October 27, 2009 4:15 PM

James Ray Gives "Laughable" 50 Percent Refund to Sweat Lodge Victim's Family

By
Edecio Martinez
Topics
Daily Blotter
VIDEO COURTESY OF CNN

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) - James Arthur Ray, the new age guru whose Sedona, Ariz. sweat-lodge ceremony may have caused three deaths, sent one victim's family a check for $5,000, about half the participation fee for the event, the family told CNN's Larry King on Monday night.

Photo: James Arthur Ray.Ray has become a self-help superstar by packaging his charismatic personality and the promise of financial wealth through spiritual awakening. He uses free seminars to recruit people to expensive seminars like the Sedona retreat that led to the sweat-lodge tragedy.Ray has not said exactly how much he made at the ceremony held at the Angel Valley Retreat, but if each of the more than 50 participants paid around $9,000, Ray would have taken in almost half a million dollars.Ray's press agent would not tell Crimesider how much, if any, of that money, was refunded.Ray told participants that the sweat lodge ceremony would be one of the most intense experiences of their lives. Ultimately, that experience left Kirby Brown and two others dead."We had to bring her body east. We had to bury her," Virginia Brown said. "Nothing is going to bring her back."PICTURES: Sweat Lodge DeathsMORE ON CRIMESIDEROctober 26, 2009 - Sweat Lodge Guru James Arthur Ray: From Poor Childhood to Self-Help Millionaire
October 26, 2009 - Sweat-Lodge Deaths Won't Stop James Arthur Ray, No Mention of $9,000 Per Person Pricetag
October 23, 2009 - Sweat Lodge Hero? Victim May Have Saved Woman Before Dying, Says Participant Beverley Bunn
October 21, 2009 - Sweat Lodge Survivor Beverley Bunn Says James Arthur Ray Played God Before Deadly Ending
October 18, 2009 - Third Death from Sweat Lodge Ceremony Led by James Arthur Ray
October 16, 2009 - Self-Help Guru James Arthur Ray in Crosshairs of Angel Valley Sweat Lodge Homicide Investigation
October 15, 2009 - Desperate 911 Call: First Glimpse Into Angel Valley Sweat Lodge Deaths
October 13, 2009 - Angel Valley Sweat Lodge Deaths: Owner Didn't Have Permits
October 12, 2009 - Sweat Lodge Death Investigation Turns to Self-Help Guru James Arthur Ray
October 12, 2009 - Family Says New Yorker Kirby Brown was in Great Shape before Mysterious Sweat Lodge Death
October 9, 2009 - Angel Valley Resort: Two Dead, Many Hospitalized in Sedona Sweat Lodge Illness


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by JasonDaro July 20, 2010 3:31 PM EDT
TO THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO LOST RELATIVES AT THE SEDONA WARRIOR WORKSHOP:

I've had four near-death experiences and am just waiting for a NOBLE and HONORABLE opportunity to leave this world of body order and hardship with honor. I am indeed ready to die RIGHT NOW and, as any Samurai worth his salt will agree, the Native American adage is indeed correct: 'It is a good day to die'. I've read how those three who died at the warrior workshop were athletic, giving, wonderful people. Yes indeed! Well, wonderful people are honorable people. When an honorable person borrows something you don't have to chase him or her around to finally get what was borrowed back, right? When the dishonorable borrow something they 'conveniently' forget they borrowed it secretly hoping that you have forgotten so that they can, effectively, steal it. Those three who died were honorable people, right? They returned whatever they borrowed without having to be chased and hounded, right?

Honorable people don't need contracts to keep to the agreements they make, right? And the three people who died were indeed 'honorable' people, right? Now, when you are dealing with the dishonorable even if they sign an agreement promising to do something they will try to find a way out of the agreement they signed and, chances are, you will have no choice except to take them to court in order for them to be FORCED to keep to the agreement they signed. The court systems are there because most are obviously dishonorable. HOWEVER, the three who died at the Sedona Warrior Workshop were not like that, right? They were honorable people, right? Well, I AM AN HONORABLE PERSON and I would have considered it an honor to die at that Warrior Workshop giving my best to become the very best person I can possibly become. That would have been an honorable and noble death indeed! I would not want to face eternity with my relatives doing their best to make me break the LEGAL PROMISE I made in the agreement I signed. If you are successful in getting the 'legal system to break the promises made in that agreement you stain the reputation of those who died at the Sedona Warrior Workshop. Their noble deaths will be stained by the fact that YOU made them break the sacred promise they made before they died honorably. Yes, the final promise a person keeps before he or she dies is indeed a 'sacred promise'.

Is money more important to you than the honorable reputation of those brave warriors who died at the Sedona Warrior Workshop? Would you stain their entrance into the infinite by making them dishonorable liars who do not keep the promises they make? If money is more important to you than the honorable death of those you love then YOU ARE DISHONORABLE and you shame their memory by your selfish actions. UNDERSTAND THIS: just because some judge will allow you to be dishonorable and legally get away with it DOES NOT MAKE IT RIGHT!

Oh, so you want someone to pay for the deaths of your loved ones? I don't blame you. Find out who destroyed exhibit 'A' in the James Arthur Ray manslaughter case and you will indeed have your culprits. Angel Valley DID NOT want anyone to discover that the vinyl tarps covering the sweat lodge were partly melted. That's why they destroyed exhibit 'A' in this case before it went to trial. Why, if James Arthur Ray was caught destroying exhibit 'A' in his case you and your kind would probably have lynched him from the nearest tree if you caught him before the police arrived! Study into the matter and you will find that the fumes from melting vinyl tarp material are indeed toxic. How convenient Angel Valley destroyed the evidence that would confirm this. How convenient indeed. A sign of Angel Valley's 'angel-like' innocence in this matter? I DON'T THINK SO!
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by JasonDaro July 19, 2010 10:28 AM EDT
TO THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE SEDONA WARRIOR WORKSHOP:

So, you paid over $9,000.00 to go to that workshop. It had been held for, I believe, 7 years at Angel Valley. You obviously knew what you could basically expect. If you wanted to be indulged and pampered you could have used that money to go to a luxury holistic heath spa and been covered in organic mud then pampered with soothing massages. No, you didn't want that, right? You wanted to be pushed so that you could learn the difference between what you THINK you can endure and what you ACTUALLY can endure. You wanted to be able to make dramatic use of The Secret and see your daily lives transformed. Obviously, you couldn't get that from a luxury holistic health spa that caters to pampering you in all your cozy holistic indulgences. No, you paid the money and went to that workshop because YOU DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY IT SAFE. You wanted to be pushed out of your 'comfort zone' to the edge of your endurance. For this you knew you needed a Spiritual Drill Sergeant in order for you to reach your fullest potential and that's what you got. You must admit it takes a lot of guts for James Arthur Ray to create such a workshop. It's not as safe as a holistic 'pamper yourself' spa. Such a workshop is only for those who are serious about permanently changing their lives. The liability waiver made it clear enough that you might indeed be injured at that workshop. You might even die, yet you chose to PROMISE IN WRITING that you would take full responsibility for your actions when you attended that workshop and not hold James Arthur Ray or ANY of the JRI staff liable should you suffer injury and if you died your relatives could not sue over the matter. Ray should have had the attitude of a Marine Corps drill sergeant. He was nicer than that, right? Still, show me a Marine Corps drill sergeant who is always sweet and nice and I'll show you...a worthless drill sergeant.

True warriors are honorable. They keep to the agreements they make and DON'T NEED a written contract to honor their agreements. You 'pity me' people who went to that workshop with the intent of breaking your promise if anything went wrong are a disgrace. You should not have been there. Supposed ?warriors? who break their promises are actually losers pretending to be warriors. A drill sergeant is indeed going to shock you into a state of mind where you access your dormant potential. Once you sign the military agreement it's too late to change your mind about the matter. Sounds to me like you crybabies would make excellent military basic training boot camp washouts. You say you were pressured by Mr Ray to stay in the sweat lodge. What did you expect? For him to pressure you not to go in and build your endurance? GROW UP and take responsibility for your actions and your lives, people! Until you can say the Native American adage ?It's a good day to die? with casual optimism and REALLY MEAN IT you will never amount to much on the path of Universal Knowledge. You should have gotten your lives in order, before you went, and been fully prepared to die at that workshop. There is no guarantee that you would not have died before you even arrived there! Next time spend your money on a self-indulgent holistic health spa for New Age weaklings that will pamper you with indulgent, holistic luxury. You don't belong at a workshop for the strong and the honorable.

I suggest you consider this: Angel Valley destroyed exhibit 'A' in the James Arthur Ray manslaughter case before it went to trial because...when they took the sweat lodge apart they found that the vinyl tarps covering the breathable material were somewhat melted. God forbid you people who went to the workshop would find that out! It would mean you suffered injury because of the fumes that came from those melting vinyl tarps. Angel Valley had no business constructing a sweat lodge and covering it with non-breathable vinyl tarps. THAT'S CRAZY!!! Study into sweat lodge construction and you will indeed find Native Americans agree that a sweat lodge MUST be covered with a breathable material. So, you didn't have enough air in the sweat lodge, eh? WHO THE HELL BUILT THAT DEATH TRAP COVERED WITH NON-BREATHABLE VINYL MATERIAL? Who assured James Arthur Ray that the sweat lodge was safe and didn't even bother to supply thermometers to make certain it didn't get too hot inside the structure,eh? These are the questions you really need to be asking...?warriors?
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by JasonDaro July 18, 2010 8:12 AM EDT
The Sedona Warrior Workshop was ONLY for honorable people who take responsibility for their actions. If you are a dishonorable person who refuses to take responsibility for your actions you had NO BUSINESS being at that workshop. You took an oath IN WRITING promising to take full responsibility for your actions at that workshop. You made a legal vow! If you are a 'pity me' person and you are certain your miserable lives are all someone else's fault you had no business being at that Warrior Workshop. That Sedona event was a veritable Spirit 'Boot Camp' for the honorable who keep their promises.

If you break your vow it will sabotage the rest of your lives. Whatever money you may get by breaking your vow will turn against you and you can bet it all that you won't enjoy it. The dishonorable don't deserve to enjoy the money they get by being dishonorable. YOU KNOW IN YOUR HEARTS THIS IS TRUE!
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by JasonDaro July 8, 2010 8:28 AM EDT
I agree with the assessment it is indeed the Law of Attraction that is truly on trial here. People ask things like, 'Why did James Arthur Ray attract this to himself?' The real question is why did those PARTICULAR PARTICIPANTS attract this to THEMSELVES? Why did they refuse to listen to their bodies? They all knew they signed a liability waiver promising to take full responsibility for their actions at the workshop. They must have all heard that one man screaming at the top of his lungs, ?I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!! There is NO EXCUSE for those people going back into the sweat lodge after a 10-15 minute round if they could not handle it. If your body is dying it will indeed let you know in unmistakable ways. If you refuse to listen to your body screaming that it is dying and you go back into a sweat lodge, after signing a liability waiver, you have no one else to blame but yourself! It is irrelevant who may be encouraging you to go back into the sweat lodge. It is YOUR LIFE and YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to protect YOURSELF!
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by JasonDaro July 6, 2010 2:00 AM EDT
It is MY OPINION that James Arthur Ray was ignorant as to just how dangerous a sweat lodge holding about 60 could be. Angel Valley must have assured Mr Ray that such a sweat lodge would be no problem to build and it would be safe or else James Arthur Ray would not have paid them to build it. Mr Ray blindly trusted Angel Valley to be experts in these matters. This is where James Arthur Ray made his big mistake. Angel Valley should have told Mr Ray that they would NEVER build such a sweat lodge because it was extremely dangerous to do so. They should have told Mr Ray that they also would not allow ANYONE to build such a dangerous sweat lodge on THEIR PROPERTY, for liability reasons. Yes, Mr Ray was indeed ignorant to blindly trust Angel Valley when they told him they could safely build a sweat lodge that can hold 60 people. It was indeed blind ignorant trust in Angel Valley that led to the tragedy in Sedona's Angel Valley
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by uwishtoo November 5, 2009 3:01 PM EST
While this is a terrible turn of events the people that attended this retreat did so out of their own choice. Uh, Arizona heat, fasting? Go figure. This just shows more of the "it's all someone else's fault" mentality of today
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by wyodutch October 27, 2009 8:10 PM EDT
All he did was say.. "Come forth... and I shall pluck thee."
.
If the "victims" had no more common sense than to pay ten grand for a (gasp, choke, puke) "vision quest"... Well...
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by formrusmcsgt October 27, 2009 8:05 PM EDT
The sweat-lodge ceremony was supposed to be a religious awakening, the culmination of a $9,000-plus-per-person retreat outside Sedona, Ariz., aimed at helping people find a new vision for life.
---
9K for a vision?

No wonder these gullibles are dogma drones.....
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by DawnBroderick40 October 27, 2009 5:54 PM EDT
I cannot imagine insulting a family who just lost their child by sending them a check for $5K. Amazing really. Sending nothing would have been better than that. What a slap in the face. I really hope they hold this nutcase accountable.
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by lmartink October 27, 2009 7:20 PM EDT
That's ok, just one more nail in his coffin. This family, and the families of the other victims, could end up owning every tagible asset this jerk has. And rightly so.

In a civil case, his arrogant, stupid behavior will work against him. The court system works just fine, be patient. He will end up looking like the pathetic loser that he is.

He's little different than David Koresh, or that Jonestown idiot. All in the smae category.
by JasonDaro July 9, 2010 9:27 PM EDT
They would have been insulted no matter what James Arthur Ray did. That is obvious. She took responsibility for her actions when she went to that workshop. Plus THE WISE do not wish ill on anyone. It is not a safe thing to do.
by babooph October 27, 2009 5:14 PM EDT
The guru will fit right in with a lot of other gurus in prison...
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