James Ray's Arrest & The Secret | davidschirmer.com

To ALL The Secret Believers ... And the James Ray Bashers!

Yesterday morning, I logged on toTwitter to find out that James Ray had been arrested on manslaughter charges.  This morning I logged on to find I had numerous emails from people asking questions and seeking understanding around the situation – so I thought I would share my thoughts here.

First, let me say; "It is not my job to pass judgement on any person involved in this tragedy."  The death of any human being is tragic, regardless of how it happens.  I do not know James Ray personally, except being a co-teacher on The Secret DVD and even if I did, what I’m about to share would be the same.

My heart and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones, to those who were part of the incident and to James Ray and his team.  Unless we were there or closely related we cannot comprehend what any of these people have gone through or may continue to face in years to come.

We live in a world where most people are looking to blame someone else for whatever happens; very few people ever take responsibility for their own actions.  You only have to listen at the average American’s comments of the economic situation in their country!  Almost all are pointing fingers at the government, the banks, the mortgage companies, the hedge funds, the stock market ... they don’t seem to have enough common sense to ...(click 'Read more' below)

... look at their own stupidity of borrowing massive amounts of money with little or no assets, or spending their every cent on depreciating junk, or giving their well earned money to someone promising them crazy returns and never doing their own research!

This lack of responsibility is not reserved for the Yanks, but rather a common thread through most, if not all societies (probably even worse in my country, Australia).  When will we, as a global community, learn to take personal responsibly and ownership of the circumstances we create, rather than blame, deny and make excuses?

The core message of The Secret ... you are responsible for your life and circumstances!

No, I do not agree or even totally understand the 'Spiritual Cleansing' process James Ray was taking his clients through, however I do not believe for one second that James Ray's intention was anything but to help the people he taught - in life sometimes things do go wrong and people get hurt or even die.  That doesn't mean he shouldn't be tried by the appropriate legal system and face the consequence, good or otherwise.

Let’s talk about the James Ray bashers for a moment:

Sadly, in every society, there are a handful of people who are filled with hatred, anger and revenge toward their fellow man.  They don’t add to society in any meaningful way by edifying one another or building up their brother; rather they seek to elevate themselves by pulling down every person who seeks to become the best they can be.  These people often hid behind guise of journalism or some invisible, untraceable identity on the internet.  They say what they want, to whom they want, no matter how untruthful or destructive it may be, and then like true cowards, they run and hide behind their secret identity or television station or media machine.

Some of the filth and utter trash said about James Ray on the internet by people who don’t know him, don’t know what he does, or the circumstance is nothing short of shameful and pathetic.  These people who portray hatred through their words rather than show love are murderers – That’s not me saying that, that is what the bible says, "If any of you hate your fellow man you are a murderer."

Maybe, just maybe, instead of giving an opinion or passing judgement on James Ray you should look inwardly and check out how often you have failed, fallen short, lied, betrayed another, cheated, stolen, gossiped or hated, then fall on your knees and ask for forgiveness ... and while there, pray for the families of the ones who died and James Ray and team, who at this time are facing circumstances that few people can know or comprehend.

Remember the media rarely tells the truth about a situation yet many people form opinions based on lies and twisted deception delivered by the media. I don’t say for one moment that James Ray is innocent or shouldn’t accept responsibility for lives lost.  What I say is no amount of defamatory posts, scathing remarks, vile accusations or James Ray bashing will bring the dead back or aid the situation one little bit.  How about letting the court do its job and get about being the best person you can be.

To my Christian Friends:

I am a Christian and I have my own belief why and how this tragedy happened based on God’s Word in the bible.  I know from the Word that God does not cause death but gives life more abundantly and that there is an enemy who seeks to steal, kill & destroy.  I do not believe that any spiritual cleansing is necessary but rather through the spiritual rebirth through our Lord Jesus Christ our spirit is reborn and made perfect in God’s sight once and for all.  If anyone wants to take you through a spiritual cleansing process, get out of there fast, because it is not of God.

I also believe that many ‘personal development’ speakers & teachers are leading people down a path of dire consequences.  Because of the spiritual ignorance of the speaker, many people are being lead to believe and participate in practices that are beyond harmful.

As a Christian believer, when things go wrong for others, regardless of their belief or faith, then I believe that we have to press in harder to God and pray like crazy.  We know God is MUCH bigger than satan; satan is already defeated and is just having one last fling and “All things are possible to those who believe in Jesus Christ.”  As are believer, the responsibility lays with us to pray and intercede for the ignorant and the hurting and to turn a bad situation into a glory for God.

The God thing or the Jesus stuff may not be your belief and I’m OK with that.  If you believe in LOVE then our beliefs are closer then you think, and you will probably agree with most of what I wrote.

So I still say pray for or send love to those who lost loved ones, for those who attended The Angel Valley sweat lodge and for James Ray and staff.  They will need it more than you know.