{"id":165,"date":"2009-10-13T16:14:13","date_gmt":"2009-10-13T16:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourdailyspiritualstimulus\/2009\/10\/guru-or-charlatan-how-to-spot-the-difference.html"},"modified":"2009-10-13T16:14:13","modified_gmt":"2009-10-13T16:14:13","slug":"guru-or-charlatan-how-to-spot-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourdailyspiritualstimulus\/2009\/10\/guru-or-charlatan-how-to-spot-the-difference.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Spot a Charlatan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font size=\"+1\"><tt>I was both saddened and dismayed by the recent deaths and injuries that<br \/>\noccurred during self-help \"guru\" James Arthur Ray's \"Spiritual Warrior\"<br \/>\nretreat in Sedona, Arizona last week. There are <i>so many<\/i> things<br \/>\nabout this retreat that are disturbing that I felt the need to<br \/>\nwrite about it. The most tragic, of course, is that such recklessness<br \/>\nled to the death of two people, sickened another 20 and one remains in<br \/>\ncritical condition.<\/p>\n<p>It is<i> unfathomable<\/i> that James Ray would conduct a sweat lodge with over<br \/>\n60 people in makeshift lodge without proper ventilation. In this case, for the price tag of $9650 (the cost to attend Ray's Spiritual Warrior&nbsp;<i><\/i>event) Ray, could have easily afforded to build several properly constructed sweat lodges. <\/p>\n<p>I am truly disturbed by the ego and greed of those who are<br \/>\nmasquerading around as \"guru's claiming to possess the \"magic<br \/>\nbullet\" that will make you rich and successful. Pfff!<br \/>\nLike the tooth fairy.<\/p>\n<p>I <i>wish<\/i> there were a \"magic bullet\" or something that I could<br \/>\nrecommend to you that would make you instantly rich and<br \/>\nsuccessful...but there isn't. And, I sincerely hope that people will take heed<br \/>\nand stop wasting their precious lives and hard-earned money searching<br \/>\nfor it.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn't mean you shouldn't seek guidance or help. There are plenty of<br \/>\nlegitimate ways to get help in healing your mind, body and spirit and<br \/>\nto becoming more personally and spiritually aware and awake. <b><i>But at what cost and whom can you really trust to assist you?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>So, how do you spot a Charlatan?<\/b> Here's my perspective and I hope it helps everyone out there to ask more questions and to become more discerning:<\/p>\n<p><\/tt><\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>\nBy definition, a charlatan is someone who claims to have \"special\"<br \/>\nknowledge, powers or abilities, but doesn't actually possess them.<br \/>\nCharlatans can be very persuasive and evangelical in their ability to<br \/>\nentice people who greatly want or desire something they perceive<br \/>\nsomeone else to have.<\/tt><\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>\nThe minute anyone claims to have the ability to make you rich or change<br \/>\nyour entire life forever in a weekend, you should run. You <i>can<\/i><br \/>\nlearn and grow a lot in a well-run workshop or retreat, without a<br \/>\ndoubt. However, meaningful change takes time, commitment and often hard<br \/>\nwork.<\/tt><\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>\nPeople or workshops that charge you <b><i>unreasonably high fees<\/i><\/b> in order to grace you with their presence are usually great at pumping<br \/>\nyou up (it's called an adrenaline high), but are unlikely to be there<br \/>\nfor you when you the rush is over.<\/tt><\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><font>Here&#8217;s some perspective. F<\/font><tt>or $10,000 you could hire a coach <i>and<\/i> a therapist for a year who<br \/>\nwill give you individualized therapy and coaching that addresses <i>your specific issues, goals and needs<\/i>. Literally, a year of personalized support and guidance.&nbsp;<\/tt><\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><tt> Many people have gone into serious debt to attend these events and this is of no concern to the Charlatan. What's more, I've had several clients who created more financial problems for<br \/>\nthemselves by impulsively signing up for workshops they<br \/>\ncould not afford only to find they signed a binding contract and could<br \/>\nnot get a refund. So, please read the fine print.<\/tt> <\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>\nCharlatans may try to lure you in with a sense of<br \/>\n\"exclusivity.\" Unfortunately, the only thing exclusive about their offering is your<br \/>\nwillingness to pay to play with them. Sad, but generally true.<\/tt><\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>\nThis is my opinion, but my experience is that most really good work is done one-on-one with people who know you and<br \/>\nyour personal circumstances and who are interested in having a <i>real<\/i> relationship<br \/>\nwith you.<\/tt><\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>\nNothing replaces individual prayer, meditation and your personal connection with God<br \/>\non a daily basis. If you did nothing else but this you will probably <i>feel<\/i><br \/>\nbetter and I believe it would improve the quality of your life. And this help is free and available to everyone!<\/tt><\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>\nLastly, it is good and right to want to improve your life, heal the past, or<br \/>\nmanifest your dreams, but we need to become more discerning. Get<br \/>\nreferrals from people who have made lasting positive changes. How did<br \/>\nthey achieve their goals or change their lives? Who helped them along<br \/>\nthe way? These are the role models I would recommend you seek out for<br \/>\nguidance.<\/tt><\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>\n<br \/>\nThe Charlatans out there can rob us of more than our money, they also rob of us of our faith and trust in humanity. Let's not let that happen.<\/p>\n<p><\/tt><\/font><font size=\"+1\"><font>For today, <\/font><tt>there is still hope and real help is available, but please be careful where you go to find it.<\/p>\n<p>Peace and Blessings!<\/p>\n<p><\/tt><\/font><br \/><font size=\"+1\"><tt><br \/>May you be blessed with the powers of wisdom and discernment .<\/p>\n<p><\/tt><\/font><font size=\"+1\"><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was both saddened and dismayed by the recent deaths and injuries that occurred during self-help &#8220;guru&#8221; James Arthur Ray&#8217;s &#8220;Spiritual Warrior&#8221; retreat in Sedona, Arizona last week. There are so many things about this retreat that are disturbing that I felt the need to write about it. The most tragic, of course, is that&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":351,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,7,9,12,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beliefnet-prayer-circles","category-current-events","category-financial-forgiveness","category-financial-recovery","category-money-coaching","category-self-worth"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Spot a Charlatan - Your Daily Spiritual Stimulus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourdailyspiritualstimulus\/2009\/10\/guru-or-charlatan-how-to-spot-the-difference.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Spot a Charlatan - Your Daily Spiritual Stimulus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was both saddened and dismayed by the recent deaths and injuries that occurred during self-help &quot;guru&quot; James Arthur Ray&#039;s &quot;Spiritual Warrior&quot; retreat in Sedona, Arizona last week. There are so many things about this retreat that are disturbing that I felt the need to write about it. The most tragic, of course, is that&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourdailyspiritualstimulus\/2009\/10\/guru-or-charlatan-how-to-spot-the-difference.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Your Daily Spiritual Stimulus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-10-13T16:14:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dprice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Spot a Charlatan - Your Daily Spiritual Stimulus","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourdailyspiritualstimulus\/2009\/10\/guru-or-charlatan-how-to-spot-the-difference.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Spot a Charlatan - Your Daily Spiritual Stimulus","og_description":"I was both saddened and dismayed by the recent deaths and injuries that occurred during self-help \"guru\" James Arthur Ray's \"Spiritual Warrior\" retreat in Sedona, Arizona last week. There are so many things about this retreat that are disturbing that I felt the need to write about it. 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