At the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, a documentary film , “Enlighten Us: The Rise and Fall of James Arthur Ray” directed by Jenny Carchman and produced by Allyson Luchak is being aired this week. On October 8, 2009, James Ray, an internationally recognized motivational speaker, and frequent guest of Oprah, conducted a deadly sweat lodge ceremony, the culminating activity of a 5 day Spiritual Warrior Retreat. When the ceremony ended, Kirby Brown and James Shore lay dead, Liz Neuman would die 9 days later, 19 were taken to local hospitals and a few have since suffered life altering injury.
This film chronicles Mr. Ray’s journey from fame, incarceration (serving 20 months for the negligent homicide of 3 people), and his re-invention in the self-help world. SEEKsafely,inc, a 501(c)3 charity was created by Kirby Brown’s family to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.
Our reaction to this film is as follows:
Very well said, Gin. Those who have always been close to you and your family still grieve Kirby’s loss to this day…and beyond. I truly hope that your efforts pay off. Even one more life lost is one too many. On the other side of the coin, know that Ray doesn’t hear your words; he surely doesn’t understand what he did nor will he ever recognize his failure. We all fear the virtually inevitable next death that will occur at his hand as much as we fear another incident like Waco.
The next few years will be very turbulent times and during such periods, people look for answers. The problem is that they’re looking for them in all the wrong places. We trust that SEEK will find success in its message and efforts so that those who wander find both safe refuge and some measure of peace in their souls.