Quote
objektivist
I feel like I'm in an old 12 step meeting

Do you? Interesting; I feel like I've been snapped at by a skittish creature that I was trying to be kind to. I chose words that came quickly to me, in that I was in a friendly mode. My meanings are not what you got, it seems. On top of that, the comment "I don't need a sponsor, thanks anyway" is beyond rude.

qd

Everyone on this thread.

Let's be nice and stay on topic.

This thread is not about "12 step programs," but rather James Arthur Ray.

3 people died in his "sweat lodge" and scores of participants required emergency medical care.

This is a very serious topic.

If you want to discuss something or someone else, please just start another thread and title it accordingly.

I hope it's okay with the Moderator if I point out a little something re Mr. Lakhani. He said in his first post,

Quote
ImthatDave
And you may be surprised to know I'm not at all upset by your observations or remarks though many of them are off base or based on incorrect assumptions and interpretations.

But now he is singing a very different tune, threatening to stop support of Rick Ross's work and labeling certain communications here as "slanderous".

For the record, slander refers to orally conveyed mistruths and therefore isn't even applicable here.

Mr. Lakhani might want to read up on defamation/libel law as it pertains to public figures, involuntary public figures, and limited public figures, of which he is likely one. As well as read up on expert legal opinion on the feasibility of pursuing a defamation/libel lawsuit.

Although I have a feeling what was coming forth was a blast of hot air.

My opinion, of course.

As requested, here is a new thread about Dave Lakhani.

Dave Lakhani, cult mind control tactics, covert manipulation [forum.culteducation.com]

A commenter on the Salty Droid Blog, Yakaru, has written a letter to San Diego Law Enforcement asking them to reopen the Colleen suicide case which was closed for lack of further evidence.

salty droid.info (some ripe language)

"Yakaru said:
I don’t know how practical this suggestion is – someone with legal knowledge might correct me – but anyone wanting to do something positive might want to write to the San Diego police and ask them to re-open Colleen Conaway’s case.

San Diego Police Department
Headquarters
1401 Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101-5729

or

citizensreviewboard@sandiego.gov

They say they would only do that if new evidence appeared. Well –
Emerging pattern of systematic abuse
Psychological abuse of participants in seminars
Activities specifically designed to induce “altered states”
No screening of participant health
Inadequate monitoring
No safety procedures
Withholding and falsifying information
Possible fraud

….just to name a few.

A polite inquiry into the current situation might make them realise they may face more questions in the near future.Anyone wanting to write can find the basic facts collected in one place, plus the letter I sent off, here -

Yakaru blog

The more people who right, the more likely the investigators will start considering the media attention they may well be receiving in the future and weighing up how easy it was to close the case, against how much effort they will have to expend on explaining themselves to the world wide media later."



Yakaru has posted this letter, along with the reasons for writing it, on a dedicated blog:

Yakaru blog

sweat lodge book

As yet unconfirmed, but this writer has previously had some accurate inside information, James Ray has written a book on the sweat lodge deaths and is touting it around the publishers.

Oh. My. God.

The author of that article said, "...that James Ray could even think of doing such a thing is monstrous."

Agreed.

Thanks for the heads up.

Gotta bring attention to this...

www.huna.com

This is the guy that supposedly "taught" James Ray all that he knows. Here's a guy that is talking about how Ray is teaching techniques and ceremonies that he shouldn't be teaching. This guy (Matthew B. James) is the very SAME guy that:
1. is doing the same thing through his "Huna" teaching (Hawaiian Shamanism) - and believe me, this guy is about as far from Native Hawaiian lineage as one can be and
2. this guy is being sued by his own father for fraud. Guess who his father is?
3. Tad James himself.

What's funny about this, is how Matthew B. James is trying to distance himself as much as he can from Ray through his PR efforts through these various videos. (see videos on site). All the while, still selling the very same sort of LGAT's on his site. Talk about hipocracy! Just watch how he throws James Ray under the bus in some of these videos to save his own ass.... all the while, still selling the very SAME sort of package on his site. This guy needs to go down too.

www.huna.com

Anyone know why all of these people choose to hold their seminars on Hawaii? Is it because they want their participants to be as far away from their families as possible???

That is believable, as James Ray wants to get his propaganda out there, to try and keep his business going. He has every intent of trying to use every tactic on earth to try to get away with this, and keep his business going.

He might try to deflect criticism by "donating some of the profits" to some "charity", perhaps to one an associate of his controls.

But hopefully there is probably no sane publisher who would touch that, until everything plays out? If not, he'll just self-publish.

But there is more than enough clear evidence to indicate one is dealing with a serious sociopath here, if not a psychopath. Sociopaths don't have fangs and warts on their face, they often have white capped-teeth, a wide smile, a tan, wear expensive suits, have the gift of the gab, and are smooth as silk in their public presentation.
That is what makes them so dangerous, that ability to appear to be so slick, and even genuine to the public.

Quote
Stoic
sweat lodge book

As yet unconfirmed, but this writer has previously had some accurate inside information, James Ray has written a book on the sweat lodge deaths and is touting it around the publishers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2010 11:34AM by The Anticult.

Lawmaker wants to ban sweat lodges:

banning sweatlodges