After reading the horrifying reports from eyewitnesses about the so-called "New Age Guru," James Arthur Ray, forcing people to stay inside a sweat lodge while his "followers" vomited, lost consciousness and died, I have the following observations:
Anyone who charges you $9,695 dollars to make you so ill you must be taken to a hospital is a con man.
Anyone who tells you that vomiting is "good for you, that you are purging what your body doesn't want, what it doesn't need," is a sadist.
Anyone who ever refers to you as a "spiritual warrior" is a crook.
I once took part in a sweat lodge in Utah. First our medicine woman -- yes, that is what we called her! -- lit a bunch of grass and blew the smoke all over us. This was called "smudging" and was supposed to cleanse us. Then we entered the sweat lodge which was constructed of our oars (we were rafting down the Colorado River at the time) and big blue plastic tarps. The "sisters" who had the curse were not welcome in the sweat lodge. Their "energy was bad." They had to sit in the "moon lodge."
The rest of us, not on the rag, had to sit inside the tarps while our priestess (we also called her a "priestess" -- I can hardly believe it as I write) poured Colorado River water on heated rocks, and some one we called "Miss Manners" beat a drum. We also shook our rattles which we had made out of gourds.
I began to feel faint. I can't tell you how hot it was -- I'm guessing about 125 degrees, maybe 130. We were passing a ladle of lemonade, and saying "To All My Relations," and I accidentally drank a mug of filthy Colorado River water. When I thought I could take it no longer, I found that I could not stand up. My energy had been completely sapped. It was at this point that our Priestess ask us to begin our "Wolf Howls."
I have wondered to this very day if American Indians ever did this kind stuff? I doubt it. It's too stupid, too phony, too white.
If you really want a "vision quest" I suggest you save the $9,000 and take a walk in the fall leaves, lay out under the stars, look deeply into your dog's eyes, smoke a joint, drop acid or eat a mushroom.
It's cheaper, healthier, and may save your life!
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And I think your headline is absolutely horrid.
Sitting Bull was a respected member of the Lakota tribe. Sweatlodge is sacred to the Lakota people, and is practiced regularly as part of many traditional ceremonies.
Lumping James Ray and respected Native American leaders for comic effect in a headline is not amusing, it is irresponsible.
It propagates the belief among those unfamiliar with the actual tradition that all sweat lodges and medicine people are bad. They aren't.
2) Ray couldn't listen to his inner self during the crisis. He had to consult his guru attorneys. When an individual is truly centered and authentic, they are able to deal with any crisis calmly and with integrity. This guy up and ran away. Amazing
Students of Cherokee lodges claim that herbs and brush used in the lodge can have the effect of weakened-bacteria or weakened-virus inoculations. The sweat, as Finns, Romans, and the ancient Jews knew, removes systemic toxins, and may metabolize the excretions of histamines and allergens.
Anyone who is paying $9000 for a sweatlodge or for any "spiritual" training would be better off paying it to a good financial planner, a charity with work partnerships, and a psychiatrist. The work inside the charity will bring more significant spiritual rewards, the financial planner can help you figure out why you're paying spiritual Madoffs for intangibles with no dividends, and the shrink can teach you how to recognize a con man or woman.
Native American practices have been exploited and are largely misunderstood. Same goes for a lot of the rest of the airy fairy mumbo jumbo out there.
Sure, I think that there is such a thing as intuition and certain psi abilities that are based on rational, scientific principles. Ask Puthoff and Targ about it.
In most cases, though, its all nonsense and sometimes its deadly nonsense.