Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment Sarah Hoek © Copyright (c) Daily Maverick , All Rights Reserved
It’s 8 October 2009, and you are sitting in what James Arthur Ray calls a “sweat lodge”, as the podcast host Matt Stroud describes the steam that fills the tent, the sound of water sizzling and hot coals hissing.
Some people taunt it, others swear by it, but regardless, bookstores fill shelves of copies of various self-help techniques, regimes and beliefs. It’s the stuff American motivational speaker James Arthur Ray has built his career on, selling self-improvement through books like
The Science of Success and coaching sessions called “21 Days to a New Life”. But the guru is also a convicted felon who has served two years in an Arizona state prison after being convicted of three counts of negligent homicide in 2010.
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