the fast track whose lives are a routine of hurried sameness. They don’t have time to think about what they’d prefer instead, it’s all they can do to think about everything they have to think about to keep their current life in motion.  No room for new thoughts.  No time for new thoughts.  That’s what their programmed mind keeps telling them.  I’m not much different.  I have the same thoughts, I just act on those thoughts far less often than I used to. I still feel rushed.  I still feel the sense of urgency to do, do, do. I just recognize now that they are simply thoughts, and I can choose to release the thought and not act on it, and not react to it. A friend told me she was surprised and glad to read that I have the same thoughts.  She said I always seem so calm and centered, she imagined I only had calm thoughts.  That really made me laugh. The only difference is that – now – I just recognize they are simply thoughts, and I release the thought. I am the one in charge of what thoughts I choose to think.  I am not always in charge of what thoughts pop into my mind, but I am in charge of what thoughts I choose to continue to think.  I am in charge of how I react to each thought. Continue reading →

Deaths at Sweat Lodge Bring Soul-Searching. SEDONA, Ariz. — Authorities continue to investigate how two people died and more than a dozen others were overtaken during a ceremony at  James Arthur Ray’s new age Spiritual Warrior Retreat. The authorities say that Ray’s employees built the wood-frame lodge, which was wrapped in blankets and plastic tarps. A spokesman said Ray’s contract with the Angel Valley spiritual retreat called for Angel Valley to “design and construct” the sweat lodge. Sheriff’s Office spokesman said the office stood by its contention that members of Ray’s staff built the sweat lodge. Angel Valley’s owners declined to comment on the contract.

And, it’s pretty wacky but: Sweat Lodge Did Not Have Permit. If you’re going to operate in the world of man, you gotta operate by their rules. That includes amending contracts in writing, such as when who constructs the sweat lodge changes.  I’ve learned if someone wants a contract, there is no such thing as a verbal amendment.  The purpose of a contract is to outline responsibility of the parties in the event of a worst case scenario.  It’s like a prenuptial agreement.  You have to operate with the end in sight.  And take responsibility when the contract shows one party liable, if the other party actually did the work. Continue reading →

You probably saw it on the news or read about it: Jail house video just released reveals new details James Ward, charged in the high profile Orange County, Florida murder of his wife in their upper-class Isleworth home. Dancing During Their Prison Visit. Accused of Killing Wife, Man Goofs Off With His Daughter: Unsettling Footage Ward was cutting up and dancing for his daughter as she visited him in jail. The news reported that his behavior seemed to be very callous that his wife of 23 years is dead. The defense attorney said prosecutors will argue the laughing and dancing seen on the video recording is inconsistent with grieving. Even the daughter was seen making flippant, unemotional and surprising conversation with her father.  “Your sense is, ‘This is inappropriate.’ That’s not uncommon, believe it or not,” Winter Park psychologist Dr. Deborah Day told Eyewitness News.  Day, who testifies in criminal cases, says you can’t judge guilty or innocence from just watching the visits.  “People respond in very unusual and often unpredictable ways.” Continue reading →