Guru Charged in Sweat Lodge Deaths

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- Authorities have charged motivational speaker James Arthur Ray with three counts of manslaughter for deaths that happened after a sweat lodge ceremony he led in northern Arizona last year.

Ray was arrested Wednesday afternoon at his attorney's office in Prescott on an indictment and was to be booked into the Yavapai County jail in Camp Verde, sheriff's officials said. His bond is set at $5 million.

The Oct. 8 sweat lodge ceremony was intended to be the highlight of Ray's five-day "Spiritual Warrior" event at a retreat he rented just outside Sedona. He told participants, who paid more than $9,000 each to attend, that it would be one of the most intense experiences of their lives.

About halfway through the two-hour ceremony, some began feeling ill, vomiting and collapsing inside the 415-square-foot structure. Despite that, Ray urged participants to push past their physical weaknesses and chided those who wanted to leave, authorities and participants have said.

Two people -- Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee -- passed out inside the sweat lodge and died that night at a hospital. Liz Neuman, 49, of Prior Lake, Minn., slipped into a coma and died a week later. Eighteen others were hospitalized.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/03/us/AP-US-SweatLodgeDeaths.html?_r=1&hp

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Good - IMHO this clown was criminally negligent. But still people should have the common sense to walk out of a situation like this when you feel yourself becoming ill.

[superconnected]

1. That's the place where that yoga cult is centered in North America.

Wonder if it's the same cult.

[peoli]

7. "yoga cult" ??

[superconnected]

19. The Yoga cult has nothing to do with yoga. It's some Korean cult the magazines

are writing about right now that pandered to people saying it was yoga. That one is run by Ilchi Lee. This one looks like a different one now that I look into it.

[SpiralHawk]

21. Maybe he was trying to say Yogurt Cultures?

Cuz otherwise its a totally clueless comment...

[Quantess]

9. I know he is a firm believer in "The Secret"

(I can't remember...what is the generalized name of that philosophy?)

[carla]

12. I believe the proper name

is "pie-in-the-skyism". Sheesh, some of us are in such need of affirmation we will give away our own power to fools like Ray.

[WriteDown]

18. Speaking of "The Secret"...

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2X2TB3S4O5I60

[Quantess]

20. It had me going there for a second.

That was funny. :thumbsup:

[Warpy]

2. This is what happens when quacks dabble in someone else's religion

Anyone who's read Native American histories by Native Americans would know that in the real sweat lodge, anyone who feels sick or woozy can give a call and get the flap opened and cool air admitted to make sure they don't die of heat stroke.

Had he allowed the sick to leave, he might be guilty of mere negligence in not following up and checking on them to make sure they were all right. Bullying people into "transcending" heat stroke is definitely a criminal act.

This joker needs to be off the street and kept from "practice."

[boppers]

4. Lakota Nation are suing him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_lodge#Lawsuit_filed_by_the_Lakota_Nation

Oh, and a minor nit, calling this practice a "religion" is not accepted universally.

[msanthrope]

5. It's what happens when quacks dabble in quackery---regardless of their 'legitimacy' in the

particular field of quackery....

Seriously....this is like complaining that Catholic priests should stick to transubstantiation rather than branching out into snake-handling...

It's all crap.

[RZM]

3. Glad to see this isn't

Guru from Gang Starr. I was worried there for a sec when I saw the header ;)

[Goldom]

6. I agree, good.

Just hope (futilely) that it doesn't turn him into a martyr for his "cause".

[unabelladonna]

8. where about personal responsibility?

certainly no one held a gun to anyone's head. i know if i was involved in this kind of nonsense and felt ill i'd manage to get myself out of there. it doesn't belong in criminal court, it makes more sense to bring a civil suit.

[denbot]

10. He was acting as an authority figure. His victims assumed that he would not allow them to be killed

Reckless endangerment leading to death is a homicide.

[Vincardog]

14. He caused the people to DIE why does it not belong in Criminal court?

[Ptah]

15. manslaughter is a crime.

It is in criminal court.

[Vincardog]

16. explain that to unabelladonna

[Gormy Cuss]

17. You're assuming that the victims had a clear enough mind to understand just how ill they were.

Try being sleep deprived, fasting, then spending hours crammed into an overheated space and maybe you'll understand why the leader of this poorly executed "sweat lodge" has been charged.

More than 50 followers of spiritual guru James Arthur Ray had just endured five strenuous days of fasting, sleep-deprivation and mind-altering breathing exercises when he led them into a sweat lodge ceremony.

It was supposed to be a religious awakening, the culmination of a $9,000-plus-a-person retreat outside Sedona, Ariz., aimed at helping people find a new vision for life. But it wasn't long before the ceremony turned into a terrifying experience.

People were vomiting in the stifling heat, gasping for air, and lying lifeless on the sand and gravel floor beneath them, according to participant Beverley Bunn. One man was burned when he crawled into the rocks, seemingly unaware of what he was doing, she said. Ultimately, three people would die.

When participants exhibited weakness, Ray urged them to push past it and chided those who wanted to leave, she said. "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."

[truthisfreedom]

11. Remind me not to get into the spritual leader business.

Always seems to end badly.

[carla]

13. And WHO??? wants to be a

spiritual leader? It is an oxymoron. Spirituality is an essentially personal project...even the gurus tell you that, if they are honest...

[Mika]

22. As Phineas Taylor Barnum said, there's a sucker born every minute.

Thought crime at its best.

He chided them and he's up for three counts of manslaughter?

These attendees were not children.

What happened to caveat emptor for adults?

Not sure what to make of the new 'Murica (and DU too).

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