Phoenix News Blog

I certainly hope Mrs. Brown was wise enough to not cash or deposit the check...

DO NOT CASH THE CHECK!!!

The story regarding Colleen's death which was already mentioned by the poster above who provided the link is indeed tragic. Its seems that Ray's events are death traps, using his powers manipulation and brainwashing. As seen in Colleen's case. This could be a cause for alarm.....

Go here for additional commentary:

http://jamesray.com/lounge/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1933&p=4848&hilit=sweat+lodge&sid=a95402edc011b7f3775ba58fc7b8fce6#p4848

After reading Harmonic Wealth in 2008, I attended a Harmonic Wealth Weekend seminar in Las Vegas, NV.
I loved the book but at the seminar, Mr. Ray's stick is to play upon the irrational need that many people have to belong, their fear of failure, and the need to show that you can 'measure up'. He is a master of it. His rhetoric blames each of us for anything bad in our lives, as attracted by us, to us. In tent revival fashion he runs sessions for long uninterrupted periods of time with no breaks, little water, and little food, long into the night with the express purpose of getting attendees to signup for more expensive seminars later on. Sufficiently worn down mentally and physically, many spend thousands of dollars to attend future seminars that will "bring" them wealth and a new, better, life.
The basic message, 'self reliance'and a 'balanced life' is a good one but in order to spend 30K, the cost of his total package of workshops one has to be brainwashed, otherwise no one would pay to submit to such harsh treatment. Mr. Ray verbally abuses, publicly, anyone who dares disagree with anything he might say or do at a seminar. For example, and this is in way a comparison to what happened in AZ, at Harmonic Wealth Weekend, he asks all participants to take all the money out of their purses or pockets and hold it in their right hand, making a fist around the money, then everyone walks around the room, handing the money in their hands to someone else while receiving money from the next person. When Mr. Ray says stop you get to keep the money that you have in your hand. Of course some people lose hundreds of dollars during this "game" which makes them not at all happy. One of the fellows at my seminar complained that he had lost his cab fare home. Big mistake, huge...because complaining during the "What you learned" portion of the excercise is not tolerated. Complain and receive verbal abuse by Mr. Ray for "worrying" about money and focusing on what you don't have, called out in front of 1000 participants for being somehow less, people end up intimidated and in tears over this silly excercise. It is not hard for me to imagine how intimidated participants became when they tried to leave the sweatlodge.
Sad, tragic, but bound to happen is all I can say about the AZ sweatlodge loss of life, anyone could tell it was all about control and the money for Mr. Ray.

Yes, thanks, Kelly. If you have other specific experiences you remember, we'd love to hear them.

I was also at the Las Vegas HWW event that Kelly mentions. However, I have to disagree with her observations.

First, 1000 people were NOT in attendance. It was more like 400 - 500 at the most.

Second, the gentleman who lost his "cab fare" money received more than that back from the participants after his "hot seat" activity with James. I believe the gentleman learned alot about himself that day - and for the better. Certainly, the audience learned as well. Looks like Kelly didn't, though, and choose not to get the exercise. Too bad.

As for water and food, there was water in the room available for anyone who wanted it at any time. And we did break for lunch and dinner. I didn't go hungry. And no one stopped me from bringing into the room food and drink. Yes the days were long, but we knew that going into the seminar. It could have been 3 shorter days - but, hey, who wants to pay for another night's hotel?

As for being intimidated, pressured or brainwashed into future programs, well, I consider myself a sound-minded person and didn't feel it any different than a waitress asking me if I wanted dessert after my meal or a car sales person asking if I wanted floor mats for my new car: it's part of marketing which is everywhere around us, like it or not. We make choices everyday to consume or not to consume. Actually, I thought the marketing was low key - I've experienced worse.

So before people start jumping on the bandwagon ready to tar and feather, I suggest being open-minded and hearing more than one opinion/version. (And no, I'm not a JRI employee. Just a regular person who is offended by hearing false accusations.) I can only speak to the HWW event as that is all I experienced.

"Also been there" is another drone.