This past weekend in Sedona, Arizona, two people died and several others were hospitalized after taking part in a sweat lodge led by self-help guru, James Arthur Ray. Adding to the irony of the situation, the retreat was located in Angel Valley.
Ray, developer of The Science of Success and Harmonic Wealth® and a contributor to the best-selling book and video “The Secret,” is touted on The Secret’s website as “an expert on many eastern, indigenous, and mystical traditions.” Charging thousands of dollars for his “enlightenment” seminars, he seems to have ignored one of the essential teachings of all these traditions–that true spiritual teaching doesn’t come with a price tag.
Arizona, and particularly the Sedona area, is a geological powerhouse. Charles Vargas of the Apache Nation in San Carlos says, “Man has always sought stones for higher understanding. The stones are medicine and their spiritual use like those put in the fire of the traditional sweat lodge are all part of the meaning, part of the design, part of the truth of that practice.” Of course, truth is an elusive thing and can hold different meanings for everyone. Even the idea of charging for spiritual lessons has as many defenders as it does detractors. Everyone needs to make a living, and if someone has the gift of imparting wisdom, why shouldn’t he or she be paid for it?
In earlier days, shamans and spiritual leaders were supported by their community, relying on donations for food, shelter and clothing. Today, most of us need money to survive, so it could be argued that money has taken the place of those more pragmatic donations. Yet some traditions still support this idea of giving only what you are able to give. The Mount Shasta Buddhist Abbey offers all of their retreats on a donation basis. Churches, synagogues and temples don’t charge for their services. Spirituality in the Native American community doesn’t come with a dollar sign, and herein lies the problem. Traditional sweat lodges are usually offered by invitation only. They are generally small and the group knows each other well. If a stranger is invited in, it is done after careful consideration and agreement among the regular participants. Just because someone wants this purifying ceremony doesn’t mean they will be able to easily find it, or if they find one, be permitted to take part in it, no matter how much money they offer to pay.
Enter the gurus. Armed with just enough knowledge to simulate a traditional ceremony, they offer retreats, seminars, and workshops promising prosperity and major life changes by learning a few simple tools and “truths.” For a price, participants can have what they may feel they are being denied–an authentic transformative experience. In the case of James Ray, this transformative experience included a sweat lodge purification ceremony. However, it was not a traditional sweat lodge. Larger, than usual, it was packed with strangers who had just met that weekend. They had eaten a large breakfast on the day of the sweat, and Ray co-opted the ritual to his own specifications.
Who isn’t seeking transformation? Everyone seems to be searching for something to fill that vague feeling of emptiness and discontent that so many of us carry around. The thing is, maybe the fact that we’re not finding the experience we’re looking for indicates the need for self-reflection and patience. We live in an impatient society. Instant gratification and the desire for more drives us. We buy better bodies, flashier accessories, the best wine, food, sex, clothes. Why not buy enlightenment as well? If we have the cash, it’s readily available.
Finding something that is freely given takes more time, more searching, more patience. Vargas says, “All 12 of the sacred stones mentioned in the Breastplate of Righteousness can be found in this state (Arizona). The great spiritual traditions, at their root, all speak the same essential truth.” Transformative experiences are all around us, but they often come in ways that are too simple for us to grasp. They come through repetition. Meditation is easy to learn, but difficult to maintain a regular practice. Sit with your spine straight. Breathe in. Breathe out. Do it every day. Or hit your knees and pray every morning, every night. Walk slowly through the world. Listen to the people you encounter. The panhandler on the street might have the just the words you need to make a small shift in the way you think, the way you live.
But we’d rather pay money to escape from our daily lives for a few days or a week where we’re given the structure to practice these simple teachings. And there’s nothing wrong with this. Retreats can rejuvenate us. We can benefit from stepping away from routine whether it’s going to the Burning Man or a bible camp. But somehow we need to make a distinction between the need to get away from it all and learn something new and having a true spiritual experience. Spiritual awakening can’t be bought. It comes when we search diligently, or it comes in a flash when we’re least expecting it. Living our lives by spiritual principles is something else. Once the initial bliss wears off, we’re left with the mundane reality of our lives. We falter and fall, but hopefully, keep moving forward.
Shamanism, and its connection to the earth is as old as the rocks, those deep bones that hold our planet together. God is even more ancient than that. Maybe that’s where we should be searching for our answers–in the rocks, in the sky, on our knees.