"When the paramedics arrived, and they came, the guys like, 'What happened here? Is this like a mass suicide?' he said to me. And I said, 'No, it was a sweat lodge gone wrong,'" said Martin in an exclusive interview with ABC's "Nightline."
James Arthur Ray is a professional speaker and author. He is the author of Harmonic Wealth, a New York Times bestseller frequently featured on the Today Show. Ray is the president and CEO of James Ray International. As of October 2009, the company was not Better Business Bureau accredited, which gives the company a C rating for seven complaints filed and two unresolved. In 2006 he had appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and was a guest speaker in the film The Secret. Ray earlier had taught Stephen Covey Motivational seminars while employed at AT&T and later worked two years for the Covey foundation." On February 3, 2010, Ray was arrested in connection with deaths of participants at one of his sweat lodge ceremonies.

Ray and the retreat center where the deaths occurred, Angel Valley Sedona, are also facing civil suits. Ray posted on his Web site a list of questions and answers addressing the tragedy. One excerpt: "Much has been made of the rumor that Mr. Ray purportedly played “God” at one point during the Retreat. He played this role exactly once, on Tuesday afternoon, when participants played the Samurai Game. But this was no cult practice."



Tags: james ray, the secret