Personal development saved my life, but not without some side effects. In college, I had been in a troubled relationship for a couple years and when it finally ended, I was overwhelmed with depression. I found that by focusing on the positive, making new friends, and trying new things, I pulled myself out (with a little help from a therapist who had more of a Life Coaching style). I surprised myself with my charisma and extroversion, having always been a geeky intellectual kid. But then I graduated, moved halfway across the country, and had to start over…in the Real World.

As a Philosophy B.A. and an anti-corporate, environmental activist, I wasn’t exactly well-prepared for the job market. I had worked at the Help Desk in college so I found a job doing tech support. While I was good at the work, I found the corporate environment stifling to say the least (I watched “Office Space” over 50 times during this period). One day I got sick with something awful. So weak I could hardly get out of bed for two weeks, I neglected to tell anyone—including my employer—and lost my job in the process. (I’m convinced now that my unconscious decided to quit for me since I couldn’t muster up the courage to do so consciously.)

I fell into a terrible depression. A friend of mine loaned me some of Tony Robbins’ tapes (Personal Power II) and I threw myself in wholeheartedly. On tape one, Robbins describes his own depression and how he overcame it by controlling his focus and physiology, as I had done in college but with far more enthusiasm. I listened to all 30 days  worth of tapes in less than 2 weeks. I got myself pumped up, made a huge list of goals, and did every exercise and homework assignment. I suppose this is the point in the story where I’m supposed to say that my life totally turned around and now I’m a massive success, but it didn’t quite work that way….

Walkin’ On Sunshine

A few years later, a friend of mine who also was a Robbins devotee decided we should both go to a live seminar with the larger-than-life motivator. That’s how I found myself looking up at the Qwest building logo in downtown Denver, walking across burning hot coals with 2000 people. With drums beating in the background, everyone was chanting “YES! YES! YES!” There was no room for doubt. All fear had been overpowered by force of will. Later this came in handy when Robbins’ pitched his Mastery University, a multiple thousands of dollars series of “advanced” seminars taking place in exotic locations. Again Robbins worked the crowd into a frenzy of “YES!”, overpowering objections by any means necessary.

Nearly every technique employed for the firewalk employed aggressive positivity, actively negating reality through force:

• 2000 people in a huge conference room with 50-ft screens jumping up and down and clapping to loud music.
• Screaming “Yes!” when you are feeling “this is dangerous and possibly stupid.”
• Yelling “cool moss!” when you are feeling burning coals against the soft tissue of your feet.
• Making your “power move” to get into “a peak state”—a power move being an aggressive gesture (Robbins’ involves beating his chest like an ape) that stimulates a fight-flight nervous system response, overpowering subtler experiences.

The firewalk occurs on day one of the four-day “Unleash the Power Within” seminar (“the power within” is the power of emotion when consciously controlled and intensified). Walking on fire is a metaphor for breaking through fear. Since fear is supposed to be the only thing stopping you from achieving your dreams, once one has broken through fear there should be no obstacles to success. Therefore once one has walked across fire, they should very quickly become totally successful at all things by applying the same principles.

Unfortunately few contexts are relevantly similar to firewalking, as I found out the hard way. Achieving most personal outcomes requires patience, persistence, and flexibility, not an intense emotional display and impulsive action.

But this aggressive positivity does work in some contexts. Unfortunately it works by bowling over inner and outer objections. I have a distinct memory once of having a disagreement with someone after UPW. They had an objection to something I was saying, or some goal I had set for myself. I found myself raising my voice, becoming more passionate and expressive, and they immediately backed down. I realized in that moment that this stuff was dangerous—being aggressively positive in this way was a kind of emotional bullying, getting your way through force of personality. If you get emotional enough, others can no longer think rationally—most either enthusiastically agree or get disgusted with you and walk off. (Luckily I had some meditator friends who had cultivated enough equanimity to continue to rationally question me during this period. Lucky too that I had not been fully indoctrinated so I was willing to listen.)

It took me years to realize that this is also what I had been doing inside. The aggressive positivity of Tony Robbins had appealed to me precisely because it fit well with the self-hate I had already been engaged in. I forced myself to be happy because I didn’t know how to deal with my intense, painful emotions—especially the existential anxiety and despair I had encountered through deep contemplation as a Philosophy major. For me, aggressive positivity was a counter-phobic response to the existential condition…was this also the case for Robbins? How many aggressively positive self-help enthusiasts are engaged in self-improvement as a strategy to avoid confronting the inevitability of death?

Luckily the enthusiasm that I had displayed when running hard in the wrong direction was not all lost, for I was developing general skills that would be helpful once I finally turned around… (to be continued). Click here for part 2.

Due to a cease and desist letter sent from Bill Harris’s lawyer, I have edited this article on 12/22/2009 to be more clear regarding facts vs. opinions. Thanks for the feedback, Bill! (Although maybe next time a friendly email would be the best way to initially communicate your feedback.) UPDATE 12/28/2009: I actually haven’t received a cease and desist letter. I was confused and thought Harris’ email was a C&S letter, but then I heard from several people that such letters are delivered by certified mail or courier, and haven’t received anything in the mail or from a courier from Mr. Harris or his lawyer. UPDATE 12/29/2009: Harris has since emailed his C&D letter to me, which you can read here.

Bill Harris—star of popular New Age infomercial The Secret and former marketing partner of James Arthur Ray—is founder and CEO of the (in my opinion) manipulative marketing organization called Centerpointe Research Institute. His main product is the “Holosync” binaural beat meditation CDs, which I find very expensive compared to competitors products, and less effective as well.

While the name “Centerpointe Research Institute” makes it sound like this is a non-profit think tank, this organization is simply a for-profit business. Part of the “research” apparently includes that co-branding with killer gurus is good for business—at least until people die, at which point it’s most profitable to pretend like it never happened. Or at least that’s how it appears to me, given that Harris used to market products with James Arthur Ray, but since the “death lodge” incident of November 10th, 2009, Ray’s testimonial has disappeared from Holosync’s web page. But perhaps Bill Harris didn’t know Ray’s character, or perhaps no one could have predicted such an awful turn of events. But why not? Why did we all not see the signs?

Harris’ infamous tagline for Holosync is “meditate deeper than a Zen monk at the push of a button!” This is an exaggeration at best (in my opinion, based on using his product and in discussions with other Centerpointe customers), perhaps learned at the James Arthur Ray School of Hyperbole. Customer experiences (again—from me, friends, and other customers I’ve talked with) range from occasional deep meditation that fades as you adapt to the particular CD level, to subtle relaxation, to painful headaches and “overwhelm.” Ironically, Bill Harris—and his spiritual teacher Zen master Genpo Roshi—often complain about spiritual seekers who want quick results, avoiding responsibility for what he’s “attracted” through his avarice-focused marketing copy (again, this is what I’ve observed from reading Harris’ blog and email newsletter Mind Chatter, listening to talks of Harris and Roshi, etc. and from reading his marketing copy).

While typical meditation CDs cost about $15 and free binaural beat programs abound, Holosync can be yours all for the low, low price of $175 for the first CD and (if I remember correctly from when I was an Awakening Prologue customer) about $2,500+ for the 12 “advanced level” CDs—which are pushed on the unsuspecting customer with extremely manipulative (again, in my opinion and values) long-form sales letters sent to your home weekly. Since the effect of the CDs fades unless the “carrier frequency” is lowered, Harris hooks customers on getting an ever-stronger dose of his push-button Zen drug. (Harris has a different opinion of course, which is that each level pushes you to adapt to higher levels of chaos that are then integrated into higher orders of integrated complexity.)

Bill Harris’ long-form sales letter on his Centerpointe.com website is designed to give you your first hit for free, getting you into his sales cycle. The whole sales letter is geared to convince you to sign up for a “free” CD sample of his method. (UPDATE 12/29/2009: the other “call to action” on his sales page is to buy the 1st level of his program, Awakening Prologue, for $179.) But here’s the catch—as discussed in this excellent blog post from Mind Tweaks, Harris’ free sample uses the binaural beats to entrain your brain into a relaxed and suggestible state while he gives a sales pitch for his product! As the author at Mind Tweaks has written…

If the entrainment/suggestion combo doesn’t work, then no harm done, but the product itself is useless.

If the entrainment/hypnotic suggestion combo does work, then isn’t it unethical to use it in advertising the product?

The higher levels of Holosync include personalized affirmations recorded in your own voice, which Harris says are more effective using binaural beats because the binaurals make you more suggestible. Other proponents of brain entrainment technology also say that brain entrainment increases suggestibility.

“The Used Car Salesman of Spirituality”

Someone I know online called Harris “the used car salesman of spirituality,” and a former colleague of mine has taken a ride on what he said I think I recall him saying was Harris’ private jet—paid for by his push-button Zen customers. (UPDATE 12/29/2009: I’ve heard from another source that Harris does not in fact own a jet, but is a private pilot, so my first source was incorrect. UPDATE #2: An even more reliable source who wishes to remain anonymous has confirmed that Bill Harris owns an LLC that owns a plane, and this plane is chartered only for Bill Harris and his guests. Here is the plane records. Estimated operating costs are $250,000/year.)

Others see Harris as a personal development leader and spiritual teacher who has an “ability to explain difficult subjects in a way that makes them easy to understand.” I find it easy to understand (in retrospect after becoming one of his customers myself) that Bill Harris greatly exaggerates what his product can do (at least in my personal experience and in the reports of others I have talked to and read online) in an effort to sell it at unreasonably high prices (compared to competitors products like BWGen—a free binaural beat software program—and NeuroProgrammer 2, $45 brain entrainment software with many programs included), but this doesn’t seem to be something Harris can explain away easily. Instead, Harris viciously attacks anyone who criticizes his aggressive marketing, claiming that ““Selling spirituality” is not a problem.” (Indeed, his sending me a cease and desist letter as his first communication with me about this article is also an example of his approach that I’ve observed with dealing with unwanted feedback.) Questioning his marketing practices means you have an “anti-marketplace shadow,” which seems to imply that if we did all enough therapy, the whole world would become free-market libertarians! At least we can both agree with this statement from Harris:

The whole New Age movement, though, has a shitload of shadows about morality, integrity, money, race, political correctness, and a lot of other topics. That’s why many New Age people are immoral, out-of-integrity, poor, racist, and arragant [sic].

…although I think Mr. Harris doesn’t realize that he is the New Age. The movie The Secret epitomizes the New Age, making Bill Harris a New Age Superstar. (I should add that I too am part of the New Age in many ways as well, having read many personal development books, engaged in meditation, etc., although I don’t think “shadows” are things we can get rid of as long there is any “light.”)

Harris’ New Age marketing partner James Ray (who is fond of using Quantum Physics metaphors for teaching Midwestern soccer moms the secret to making ungodly sums of money) required that his Spiritual Warrior participants purchase “Awakening Prologue,” the first level of Harris’ Holosync program, at a cost of $175 each (according to page 7 of the Spiritual Warrior Participant guide and also this reporting from Cassandra Yorgey). This required purchase was in addition to the $9,695 price for the deadly 5-day workshop—not including room, board, travel, and the $250 Peruvian ponchos they were coerced into purchasing for their 36 hour dry fast in the desert. 65 people x $175 each = $11,375 for Mr. Harris direct from James Arthur Ray’s affiliate sales (assuming no discount and that every participant purchased a copy). Has Mr. Harris refunded the dead and injured spiritual warriors? Considering he’s removed evidence of his association with Ray from his website and has made no public comment (that I’m aware of), I sincerely doubt it. (There is a chance that Harris didn’t even know about these sales of course, but that seems unlikely to me given the mutual testimonials and previous affiliate marketing from Ray.)

UPDATE 12/31/2009: Holosync was a required purchase because it was on the schedule 3x/day, at least according to these new publically released photos of the Day 3 schedule for James Ray’s Spiritual Warrior Event. I heard from one source recently that Harris recommends using Holosync for no more than 2x per day of 60 minutes, except at his own retreats. Did Harris approve of, disapprove of, or was he unaware of James Ray’s 3x/day protocol?

James Arthur Ray and Bill Harris, Two New Wage Gurus Supporting Each Other…Sorta

Before the James Ray Death Lodge, Bill Harris had a testimonial from James Arthur Ray on his sales page for Holosync, as you can see here in this cached version stored on the Internet Archive from August 4th, 2008 (scroll down about 1/3 and look on the right—the video in archive.org doesn’t work unfortunately). Here’s a quote from Ray’s testimonial:

“I can guarantee you whether you’re a beginner, or whether you’re advanced in that process or practice, [Centerpointe's] technology is absolutely phenomenal. I personally use it on a daily basis and it has helped me take my personal meditation practice to a whole new height.”

—James Ray
Star of the hit movie The Secret
World Famous Personal Growth Guru

With a guarantee like that from a suspected homicidal guru and master of hyperbole, it’s no wonder James Arthur Ray’s testimonial has mysteriously disappeared from the Centerpointe.com sales page.

Still on the web however is a video of Bill Harris giving a testimonial for Ray on James Ray’s YouTube channel. In this video, Harris calls James Arthur Ray “the genuine article” and a “master of many different disciplines,” and also emphasizes that Ray “knows how to make money”:

James Arthur Ray’s method of making money is to keep people in a large room for hours at a time with no breaks, using every tactic of coercive persuasion known to man to force people to buy his outrageously priced workshops. (To Harris’ credit, perhaps he didn’t know this when he partnered with Ray in selling Holosync…but then I wonder why Harris has been silent about this deadly event?) For $9,695, you could attend nearly 70 Holotropic Breathwork workshops (a powerful psychological technique Ray used without training or certification), and infinite sweat lodges—since Native Americans don’t charge for them. Now that’s what I call abundance!

The Training Liars Club: “Transforming Lies into Profit since 2001″

This video testimonial has the same background as the since-removed testimonial from Ray for Holosync. Both were likely filmed at a “Transformational Leadership Council” event, which should perhaps be renamed the “Training Liars Club,” given the misleading promises of its members and their marketing (again, in my opinion).

The TLC is an exclusive invite-only club for Selfish Help Gurus and New Wage Hustledorks who meet at exotic locations to stroke each others’ egos and scheme about co-marketing ideas (hat tip to Cosmic Connie for these great phrases—I highly recommend her blog Whirled Musings). The Secret was filmed at TLC event in Aspen, Colorado. This popular new age infomercial was carefully crafted to appear like a respectable documentary, and indeed fooled Oprah and many in the New Age marketing demographic. In The Secret James Ray claims the Universe works like Aladin’s Lamp. Ray has indeed mastered the “discipline” of oversimplifying life and conning people:

Notably, I haven’t yet been able to find even one of the “leaders” in this group that have come out in support of Ray’s victims, or have even communicated public concern or confusion about the “death lodge.” I’m guessing this is because many of these self help “leaders” lead similar workshops to Ray’s Spiritual Warrior, with similar risks and long waivers with “death clauses” (although with probably less ruthlessness). Anti-cult forums like Rick Ross have hundreds of horror stories from such “Large Group Awareness Trainings,” showing consistent patterns of psychosis, suicide, divorce, bankruptcy, and other negative side-effects from such seminars. LGAT seminar leaders and staff often abandon or throw out participants that are experiencing psychosis from the overly intense exercises and seminar structure. While this doesn’t always happen, it does seem to be a pretty consistent pattern amongst at least some small percentage of LGAT seminar participants (from what I’ve observed personally and from reading on forums like Rick Ross). While I wouldn’t want to eliminate the self-help seminar industry, I do think this is a major safety concern for participants that is rarely addressed in a responsible manner (with a few notable exceptions).

I personally have seen people go through acute psychosis and mania and make really dumb major life changes after such weekend events—which are often encouraged by seminar leaders. In fact, Steve Pavlina says that his own recent “Conscious Growth Workshop” precipitated his separation from his wife Erin. Conscious growth in general often breaks up perfectly fine (and not so fine) committed relationships, something family therapists know but few seminar leaders seem to value or guard against. For instance, it is very common for seminar participants to hook up in hotel rooms during the workshop, having been blown wide open from the hundreds of hugs and sharing of intimate wounds with strangers (some meditation centers have rules against male-female interaction precisely because of this). (Again, this comes from my personal observations of attending workshops and speaking with those who have attended workshops.) These seminar teachers (that I’ve observed) almost never do followups, and when participants complain of negative side-effects they are usually scolded for “not taking 100% responsibility” (LGAT companies themselves almost never take responsibility). Further attempts at justice are met with high-powered legal teams, and settlements generally occur outside of court with gag orders to prevent bad PR. (I should mention that I don’t know anything specifically about Bill Harris’ seminars, and haven’t met anyone who’s attended.)

Bob Proctor, one of Ray’s mentors, is the only guru that has come out with any statement on the death lodge that I’m aware of, towing Ray’s PR line by saying “a lot of people are commenting about him [Ray] that don’t know him and weren’t there.” Nevermind the fact that many insiders who were there have made statements to the press about Ray’s apparently destructive and controlling sociopathic behavior that resulted in the deaths of 3 and injury of 18, and there at least three law suits pending in addition to the homicide investigation. Are these the kinds of “leaders” we want to be following? If some members of the TLC strongly disagree with James Ray’s behavior, they aren’t talking about it yet.

Does Holosync Even Work?

Holosync uses a simple protocol of brain entrainment using what are called binaural beats. There has been much discussion on brain entrainment forums as to whether Holosync’s protocol of decreasing frequency over time in low delta ranges actually works for it’s stated goals. Some have mentioned mild to extreme negative effects from listening to Holosync over time, a phenomenon Centerpointe refers to as “overwhelm,” and claimed to be a normal part of the process.

Michael Hutchison, author of Megabrain—a classic book on brain entrainment, biofeedback, and other mind hacking technologies—has been quoted as saying that the “overwhelm” that comes from listening to Holosync for the recommended 30-60 minutes a day is due to brain malfunction due to the ultra-low frequencies used (see this link). (UPDATE 12/30/2009: I found this link where someone has posted Bill Harris’ response to Hutchison’s claims about Holosync.) I am not a brain expert and can neither confirm nor deny this, but I do find it interesting. I know of at least one friend who uses Holosync who has said that the deeper levels are “really painful,” but he still continues to use it anyway. A competitor claims that the key to healing with sound is not low frequencies but high frequencies, and that in our modern world we are surrounded with rumbling low sounds that have damaged our hearing.

Some swear by Holosync of course, and perhaps they do experience meditation “deeper than a zen monk at the push of a button”—although no one I’ve personally talked to has claimed results in quite that language. Those whom I have talked with have usually expressed that aren’t quite sure if it works or not, but at least it gets them to meditate and relax more often. I think that’s a useful thing, but not worth multiple thousands of dollars in my opinion.

The more important question to me is why we tend to fall for short-cuts to enlightenment and success. Perhaps by exposing such gurus we can begin to see more clearly that success and the spiritual path really are hard work, take time, and don’t have any “secret” shortcuts.

Update 12/22/2009: I was just alerted to a Ning group that discusses Holosync. For more perspectives on this topic, you can go here.

Update: 12/30/2009: I found lots of other reviews and feedback on Holosync, both positive and negative. You can decide for yourself:

• Feedback on Holosync from the Integral Multiplex
• Holy Shit! I-I Endorses Holosync! from the Integral Multiplex
• Centerpointe Holosync – The Real Cost? from the StevePavlina.com forums
• Holosync Dangerous?? from the StevePavlina.com forums
• Centerpointe Research Institute listed on Quackwatch’s Questionable Organizations list
• Amazon.com reviews of Bill Harris’ book on Holosync, Thresholds of the Mind (7 of 21 mention something about the book, Bill Harris, or Centerpointe being heavy on the sales)

Also, check out this newly released image of the schedule for James Arthur Ray’s day 3 of the Spiritual Warrior Event. There are three 65 minute periods for Holosync meditation. What was James Ray’s relationship with Bill Harris and Centerpointe? Why won’t he talk about it like Stanislov Grof has talked about James Ray not being certified in Holotropic Breathwork?

Update 1/3/2009: Required listening! Interview with James “Death” Ray and Bill “Push-Button Enlightenment” Harris, still on the JamesRay.com servers. Quote:

“I’ve known James Ray for a while now, and he is a really, really remarkable person.” ~Bill Harris

Again, I must ask, why hasn’t Bill Harris said anything publicly about James Arthur Ray, post-death-lodge?

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What can we learn from this?

One thing we might conclude is that all spiritual teachers or personal development gurus are bad, and should be avoided. Or that James Arthur Ray specifically is a greedy, evil person. Or that the Law of Attraction and The Secret are total bullshit. And these would indeed be ways to read the situation that have some merit. I’ve been tending to take this more cynical view of personal development and spirituality lately.

But what if we read this event through the eyes of magick? James Ray claims lineage in the Western esoteric or occult tradition, so perhaps we could learn something interesting from reading this terrible event in this way that would deepen our understanding. Perhaps we could even find some ideas for moving forward in a positive new paradigm for personal development.

When I begin to think about the deaths of Ray’s seminar participants in this way, I find myself having a change of heart towards the man, far less cynical about his words and basic message while still holding him accountable for what transpired. Perhaps you will have a similar change of heart.

James Arthur Ray as Powerful Magician

From the magickal perspective, it’s not that James A Ray has been bullshitting us about a mythical Law of Attraction, but that he is indeed a powerful magician who attracted some very powerful, albeit unwanted results. We’d want to ask, “how did he attract this experience?” and “how can we protect ourselves from attracting similar experiences?”

We can see Ray as having successfully evoked the Warrior. The event was called the “Spiritual Warrior.” 15 tweets in 7 days (all since deleted, but captured here) mentioned death, the Warrior, or war, and 2 mentioned words and actions being congruent. A magician casts spells with his or her words and intent, thus influencing reality. Ray evoked the Warrior, and powerfully so. As he would say, “energy flows where attention goes.”

This is the power of Intent and Word, cultivated by magicians to influence reality. One could see this disaster as “the dark side of The Secret,” which is not just “negative thinking” but even positive intentions gone horribly wrong. Thus, positive thinking and intent are not enough if they lead to negative consequences. Indeed, Ray himself emphasizes that the results one brings about in life are what are most relevant to one’s spiritual progress. Therefore this result should be read as part of the whole of Ray’s spiritual/magickal attainment. Or as he said, “The kingdom of heaven/expansion is w/in. But it will always be measured w/out. Your results tell and [sic] interesting story…They tell the truth”.

Evoking the Warrior

What do Warriors do? They fight to protect nations. They kill other warriors, and sometimes civilians too. Sometimes they rape women, or burn buildings just because they are caught up in the trance of war. If we take him at his word, Ray was trying to bring out the good of the Warrior, to transform the hatred and violence of this archetype into positive, creative action—like a football game instead of a genocide. But while he powerfully evoked the Warrior, he foolishly overestimated his abilities to transform it into an ally, and instead unleashed the Warrior’s violence.

Stories of magicians often involve experiences of power combined with hubris. Icarus gained the magical power of flight, but flew too close to the sun and his wax wings melted, leading him crashing to his death. I hope for his sake that Ray learns to bounce.

Transformation Magick

One of the ultimate accomplishments of a magician is to be able to transform a demon into an ally. The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage is a complex, 6-month long ritual designed to gain the “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel,” and then using such an accomplishment to summon demons and transform them into allies. Similarly, the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Chöd involves summoning demons and transforming them into allies by feeding your body to the demons in a complex visualization, complete with chanting, drumming, and bells. (I was recently taught a very small chunk of a “simplified” Chöd practice and was totally overwhelmed by the complexity. I have a newfound respect for Tibetan practitioners!)

One could think of a demon as a negative habit or unwanted emotion at the personal level, or a general negative tendency at the collective level. Attempts at such transformation are a dangerous business, much cautioned about in both stories of magic and actual grimoires. Through humiliating failures, magicians (that survive) can learn humility with respect to the gods or archetypes, eventually gaining more mastery with the magick of transformation, but always with the knowledge of one’s limitations.

There Are No Accidents

In the magickal view, there are no accidents. Or as Ray said, “Evry [sic] stage of the cosmic process is absolutely necessary and leads to the perfection of the ultimate result.” Could it be that one spiritual purpose of this “Spiritual Warrior Event” is to give an opportunity to Mr. Ray to act with the honor of a samurai, taking 100% responsibility for not only the design of the workshop, but even for his evoking of the Warrior? I wouldn’t ask that Ray go as far as to commit seppuku, the ritualized suicide samurai warriors engaged in to atone for shameful behaviors. Just admit whatever wrongdoing is his, including the evoking of the Warrior and all consequences that followed, and deal responsibly with such consequences. We all make mistakes, even enormous ones.

Putting yourself out there in a way that takes risk is the first step of the warrior. Taking responsibility when you mess up is the second.

In Ray’s deleted tweets he wrote “Is how you live a reflection of how you talk?” and “Your actions speak louder than your words. A life of honor is living you [sic] values above and beyond your moods.” I would bet that Ray isn’t in the best of moods right now, but he can act with honor above and beyond anyway…if he so chooses. We all can, every time we make a mistake—big or small.

I imagine a spiritual warrior taking full responsibility—which might mean pleading guilty, serving time or paying off the lawsuit fully, asking for forgiveness from those affected and their families as well as God, and allowing this experience to change the way he does workshops. Prison was a transformative vessel for Malcolm X and others. 12-step-walking addicts understand their addiction to be the basis for a spiritual transformation. Or as Ray put it, “The esoteric traditions maintain that the “Philosophers Stone” (a metaphor for awakening) is ALWAYS found in a pile of dung.” I have found that to be true as well.

Good luck, Ray. May you take your own advice: “Its in your apparently darkest night that you find your greatest light”. I believe that to be true, and will hold that intention for you. And may we magicians and mystics all learn from your experience, such that we need not make the same mistakes.

A New Model of Magick

One final piece of advice: “Think about it. Growth doesn’t occur when you’re comfortable and always in agreement. It occurs when you wrestle w/your own world model”. Perhaps it’s time for a new model of magick and/or personal development that is sustainable and safe while still effective for transformation.

While I haven’t written as much about a new model, I have been pondering what one might look like. I have several examples in mind already of techniques and approaches, but no coherent framework that suits me yet. I hope to share some of my ideas and explorations, or even just some of my questions on this blog soon, so that we can discuss and debate these ideas together.

Many people began feeling ill after about two hours in the sweat box, emerging lightheaded and weak, said Verde Valley Fire District Chief Jerry Doerksen.

Two hours in a sweat lodge!? This is insane. (UPDATE: I’ve been informed–by my girlfriend–that 2 hours or even much longer is commonplace for sweats. I still think this is insane.) I remember doing a sweat with the Boy Scouts, and it was about 15 minutes before we got out and dumped ourselves with cold water. Ever spent 2 hours in a sauna with no break?

But this is the logic of these kinds of workshops–break you down to build you up. Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within is very similar–long hours, no breaks, constant full-on exercises. While there is usually no explicit instruction that you must remain with the group, the pressure to do so can be enormous even when way beyond your limits.

I’m guessing that these deaths and injuries were not a result of “carbon monoxide” (which tested negatively) but intense psychological pressure to remain in a dangerous situation far beyond the limits of safety and sanity.

I know several people who have gone to the hospital for various reasons after “large group awareness trainings” such as Ray’s “Spiritual Warrior Event.” Many people online have complained of received mild to moderate burns on their feet after Tony Robbins’ firewalk, for example. It’s time we brought these gurus to justice and demanded that personal change workshops be safe for all.

When something goes wrong in such a seminar due to it being overly intense and dangerous, usually the victims are blamed for “not taking 100% responsibility,” thus dodging the responsibility of the seminar leaders. Personally, I think we should hold James Arthur Ray 100% personally responsible for the death of these two seminar participants, up to and including going to jail.

Seminar leaders are responsible for making their workshops both effective and safe for all. There are many safe and gentle methods and techniques for powerful change that have little-to-no risk, and do not require having a breakdown in order to have a breakthrough. It is long past time that we put limits on dangerous techniques for change and promoted safe and effective ones.

UPDATE 6:56pm 10/9/09

James Ray has deleted all of his recent tweets that had to do with the Spiritual Warrior Event or death. I think these tweets are interesting and instructive, given the context. Luckily, they are all still available in search.twitter.com.

These were posted on JamesARay’s Twitter account before and during the Spiritual Warrior Event (shown from oldest to newest, the opposite order as to how things appear on Twitter):

James Arthur Ray has an opportunity in this terrible situation to be a spiritual warrior and take full responsibility. Rise up to the challenge, Mr. Ray. It’s time for a new paradigm in personal change workshops, don’t you think?

UPDATE #2, 7:57pm 10/9/09

The news is breaking all over the web. Here’s a great little piece about James’ Ray’s Death Lodge, where we learn that some of the participants lack health insurance. So in addition to the almost $10,000 ticket price, expect another $10,000 in medical bills. I smell class-action lawsuit.

Here’s a slideshow from ABC news in Arizona, with a recording of the 911 call, and a short video (upper right). Two people were not breathing, and then on a later call there were three people not breathing. Just awful. Why didn’t they catch this earlier?

$9695 each times 64 people = $620,480. James A Ray could have easily afforded to have medical staff on hand.

Here’s some sales copy from James A Ray’s site (before they take it down):

You’ll accelerate the releasing of your limitations and push yourself past your self-imposed and conditioned borders (no more coloring inside the lines)…

The excessive focus on pushing past your boundaries (treating inner objections as “resistance”) is in my opinion what creates the conditions for dangerous approaches to personal change.

You’ll define and enforce your own boundaries—without someone else telling you what they should be…

Clearly this did not happen on this retreat, or those who were feeling ill would have simply stepped out of the sweat lodge. The psychological pressure to conform is often enormous in such workshops, and individual boundary-setting is usually discouraged.

You’ll experience, at the spiritual level, the ancient methodologies of Samurai Warriors; and gain a true understanding of the authority and strength that come from a life of honor…

Again, this is an opportunity for James A Ray to act with honor in the face of death. Deleting Twitter posts to cover your tracks is a bad start. And the patriarchal hypermasculine metaphor of the samurai again shows its shadow in the death and injury of these workshop participants.

The investment is ONLY $9695 per person.

This was an advanced, 6-day seminar for people who had already attended one of James Arthur Ray’s introductory workshops. The structure appears to be the same as Tony Robbins’ workshops–get them in for free or cheap for the first seminar which is structured to be one big sales pitch for the very expensive advanced course. Caveat emptor!

UPDATE #3

Techcrunch has picked up the story, due to the issue of the deleted Tweets. I think we should read this as the Law of Attraction in action—dishonorable acts of cowardice actually attract more attention than transparency and honesty, a lesson for us all.

UPDATE #4

Please also read my followup post to this one, entitled The Dark Side of The Secret: Reading James Arthur Ray’s Sweat Lodge Disaster through a Magickal Lens.

UPDATE #5
The New York Times has picked up the story (requires login). Here’s a quote:

Joseph Bruchac, an expert on Native American traditions and author of “The Native American Sweat Lodge,” said that number far surpassed the 8 to 12 typically present at such a rite. “It means that all these people are fighting for the same oxygen,” he said.
…
Traditional lodges are usually made of willow branches and covered in canvas or animal skins, and are not meant to be air-tight. The authorities said that the lodge at Angel Valley was covered in plastic and blankets.
…
Questions have also arisen about the length of time the people were in the lodge — about two hours. A ceremony usually lasts no more than an hour, Mr. Bruchac said.

UPDATE #6

Wonderful news! This post has been linked to from Steve Pavlina’s forums by “Antarananda,” the very forums I was banned from (by Pavlina himself) for questioning the gurus. If anyone wants to log into the forums and thank Antarananda for me, I would very much appreciate that.

UPDATE #7

AOL has a new article giving some back story on the two who died. The woman, aged 38, “was an avid surfer and hiker who was ‘in top shape,’ took self-improvement seriously and had a passion for art, a family spokesman said.”

Some other relevant quotations from the article:

Nineteen other people were taken to hospitals, suffering from burns, dehydration, respiratory arrest, kidney failure or elevated body temperature. Most were soon released, but one remained in critical condition Saturday.

Brown had no pre-existing health conditions that would have kept her from participating in an otherwise safe activity, said cousin and family spokesman Tom McFeeley. That two people died and 19 others became ill at the Angel Valley Retreat Center indicates that “something went horribly wrong.”
…
Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh said Saturday that his detectives were focusing on self-help expert and author James Arthur Ray and his staff as they try to determine if criminal negligence played a role. Waugh said Ray refused to speak with authorities and has since left the state.

“We will continue this investigation down every road that is possible to find out if there is culpability on anybody relative to the deaths of these individuals,” Waugh said. He said it could be three to four weeks before they knew if criminal charges would be filed.
…
On Saturday, Amayra Hamilton said Ray has held the event at the resort for seven years, and there never have been any problems.
…
Every 15 minutes, a flap was raised to allow more volcanic rocks the size of cantaloupes to be brought inside.

Authorities said participants were highly encouraged but not forced to remain in the sweat lodge for the entire time.
…
The participants had fasted for 36 hours as part of a personal and spiritual quest in the wilderness, then ate a breakfast buffet Thursday morning. After various seminars, they entered the sweat lodge lightly dressed at 3 p.m.
…
Sheriff’s Lt. David Rhodes said authorities were checking whether there was a lag time between the first signs of medical distress and the emergency call.

I am especially concerned that participants had fasted for 36 hours and had just broken their fast. I recently tried fasting for 36 hours. The first 24 were wonderful, then I started going into a kind of toxic shock, feeling nauseous like I had the flu (which is apparently common), so I broke the fast at about 36 hours. I wasn’t ill, but it did take about 24 more hours to feel normal again. I would have had a very difficult time doing anything strenuous, let alone a two hour sweat. A friend who fasts regularly says that one’s first fast can be the most challenging, but that they can get easier over time. For anyone fasting for the first time, this fast alone could have been quite challenging. If it had only been a two hour sweat, the risks would have been greatly reduced.

And again, “highly encouraged” to stay within the sweat lodge is almost certainly an understatement of the intense psychological pressure most participants in such an event feel to conform to group norms. I think participants in seminars should be “highly encouraged” to speak up when they feel that a process is too much for them. In my direct experience on both my own path and in facilitating change with others, there is no sane reason to push yourself or anyone else so close to death in order to engage in conscious transformation.

UPDATE #8, 10/13/09
The NY Times has an update. Here are some relevant quotations:

Tom McFeeley, Brown’s cousin and family spokesman, called on Ray to assure that the participants ”were not mistreated and not put in a reckless situation.
…
McFeeley also said he is concerned that Ray exhibited a ”godlike complex” during the event that might have kept people from opting out of activities Ray acknowledged could cause ”physical, emotional, financial or other injuries.”

”We need to look at this way beyond the sweat lodge,” McFeeley said. ”If we could understand minute by minute what happened this week, I think we’ll get a much greater view on what kind of event this was and the level of danger that existed.”

This is exactly my concern as well. It’s not just the sweat lodge, but the intense days leading up to the lodge, as well as the meglomania that often occurs amongst such guru figures which leads to unsafe conditions. I’ve seen this again, and again, and again.

Fire department reports released Tuesday show the incident wasn’t the first involving a sweat lodge ceremony at the resort. Verde Valley Fire Chief Jerry Doerksen said his department responded to a 911 call in October 2005 about a person who was unconscious after being in a sweat lodge.

Angel Valley resort owner Amayra Hamilton confirmed that Ray was leading the sweat ceremony during the 2005 event. Ray’s spokesman declined to comment.

WOW! Ray almost killed somebody in 2005, but wasn’t stopped. This is exactly what I’ve been attempting to warn people about with my guru criticism on this blog and elsewhere.

Ray’s spokesman, Howard Bragman, has said Ray would speak when it’s appropriate. He declined Tuesday to address the Brown family’s concerns.

”The facts are going to come out,” he said. ”We’re not going to conduct our investigation in the media. We’re going to let the investigative bodies do their jobs.”

Ray is still not talking to police, nor the media, but gave a talk to 200 people (I’m guessing he’s trying to stay on his seminar schedule). He says he’s not going to conduct his investigation in the media, but won’t conduct his investigation with the police either. Again, what would a true spiritual warrior do, Mr. Ray?

A statement released by the family of Liz Neuman, who remains in critical condition at the Flagstaff Medical Center, said she is in a coma and doctors are working to stabilize damage to multiple organs

In addition to the other two dead, there is another woman in a coma!

Two others remained hospitalized. Fire officials say the victims exhibited symptoms ranging from dehydration to kidney failure after sitting in the sweat lodge.

Two dead, one in a coma, two more hospitalized. Do they have health insurance? Why kidney failure?

Officials say the sweat lodge, built specifically for the five-day retreat, lacked the necessary building permit.

UPDATE #9

Here’s a great 90 minute podcast about the event, with an interview with someone named Shawna who was there, helping with the fire (thanks to commenter “Singularity” for the link).

Here are my rough notes from the podcast (so you don’t have to listen to the full 90 minutes unless you want to):

Shawna has done many sweats in the past. She was invited to help with the fire for the sweat. When Shawna arrived at the location, her friend who had invited her was very upset and said “something went terribly, terribly wrong.” She ran to the sweatlodge. There were people lying in the dirt and sand around the lodge, with other people attending to them.

There was a woman in a golf cart to take her to her lodging area because she was cold and they wanted to get her into her sleeping bag. The woman started to speak in a very bizarre way, and had a very blank look, went into seizures with foam coming out of her mouth. (FROM DUFF: This is exactly what I’ve observed from someone very close to me after an overly intense personal growth workshop.)

A paramedic came to get her vitals. Shawna spent an hour or two holding her down so that she didn’t hurt herself or pull out the IV the paramedics put in there.

2 hours later, the other people still looked like they had suffered from physical trauma, shivering in blankets.

One woman told Shawna her story, she passed out in the sweat lodge. She was in the very back of the sweat lodge. Most of the people who ended up with a severe trauma were in the back of the sweat lodge.

When the door was being opened in the lodge to put in more rocks, air rushes in. She was so far in the back and the door was so small, she never felt any relief, no fresh air. This is very unusual, probably unintended. Usually opening the door, everyone feels some fresh air before the next round. She wondered if she was even breathing any oxygen by the end.

2 days prior attendees had gone into a vision quest where they were encouraged to fast and not drink any water. Sedona is a desert, an extremely dry climate. Participants were already dehydrated and then sweating it out.

That morning they had a breakfast and encouraged to hydrate, had about 4 hours to rehydrate and get nutrition in them. In Shawna’s opinion, the sweat was way too long, should be 4 rounds not 6.

People were throwing up water.

Shawna prepared to leave, Sheriff asked her to stay and took a small statement.

She shared with her husband that she was seeing people dead, passed out, etc. when “relief was on the other side of that door.” One man said “yea, I wimped out, I got out on the 5th door…I wasn’t playing full on.” This man had shamed himself, felt like he was letting Ray down. Shawna defended him as maintaining his own limits, speaking up to authority. This man questioned Ray’s authority and took care of himself, Shawna told him. And then he took that in and said “and thank God I did that, because I was well enough to carry the other people out.”

(FROM DUFF: Tony Robbins uses the phrase “play full out,” and his community enforces conformity towards excessive personal boundary crossing with this phrase.)

Many people had passed out in the sweatlodge.

The whole point of the conversation is checking in with yourself in any situation where there is an authority figure, says the show host.

When Shawna told her husband had happened, he said, “well, I know that you would have questioned Ray” she started crying and said “would I have? Would I have tried to impress him by ‘playing full on’?”

Shawna said she personally might have been one of those people who did not take care of herself. Shawna is a therapist, a motivational speaker, and (until recently) was a fan of James Ray. Shawna was humbled to be completely and totally responsible to the people she serves.

Shawna still recommends all the gurus CDs and books and seminars, and encourages others to self-searching, but does not “allow someone to have my answers.”

One of James Ray’s quotes is “your life begins at the end of my comfort zone.” Shawna still believes this, and people got pushed too far. Shawna draws the line with pushing myself, not for other people’s approval.

James Ray is a good example of what to look for. His message was “you’re not going to get this message somewhere else,” didn’t give credit to other teachers.

Power implies responsibility. Shawna can feel judgment from James Ray.

Shawna interviews Jim Tree, a Native American man who does ceremonies. Many reactions from the community–not a sweat lodge ceremony, but a huge aberration from what a Native American sweat lodge is like. He’s never seen more than 20 people at a lodge.

Years of training to be sensitive to everyone in the lodge. Sweat lodge construction has certain materials–red willow branches for frame. There is a reason for this. Plastic tarps trap in gases.

Time to talk about sweats, results, etc. What is this event/ceremony? What is the fruit? Rebirth, cleansing, regeneration.

We do fast the day of the sweat, but don’t fast from water. Start hydrating all day of sweat.

“This was a recipe for disaster.”

“Usually people prepare for a year for a vision quest.”

The elders have been warning people. Apparently the elders went to Ray and confronted him and told him that he shouldn’t be doing this, that “you’re hurting people.” Most every time people have been nauseous and sick for the six or seven years Ray has been doing this event.

If you paid some money for a weekend seminar and they said you’d be a Jewish rabbi after the weekend ended, you’d find it ridiculous. We sample all these different nature-based religions, starving for spirituality (including Native Americans on the reservation). When we find something that feeds that need, we jump right into it without questioning.

The number one thing about a sweatlodge is that you humble yourself. You crawl on the ground to get it. If the lodge leader is exhibiting a bit ego, that’s a warning sign.

“We do not charge for our ceremonies.” The person doing that is supported within native culture–fed, travel paid for, etc.

“You physically cannot build a lodge that big out of the materials we use.”

Our people have been taught to keep their mouths shut. Less than 20 years ago, it was illegal to do a sweatlodge. Before that, medicine people were put in an insane asylum. “It’s not that time anymore.”

Jim Tree encourages people to turn this event into an opportunity to talk openly about sweat lodges, explore the significance of all the aspects of the ritual, etc.

Shawna answers questions: there was a nurse there, she was outside the lodge. Shawna asks if anyone took a psych or health evaluation on anybody? She heard in return from a woman was her first and last name and her date of birth, so probably not.

Caller had been to other James Arthur Ray events, this was the final event in a series of seminars.

Jim Tree—3 types of people shouldn’t be in a lodge: pregnant, high blood pressure, heart history. The only way you can tell is do a health history. Also, woman who died was in perfect physical health.

Jim was stopped from doing lodges after a year from the elders and trained more to sense the condition of people in the lodge.

During the 5th or 6th run, people were calling out to be let out and were denied. “That would never happen” in Jim’s tradition.

Pouring the water is gently sprinkled on the stones to precisely control it. Ray poured water from the bucket directly onto the stones, creates an uncontrollable amount of heat.

Jim would be glad to have Ray call him and talk to him about all of this.

Shawna originally saw James Ray on the Secret, used “the secret” to meet James Ray, met him 3 weeks later at a restaurant.

In his sales letter, Pavlina attempts to distinguish Pagan’s pick-up advice from that of “pick-up artists,” but the truth is that Pagan put himself on the pick-up artist guru map with his interview series “Interviews with Dating Gurus” that interviewed all the other pick-up artists which Pagan speaks very highly of, including our confused friend “Tyler Durden.” (UPDATE 9/21/2009: The Interviews with Dating Gurus series is included as an opt-out addition at $19.95 per month, with a free first month when purchasing Man Transformation.) Pavlina writes…

Man Transformation has a very empowering attitude throughout. This program is about men teaching men how to be more successful with women, not by tricking or deceiving women but by learning how to become more authentic from the inside out. [emphasis mine]

There’s my favorite word again! Of course to be authentic, you have to do it in the right, socially-prescribed, guru-approved way. You must be authentic like a “real man” is authentic, as in Pagan’s bonus DVD “The Real Man’s Guide to Money and Success.” Clearly you are not a “real” man unless you value—and have—lots of money and worldly success. To not be rich and powerful is to be emasculated, to be a woman.

Also a bonus is the original Double Your Dating eBook, where Pagan writes that powerful women are “secretly wanting a man that is in control of himself, his reality, and them” (pg 13 of the 2003 edition). It’s hard not to read “empowering” as clearly “power-over” in this context.

Pick-up artist Eben Pagan made his internet millions explicitly teaching men that women secretly want a man who is in control of them, and teaches tactics to secretly control women through sophisticated psychological manipulation. Why is this not regularly questioned by conscious people in our personal development community when we claim to investigate “limiting beliefs” and clarify our values on a regular basis? Do we all value patriarchy so highly that we’ve never examined the limitations of these beliefs and values?

Indeed, I think that there are many unquestioned gurus, many limiting beliefs that we do not seek to examine, and many values embedded within personal development teachings that we do not make explicit. In particular, we fail to examine those gurus, beliefs, and values that are held by those in positions of power: those of the wealthy, famous, and powerful. For what many of us are actually seeking through personal development is not maturity, nor wisdom, not true liberation nor even thinking for ourselves, but dominance over others, celebrity, and personal wealth—at any cost. Our personal development quests are far too often just quests to glorify our own egos, to bind ourselves further in the name of freedom, to worship our selves in our religion of one.

Think For Yourself DVD Course: Only $997 While Supplies Last!

Within our personal development community, Eben Pagan is always revered. Almost no one questions, “hey, do you think that his clearly anti-feminist view and the dating techniques that follow from it perpetuate violence, oppression, and objectification of women? And how might this view of women be related to Pagan’s extremely expensive and aggressive marketing systems that he uses to sell this ‘dating advice’? Does he believe customers secretly want to be controlled and dominated too, thus justifying overpricing and over-hyping one’s products to maximize his own selfish gain (because after all, that’s what customers really want)?” Perhaps this would be excusable if it were still 1950. But more and more, world-traveling college graduates are becoming personal development bloggers and selling internet marketing courses, yet nobody in our circles knows of sociology or feminism?

Eben Pagan has successfully created a (very slick) image for himself as a role model for how to be a man, and as a proponent of “conscious capitalism” (as Tony Robbins said in an interview with Pagan). A generation of men and women who are desperately seeking ways to navigate the ever-more-complex worlds of gender, relationship, and career are taking his advice on everything from dating, to how to structure their workdays for maximum productivity, and even how tall of a desk to purchase. (By the way, I used to co-host a podcast called Conscious Business. Mr. Pagan would not have made even the longest of potential guest lists.)

Pagan’s claim to fame is that his information product businesses—mostly patriarchal dating advice—make $20 million a year. With his 80 remote employees, this actually isn’t much money—it’s a medium-sized business. The self-image he projects is equivalent to that of Bill Gates, but even in the best possible light, Pagan is a small-time CEO of a medium-sized marketing company.

Eben Pagan and Tony Robbins are in the same Axis of Marketing Evil, hence their “friendship” (Robbins, like many charismatic famous people, uses the word “friend” as a namedropping device to associate himself with other famous people—who knows if they actually have any relationship beyond a single phone call). They both regularly use deception and confusion in the name of trust and authenticity in order to sell overpriced products. Pagan writes and speaks under the pseudonym “David DeAngelo,” chosen because the information product marketers believe alliteration sells more ebooks. Pagan has been teaching others this path to “success” with $3000+ marketing courses. Since Pagan sells such high priced courses exclusively through his own confusing websites, they get far less review and critique. You can’t find any of his books or DVDs on Amazon (except a handful of used copies), making it difficult for consumers to judge whether the products are worthwhile, and removing all public criticism. Also, charging a lot for a product with manipulative marketing creates cognitive dissonance, reducing critique and creating cultish ingroups and vicious but uninformed outsiders. (UPDATE 9/19/2009: The terms of service for “Man Transformation” prohibit reselling the product, or even watching it with a friend! This of course makes it nearly impossible to have any kind of critique or intelligent dialogue, thus minimizing consumer protection.)

Perhaps Pagan would say that we don’t question such gurus because we are castrated men who bow obediently to our masters? If only we had more expensive courses on how to be a “real man,” then we would have the balls (or ovaries) to question authority and think for ourselves! P.S.: Click here to sign up for my Think For Yourself DVD Course!

Since Pagan’s courses are so expensive and not available through regular distribution channels, no critic can say for sure whether his products continue to explicitly promote patriarchal values. But I can say that Pagan still has his original ebook “Double Your Dating” on the market, so he certainly has not recanted any of his old values publicly, unlike some other reformed pick-up artist gurus.

Psychopaths as Teachers of Right Living

Other “conscious capitalists” include folks like T. Harv Ecker, who teaches the cultivation of greed and the celebration of hegemony in his “free” introductory workshop (which is structured as a highly manipulative pitch for his very expensive advanced workshops). Ecker encourages workshop participants to scream things like “I love rich people!” as part of developing an irrationally exuberant “money blueprint” that supposedly leads to personal wealth.

Ecker is celebrated as a leader for right living and a “conscious” attitude towards money in many personal development circles. Almost nobody asks, “hey, might this excessive focus on wealth-seeking be unnecessary for or even contrary to happiness, as numerous positive psychology studies have shown and all religious traditions have emphasized? And might encouraging the poor to celebrate the rich solidify oppressive socioeconomic structures, keeping the poor from effectively organizing? And might this intense competition for limitless personal wealth—which Pagan also encourages—be in part fueling ecological destruction?”

An astute friend of mine went to Ecker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar and caught him lying about something. He confronted him about it, and Ecker was entirely interested in how my friend caught him, showing no remorse whatsoever. In our culture, the psychopath—with his superficial charm, grandiose sense of self-worth, manipulative behavior, and lack of remorse—is celebrated as the charismatic and caring leader, who is just here to help (for a price). I know a woman who has gone through all of Ecker’s trainings, including his “trainer trainer” training, and sadly she is now clearly much more poor and confused about money now more than ever.

And of course, we have con men like Tony Robbins, John Reese, and Frank Kern teaching people how to “authentically” manipulate and deceive customers to gain their “trust,” and almost nobody asks “hey, is lying to people really the best way to cultivate trust and authenticity in business? Is trying harder and being more certain of your success the best way to deal with a product that didn’t work? And is modeling the manipulative marketing techniques of known scammers really such a good model for the future of business online, or will this destroy all trust in the marketplace?”

Don’t Question My Limiting Belief!

Why don’t we ask these obvious questions? One reason is that when one questions in this way, almost immediately some people respond with one of two criticisms: either “who appointed you as the ultimate judge of morality?” or some form of “it’s easy to be a critic/why not say something positive.” (Ironically, almost none of the respondents seem to realize that their criticism of criticism is contradictory.) These responses show the social rules of personal development culture—questions of ethics, sociology, and critical thinking are not allowed when they question the norms set by the power elites.

The wonderful focus on positive thinking within personal development gets corrupted into silencing dissenting views. For all the talk of finding your own way and thinking for yourself within personal development literature, there are very clear (if unstated) rules about what constitutes acceptable dialogue. We speak of questioning limiting beliefs and finding your own values and authentic style, but if you question the accepted beliefs or have differing values from the libertarian and patriarchal, your questioning and values will not be tolerated. Our “authenticity” and self-inquiry only skims the surface, never deeply questioning the values and power structures of society. Certainly criticism can easily devolve into cynicism. Ironically, this is more likely to happen within groups that do not allow for criticism, for when criticism is not heard and integrated, the individual often feels powerless and gives in to cynicism.

Of course, outside of our circles, there are numerous dismissive articles in the NY Times and elsewhere about our gurus and practices. Outsiders have no trouble at all seeing some of the more obvious problems of personal development and self-help.

Only when we open to questioning our gurus and collectively limiting beliefs can we find anything resembling the kind of freedom we claim to be seeking. If we are to truly live in integrity with our claims to radical self-inquiry, of finding our values and authentic selves, then we must also question the power elites within our own communities. We must find channels for much more wide-open dialogue where such questioning is not silenced with aggressive demands for positivity, or else resign ourselves to be slaves of the unquestioned gurus.

UPDATE 9/21/2009: Steve Pavlina emailed me upset about this article and a post I put in his forum. He banned me from his forum and deleted a post of mine that linked here that he considered “link baiting” (I thought my post was respectful and professional). My post was within the guidelines of his explicit forum rules, which I had read before posting (this was not my first post to the StevePavlina.com forums). If I could do it again, I would not have included any links in my forum post, now that I know that this is an unwritten rule of his forum.

I was surprised I was banned for life with no warning, but of course Mr. Pavlina is entitled to ban people from his forum for whatever reason he chooses. In my response to his email, I apologized for my link. The contents of this blog post seemed to have upset Mr. Pavlina, so I wanted to clarify a couple of things just in case anyone else interprets this post similarly.

I did not mean to insinuate that Pavlina engages in manipulative marketing like Pagan, Robbins, Kern, and Reese. Pavlina’s sales pages for affiliate products have always been very straightforward and honest, something I appreciate about how he does business.

I do not know Pavlina’s views of women, dating, or relationships as he hasn’t written much of anything about these things on his blog. I was not criticizing his views of women, since I don’t know what they are. Pavlina claims that Man Transformation has only a few speakers that one could consider patriarchal, and for the most part is about building up men and not tearing women down. (This could still be problematic in terms of promoting patriarchy if it is about cultivating dominance by becoming “alpha,” however. Benevolent and “authentic” patriarchy is still patriarchy.)

Again, I can’t speak to the specifics of this product at all, as it is far too expensive to me to justify purchasing a review copy. I am more concerned that Pagan continues to sell all of his old products, including the ones that clearly promote patriarchal and even misogynist values, and even includes one such product as a bonus to this DVD set, and another set of interviews as an opt-out subscription. This indicates to me that Pagan’s current views are in all likelihood still consistent with his old products that were explicitly about sexual dominance of women through the use of sophisticated psychological tactics. I am also very concerned with the manner in which these products are sold (manipulative marketing, confusing private websites, no-reselling policies, etc.) which are bad for consumer protection and public debate of the materials. I am most concerned about power and patriarchy, and what happens when we lack public debate about them within our personal development circles.

I should also explicitly state that I often use the 1st-person plural “we” etc. when criticizing a view because I am included in my critique to some extent. So when I stated things like “Our personal development quests are far too often just quests to glorify our own egos, to bind ourselves further in the name of freedom, to worship our selves in our religion of one” that includes my own personal development quests, my own binding myself in the name of freedom, etc. that I have been guilty of again and again! This is the all the more reason for having an open dialogue instead of a closed guru-worshiping community. I understand if Pavlina does not want to have such an open dialogue on his website.

Pavlina is of course entitled to his own opinion, which he posted today as the very long article Free Speech in Online Communities: The Delusion of Entitlement. I am concerned that this rant will increase cultish groupthink in the StevePavlina.com forums, for even fewer will risk pissing off Mr. Pavlina for threat of being permanently banned without warning.

Robbins, who has over 1.2 million followers on Twitter, has recently released a couple of videos on his “training blog” interviewing internet marketers Frank Kern and John Reese. What most people watching these videos don’t realize is that they are highly-manipulative advertisements, almost certainly for an upcoming get-rich-quick-on-the-internet product–the field of expertise of both Reese and Kern. (8/30/2009–Confirmed: this is for a $67/month CD, DVD, and manual course called “The New Money Masters.” Also confirmed is that Irwin F. Kern (aka “Frank Kern”) was successfully sued by the FTC in 2003 for $634,222.45 for running an illegal chain marketing scheme on the internet called ”Instant Internet Empires.”) (Update 9/10/2009: From 1:00-1:20 in the first video, a new segment has been spliced in where Robbins mentions the product. This was NOT in the original version for the initial product launch, and no note has been included as to the change, thus attempting to rewrite history. The original videos and comments are still on hidden blog pages not accessible from the main http://tonyrobbinstraining.com, but two new pages have been added with the new, spliced videos. The original comments included many people asking what these videos were about, for there was no mention of a product.)

Creating hype before the launch of an information product is a cutting-edge sales tactic that Frank Kern and John Reese both promote in their products. Here’s how they do it:

Release “free” videos of “authentic conversations” that aren’t apparently about any product, identifying a problem and creating buzz while distracting from any critical faculties a customer might have because you don’t realize you are being sold. This also creates a kind of guilt-tripping response in the customer if you give away a lot of free content, making the potential customer feel like they owe the seller for being so “generous.”

Then sell a very expensive product with a flurry of hype and a limited quantity available, increasing the sense of scarcity. This eliminates any possible conversation between customers as well as feedback to the company, as there isn’t enough time for anyone to discover if the product lives up to the hype before they are “sold out” (which is arbitrary for information products, as more 1’s and 0’s are of negligible cost).

Selling a very expensive product and creating the conditions for it to sell out quickly reduces the public conversation around it for customers will be less likely to share it with others, due to how much they paid for it. This creates cultish ingroups due to lack of feedback, further entrenching customers to purchase additional products, and reduces effective criticism for critics can’t know exactly what the products are. Often the marketers will take down their sales pages and videos afterwards, which further reduces potential criticism, and checking hyped-up promises against delivered products. This is bad for consumers and bad for business (unless you only care about your own bottom line).

Robbins’ “reality infomercial” videos celebrate the get-rich-quick gurus John Reese and Frank Kern as heroes. The videos reframe the fact that their products don’t work as the fault of customers not having enough “certainty” and “not taking action.” This is a tactic for distracting from the impossibilities of everyone “succeeding” in an extremely crowded make-money-online market, and distracting from the highly manipulative sales tactics Kern, Reese, Robbins, and others use to sell information products on the internet. Interestingly, nowhere in the videos is there any mention of what Kern and Reese actually sell! (Update 8/30/2009: Kern and Reese both sell internet marketing courses that claim to help you make lots of money, at least one of which has been determined to be a “chain marketing scheme” by the FTC.)

Let’s look at the specific tactics used so far in this campaign:

First off, Robbins sent an email with “IMPORTANT” in the title, with a link to his video. To whom, Mr. Robbins, is this video important? Why is your sales cycle important to me?

If you pay very close attention at the beginning in this first video, Robbins implies that the three men were spontaneously getting together to chat, and says “we might as well film it.” Then why is there “spontaneously” a shot of the car driving down the road (camera #1), and two more cameras “spontaneously” in the backseat of the car ready to film before Kern calls Robbins to meet?

This is the first of many bold-faced lies in the Robbins’ video. If he had not lied about the obviously planned nature of this advertisement, perhaps the rest of it would be more trustworthy. Ironically, the tactics employed attempt to convey trust by portraying this advertisement as a spontaneously recorded conversation, thus bypassing critical faculties that consumers have when in sales situations.

By not yet speaking about a product in this video, it further appears to not be an advertisement. A previous video on Robbins’ “ultimate relationship blog” (video has been removed) included a deep male voice saying “this is NOT an advertisement” even though it clearly was an advertisement. The video included a long sample from his Ultimate Relationship Program and then encouraged you to buy it! I replied to Robbins’ video producer on Twitter after he posted the video and told him such, and he disagreed vehemently with me, justifying his marketing doublespeak by saying even though it asked you to buy the product at the end, the video included so much content it couldn’t possibly be considered an advertisement. Perhaps they took in my feedback for this latest scam–but rather than being honest, they became even more deceptive.

In the first video, Reese and Kern apparently are seeking Robbins’ “help” with a problem they have in their business, i.e. that their customers are lazy and negative and don’t follow through after purchasing their online marketing products. The real problem is that they don’t have a legitimate business but a get-rich-quick scam. Reese and Kern sell people information on how to manipulate people to buy things, just like they do to their own customers. People buy their expensive products (Kern’s go from $2400-$3000) under high-pressure with implied promises of making $1 million in a day as Reese did. Only afterwards do customers realize they would have to become a narcissistic psychopath in order to pull off the marketing tactics Reese and Kern are encouraging.

The customers’ inner conflict–i.e. feeling ripped off and manipulated, being blamed for not following through, subconsciously feeling like the persuasion tactics they are learning in the overpriced course are unethical, etc.–is what prevents action (and thank God, or we’d have even more psychopathic marketers on our hands). Even when they do take action, their “success” at perpetuating the scam depends on an enormous amount of luck in the increasingly crowded get-rich-quick make-money-online marketplace. These guys are selling $3000 lottery tickets, and saying that everyone can win if they just believe and try hard enough. Like real lottery tickets, this kind of scam amounts to “a tax on the poor,” playing on the desperation of the oppressed, but at least lottery proceeds often go in part to public projects.

This “spontaneously recorded conversation” frames Reese and Kern as good guys who want to help their customers succeed so much that they’ve called on motivational master Robbins for help, thus turning all criticism of their products into a problem of motivation, which can be solved with their new product (which isn’t being sold yet but no doubt will be in just a few short weeks, both building anticipation–one of Kern’s and Reese’s tactics–and also perpetuating the idea that they are doing this for free just to help, i.e. that they aren’t selling you anything). UPDATE: the product launched on 9/1/09, and as of 9/2/09 seems to still be available for sale. I guess his tactics don’t work as well as he’d like them to either, as Robbins said “they’re probably going to be gone in a few hours.”

By launching a product with only a short window of time to buy, these “businessmen” create intense pressure and prevent all customer feedback. Nobody can buy the product and give feedback to other customers if there is only a short window before they are “sold out.” In the second video, Reese says he made $100,000 in 18 minutes and then shut it down–could a customer possibly have warned another potential customer that the product didn’t live up to it’s promises in that amount of time? This scarcity tactic both creates mania to buy the items, as well as prevent any customer dialogue, preventing any sort of customer protection against fraud. If Apple hypes it’s products and ends up selling something crappy there is proper recourse in the marketplace. Not so for internet marketers. Another part of the strategy is to have enormous numbers of affiliate partners. This floods Google searches for the product and it’s creators with praise, thus crowding out potential criticism & upset customers. The entire launch strategies of these kinds of overhyped “information products” are designed to maximize hype and minimize criticism and customer protection.

I scanned the comments of the first video when there were a mere 475. Nearly all were overwhelmingly positive, an indication of the sorry state of personal development dialogue. Here are some particularly interesting ones that were not totally positive:

Tony Robbins supporter claims he can control hurricanes:

…I can shatter world records in Martial Arts 4x the hand speed of Bruce Lee…

I can heal a person from anywhere in the planet. And I have.

I also preformed 23 Hurricane Dissipations in a Row. Including Category 4 Hurricane Bill…

4 Tornado Total Dissipations.

100++ Thunder Storm Dissipations.

…

- [NAME REMOVED]

…

“Discoverer and Master of the Grandest Divine Secret Since The Birth Of Mankind”

I met many at Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within seminar who thought differently than me in ways like this. One volunteer “crew member” told me and my friend with a straight face that a Big Mac took more calories to digest than were in one. I looked at him and said “that’s just not true.” He seemed confused by my response.

Man $10,000 in debt from online marketing courses asks to be further indoctrinated into online marketing cult and deny feedback from sane people:

I have ordered both personal power and the edge, and have made outstanding strides in all areas of personal development. That being said financial success has been the one area to elude me. I tried a few internet businesses all that left me was $10,000 in debt as the companies were dishonest. I have given in another try with a website called … selling self-improvement ebooks. My question was how do you keep the sense of belief when the outsie world just shows you dishonest people and faliure. So when you addressed that question directly I almost fell off my chair. I just finished reading ‘Creative Visualization’ and am comitted to double my efforts at keeping my goal in mind and emotionaly attact myself to it as much as possible

Man who “falls victim to unrealistic sales pitches” doesn’t see that he is falling victim to Tony Robbins unrealistic sales pitch:

You guys rock! Tony, I used to see your castle up on the hill in Del Mar when I lived in La Jolla, and think, “that’s my goal”. You’ve been an inspiration since your first book. Since getting into IM, Frank and John have been added to the top of my list – you guys are my trifecta of inspiration and motivation. Thanks for the great video!

It’s definitively difficult to sort through the crap of informational products out there, to discern the true gems, and I can see how (myself included) fall victim to unrealistic sales pitches and the blows to your psyche with each failure.

I agree you have to have “certainty” – if not in the product, than in yourself. I continue to make it a goal that anything I do or endorse is of high value and quality, to set high standards, have solid ethics, and not to be a peddler of junk. And I know that if I maintain my path, I WILL succeed.

The definition of insanity is buying internet marketing courses again and again and expecting a different result (i.e. money):

Hi,

I spend over $1,000 per week on information on I.M. I probably use about 10% of it. John Reese is one of the very best I.M.

I like how you modul yuor-self on the very best and follow them. Maybe I should heed this?

Results minimal from courses from all three men:

“I have to admit I have a product from all three of you and guess what my results have been minimal. I always wanted the success to come to me and let me tell you, it hasn’t. Well my why in life has changed as well as my mindset. I am believing in myself, I am beginning to succeed more in my head first, beginning to see the success and now beginning to realize it.”

Many intelligent people are falling for these master manipulators. Please let other people know about this article before Robbins, Kern, and Reese launch their latest scam. And please download the first video here so that there will be a record after their launch: http://s3.amazonaws.com/trvideos/video1d_small.flv

A modest amount of money and success is an important thing. Personal motivation, a positive attitude, and taking action are important to reach any goal. But treating get-rich-quick scammers as if they are leaders and heroes instead of greed-purveyors and manipulators of the oppressed is upside-down and backwards.

This is not simply a problem with Robbins et al–these men are creating the paradigm for selling online that is being adopted by “conscious” people too, who cannot see that these techniques are manipulative to customers and bad for business. This kind of manipulative marketing unfortunately has a long, shady history of being developed by personal development gurus to sell people on the impossible dreams of riches, success, fame, and power.

There are indeed ways of marketing that are not so manipulative. Do not artificially “sell out” of your products. Tell people specifically what it is that you are selling and what it does. Charge a fair market rate based on other non-hyped products. Perhaps generate some buzz, but not so much that you induce mania and eliminate critical thinking in customers. Be authentic, but also honest that you are selling something right up front (not at the end of several long videos or a 30pg sales letter, which creates cognitive dissonance due the time already invested). Don’t promise quick money, quick success, quick happiness, nor ultimate satisfaction–be honest and modest about what your product or service provides. Don’t set your own financial goals too high either, or else this greed will motivate manipulation of others. And finally, sell something other than techniques that help people sell something (or be honest and don’t try to sell them “freedom,” independence, or anything else besides the actual product).

Good business is straightforward. Good personal development is humble and reasonable. Avoid the (inflated) gurus and do business with integrity.

UPDATE 8/29/2009:

MrTeaCup made a fabulous comment that changed my view somewhat of this marketing tactic that I wanted to quote in full here:

This reminds me of a discussion about dating in the age of Facebook. The question was raised: isn’t it unethical to go on someone’s Facebook page, discover they love a particular poet, and then on the date, stage a “spontaneous” recital of “your favorite” poem by that poet to create the appearance of kindred spirits, etc. The counterpoint is how is doing this any different from when your date comes over, they see that your living room is spotless because in anticipation of the date, you cleaned your house for the first time in months.

In both cases, you’re lying to manipulate the other person, but the crucial difference is revealed by noticing that if you failed to clean your house before the date came over, they would be justified in wondering what is wrong with you that you failed to lie to them. And, that if would be rude for your date to ask you to tell them the truth that both of you already know, “Is your house always this clean or did you clean it just for me?”

So the relevant question here is not “Is Tony Robbins lying?” but “Does the audience know he’s lying?” And I think the answer is — at least concerning the “reality show” component of it — the audience is fully aware that he is lying, and what’s more, he’s not even doing it very effectively.

It’s as if he cleaned his house for his date and left the mop and cleaning supplies out in plain view, obviously just used. The naivety here is almost charmingly honest: he knows he’s supposed to “stage” reality, to provide the audience a peek behind the scenes which is faked, but the implausibility of having a camera man in your backseat when you call Tony Robbins breaks the spell.

For me, the more serious delusion they are spreading is the one also spread by many environmental activists: be the change you want to see. Robbins has fully accepted the neo-liberal idea that inequality is an outcome of a lack of initiative on the part of the poor, and seeks to address it by working within and sustaining the status quo. In the introduction to the interview, it’s clear that he’s been approached by many people who’ve been adversely affected by the recession despite their positive, can-do attitude, and he feels at a loss for what to tell them, his solution is to double-down on those same ideas.

And here was one of my responses, in which I quote Chris Hedges’ new book Empire of Illusion on the persuasive power of pseudo-events, emphasis mine:

Ok, on further reflection, there is something more right about your critique than mine.

Here’s a quote from Chris Hedges’ new book Empire of Illusion that seemed relevant:

Pseudo-events…have the capacity to appear real, even though we know they are staged. They are capable because they can evoke a powerful emotional response of overwhelming reality and replacing it with a fictional narrative that often becomes accepted as truth.

…

The unmasking of a stereotype damages and often destroys its credibility, But pseudo-events are immune to this deflation. The exposure of the elaborate mechanisms behind the pseudo-event only adds to its fascination and its power.

…

The use of pseudo-events to persuade rather than overtly brainwash renders millions of us unable to see or question the structures and systems that are impoverishing us and in some cases destroying our lives.”

I see now that this isn’t necessarily brainwashing but a pseudo-event, which is perhaps far worse because it cannot be directly criticized yet it has powerful influence nonetheless, and perhaps harm (depending on whether one agrees Robbins’ new product will be harmful or not).

So the question is, what the hell do we do about this stuff? How can we prevent the problems associated with the persuasive power of pseudo-events? Perhaps Hedges will have some insight.

UPDATE #2 (8/29/2009):

Just got the latest email in Robbins’ marketing campaign for his new product.

The link goes to a long-form sales letter full of hype, with another “squeeze page” to put in your email address, adding confusion because you are already on his email list.

Many ironies abound.

The subject line of the email reads “Personal from Tony Robbins (please read).” Of course there is nothing personal about it, since it is simply a one-way sales email sent to his list.

In the headline on the page it says “Giving Customers The Unbreakable Power of Trust Marketing with Authentic Service.” I guess lying to customers that you haven’t already created a product, then staging a pseudo-event that pretends to be a real event is how to build “trust” by being “authentic.” I do think at least some people believe this to be real, and many who don’t are still persuaded by it.

Robbins gives away the pseudo-event in his sales letter that is linked to from his email, even as he lies in his email that he “may” be creating a product soon: “these videos have been a tiny preview of a brand new product that I’m releasing on this upcoming Tuesday, September 1st, at 11:00 AM Pacific time.”

As predicted, Robbins is releasing the product at a specific time with a limited quantity of 8,000 units to create hysteria amongst customers and prevent conversation amongst them.

Here’s the email:

SUBJECT: Personal from Tony Robbins (please read).
Hi ,

Earlier today, I found this rare recording I did back in 1989 and I’d like to give it to you.

You can download it here for free as my gift:

http://www.moneymastersseries.com/audiodownload.php

This has NEVER been released before …but I think it’s *critical* that you hear it because you’ll discover what I call the “5 Keys to Wealth & Happiness”.

Please download this now because I don’t think I’ll be leaving it on the Internet for long.

(I may even base a new product on the material in this recording. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, actually.)

Anyway – it’s yours. No catch. My gift to you.

Get it here:

http://www.moneymastersseries.com/audiodownload.p…

Talk soon,
Tony Robbins

Again, more unremarkable lies: “earlier today I found this recording” (as if this wasn’t very much a planned part of the marketing launch), “no catch” (again as if nothing is for sale here, as if this isn’t all a buzz-building launch), “I may even base a new product on the material in this recording” (which has already been planned, this is part of the marketing of it), “Please download this now because I don’t think I’ll be leaving it on the Internet for long” starting to increase the scarcity levels before the massive hype to follow.

I saw this exact tactic used by Jamie Smart with the launch of his Slight-of-Mouth DVD set. He said similar things about how he “might” be creating a product soon, posted videos to a blog, etc. etc. in a pseudo-event such as this one. Then suddenly, the product was created and ready to sell only days later! I fell for it as real too.

Again, releasing the product with limited quantities maximizes hype and minimizes consumer protection.

Creating an “early bird list” when you are already on a list located at a different domain name adds confusion as well as effectively creating a “Yes set” (where salesman ask 2 lead-up questions where the answer is obviously “yes” and then ask a closing question like “so would you like to buy this product now?”), increasing compliance.

This is anything but honest, straightforward, trustworthy and authentic marketing.

Update #3 (8/30/2009):

Commenter Mal informed us that in 2003 Frank Kern was busted by the FTC for running an illegal get-rich-quick internet scheme that promised fast riches. Here’s a direct link to the FTC ruling (PDF).

Here are some particularly instructive quotes from the Georgia district court document:

In their advertising, Defendants represent, expressly or by implication, that purchasers of the “Instant Internet Empires” product are likely to earn substantial income using the product. …

In reality, the majority of purchasers of the “Instant Internet Empires” product cannot, and do not, earn a substantial income using the product; in fact, most purchasers will not make money. …

Defendants’ scheme is a chain marketing scheme that necessarily enriches only a few initial participants at the expense of the majority of other participants. The success of any participant in achieving earning claims in a chain marketing scheme is dependent upon the participant’s ability to convince a large number of new participants to buy into the scheme. …

The structure of a chain marketing scheme places severe limitations upon the success of its participants. Participants can only make money if they recruit new participants into the scheme, ensuring that at each step in the evolution of the scheme the majority of participants will not make money. …

The result of the structure and operation of Defendants’ program is that financial gains to participants are primarily dependent upon the successive recruitment of other participants. …

Defendants representations … are false and deceptive in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act….

Hmmm…any of this sound familiar? Robbins’ has associated himself with known chain marketing scammers and called them “the new money masters.” What a joke.

Update #4 (8/30/2009)

Here is a link to the FTC’s Final Judgment (PDF) that contains more information about Irwin F. Kern’s “business” (Irwin is his real first name according to the FTC documents). Irwin F. Kern was successfully sued for $634,222.45, his total sales revenue from “Instant Internet Empires.” Here are some relevant quotes:

Defendants are hereby restrained and enjoined from providing to others the means and instrumentalities with which to make, expressly or by implication, orally or in writing, any false or misleading statement or representation of material fact, including, but not limited to the following:

A. Any false or misleading representation that consumers who purchase certain products are likely to earn substantial income from those products; and

B. Any false or misleading representation that all consumers who purchase certain products can earn a substantial income from those products. …

Defendants are permanently enjoined and restrained from:

A. Failing to take reasonable steps … to comply with … this Order. Reasonable steps shall include, at a minimum, establishing and maintaining a compliance program which includes spot, blind testing of the oral represenations made by any representative or independent contractor; spot checking of consumers to ensure that no misrepresentations were made; and ascertaining the number and nature of any customer complaints concerning any marketing material used by Defendants or the failure of any product sold by Defendants to meet any representation made in any marketing material used by Defendants.

For 5 years afterwards, Irwin F. Kern was required to let the FTC know if he moved or changed his phone number, or if he started a business or got a job. No wonder he recently launched his “Mass Control” course and now this course with Robbins–the expiration date had gone off. Now Kern is free to manipulate the masses again without being watched over by the feds.

Update #5 (8/31/2009):

A reader of this blog forwarded us an email from Eben Pagan, our favorite misogynist marketer, who will be interviewing Robbins tonight on a call. No mention of any product in Pagan’s email (more deception), but obviously this is part of the launch strategy for the “New Money Masters” program which launches tomorrow. Pagan is in the same Axis of Marketing Evil with Kern and Reese. Here is the email:

> Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:56:53 -0700
> From: eben@getaltitude.rsys1.com
> Subject: Learn from Tony Robbins (and me) free tonight…
> To:
>
> In case you didn’t hear: I’m interviewing Tony Robbins
> LIVE tonight on a special invitation-only teleclass….
>
> This teleclass is ONLY for my group – it’s exclusive.
>
> And it’s free. Really.
>
> We’re going to be discussing how to overcome your
> inner blocks to success, as well as how to succeed
> BIG… and how to THRIVE in this new business
> environment.
>
> We’re only doing this once, so make sure you attend.
>
> By the way, I just noticed that Tony has 1.2 MILLION
> followers on Twitter already. Insane. He’s the BIG
> DOG of success – and you get to hear him live, in an
> interview with me, TONIGHT at 6 PM Pacific / 9 PM Eastern.
>
> Don’t miss it. You can register here:
>
> http://www.getaltitude.com/teleclass/090831_tony_signup.asp
>
> Talk to you then!
>
> Eben

UPDATE #6 (9/1/2009):

Well, The New Scammy Marketers program has launched. It doesn’t look like it sold out yet, which restores a bit of my faith in humanity.

According to the “terms of service” on the launch page, it is forbidden to link to the sales page! I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, but just to make sure they don’t track all the backlinks to the site, you’ll have to copy and paste my link from the email I received today from Robbins’ list if you want to watch his sales video. Whether or not it is illegal, this is certainly another tactic to scare critics and angry customers out of their freedom of speech, and further reduces critical discourse within personal development culture.

Dear Friend,

As promised, you can get your advanced copy of our New Money Masters Welcome Kit here.

http://www.moneymastersseries.com/earlybird.php

I’m sure you’ll love it. I’m also sure that that all these advanced copies are going to be given out early today so if you want one, get it soon so you won’t have to wait. You can do so here:

http://www.moneymastersseries.com/earlybird.php

Talk soon,

Tony

Well, you were wrong Tony–the sales page is still up, which means you didn’t sell out (or maybe that you had more than 8,000 and were lying about this too?). You probably didn’t think positively enough and take enough action. I have a DVD course coming soon that could address that problem for you….

In this sales video, Robbins mentions that he and Eben Pagan have become good friends, confirming my previous update above.

I assume the aggressive terms of service are in place to protect their intellectual property from being stolen and re-posted online. Ironically, when searching for “The New Money Masters” in Google yesterday (before it launched), I found a link in Google that had the program already available for download from a bit torrent service. I don’t recommend stealing things on torrent networks in general, by the way.

Also very ironically, they have an “earnings disclosure” that basically says that the program is not likely to work for you, that it is not a “get rich scheme” (ha!), and if it doesn’t make you rich it’s your fault for not thinking positively and trying hard enough! Oh the ironies. It also says that some of the testimonials may have been paid for.

EARNINGS DISCLAIMER

EVERY EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE SKILLS, CONCEPTS, IDEAS, TECHNIQUES AND “KNOW HOW” OFFERED BY THIS SITE AND THEIR POTENTIAL. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL EARN ANY MONEY USING THE TECHNIQUES AND IDEAS IN THESE MATERIALS. EXAMPLES IN THESE MATERIALS ARE NOT TO BE INTERPRETED AS A PROMISE OR GUARANTEE OF EARNINGS. EARNING POTENTIAL IS ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON THE PERSON USING OUR PRODUCT, IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES. WE DO NOT PURPORT THIS AS A “GET RICH SCHEME.”

YOUR LEVEL OF SUCCESS IN ATTAINING THE RESULTS CLAIMED IN OUR MATERIALS DEPENDS ON THE TIME YOU DEVOTE TO THE PROGRAM, IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES MENTIONED, YOUR FINANCES, KNOWLEDGE AND VARIOUS SKILLS. SINCE THESE FACTORS DIFFER ACCORDING TO INDIVIDUALS, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SUCCESS OR INCOME LEVEL. NOR ARE WE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF YOUR ACTIONS.

TESTIMONIAL DISCLAIMER:

THE PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCED BY USER COMMENTS AND TESTIMONIALS, ON THIS PAGE AND/OR OUR WEB SITE , IS NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO EXPERIENCE. ALTHOUGH THIS SITE ACCEPTS THE TESTIMONIALS IN GOOD FAITH, WE HAVE NOT INDEPENDENTLY EXAMINED THE BUSINESS RECORDS OF ANY OF THE PROVIDERS AND THEREFORE HAS NOT VERIFIED ANY SPECIFIC FIGURES OR RESULTS QUOTED THEREIN. THESE RESULTS ARE NOT TYPICAL, AND YOUR INCOME OR RESULTS, IF ANY, WILL VARY AND THERE IS A RISK YOU WILL NOT MAKE ANY MONEY AT ALL. SOME OF THE USERS MAY, IN SOME CASES, BEEN INCENTIVIZED TO SUBMIT THEIR COMMENTS.

MATERIALS FROM OUR PROGRAM AND ON OUR WEBSITES MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT INCLUDES OR IS BASED UPON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS GIVE OUR EXPECTATIONS OR FORECASTS OF FUTURE EVENTS. YOU CAN IDENTIFY THESE STATEMENTS BY THE FACT THAT THEY DO NOT RELATE STRICTLY TO HISTORICAL OR CURRENT FACTS. THEY USE WORDS SUCH AS “ANTICIPATE,” “ESTIMATE,” “EXPECT,” “PROJECT,” “INTEND,” “PLAN,” “BELIEVE,” AND OTHER WORDS AND TERMS OF SIMILAR MEANING IN CONNECTION WITH A DESCRIPTION OF POTENTIAL EARNINGS OR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE. ANY AND ALL FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS HERE OR ON ANY OF OUR SALES MATERIAL ARE INTENDED TO EXPRESS OUR OPINION OF EARNINGS POTENTIAL. MANY FACTORS WILL BE IMPORTANT IN DETERMINING YOUR ACTUAL RESULTS AND NO GUARANTEES ARE MADE THAT YOU WILL ACHIEVE RESULTS SIMILAR TO OURS OR ANYBODY ELSES, IN FACT NO GUARANTEES ARE MADE THAT YOU WILL ACHIEVE ANY RESULTS FROM OUR IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES IN OUR MATERIAL.

If you do not understand or agree with any of these conditions, DO NOT ORDER THIS MATERIAL. If you require further clarification, please contact customer support.

Well, that’s probably all for my investigative reporting on this one.

This post originally began life as an email exchange between a friend and I shortly after the Project Mohave Liberation Manifesto was released on May 15, 2009.  Project Mojave is essentially a get rich quick scheme led by Clay Collins of the blog Finance Your Freedom (formerly the Growing Life). The project encourages its subscribers who pay $97 per month to  find an expert in a field, create an information product with them such as an ebook and to sell it for $47 on the internet. The manifesto itself was written as a marketing tool for Mohave by Jonathan Mead, a personal development blogger and marketer who writes on IlluminatedMind.net and also as a guest writer on the ubiquitous ZenHabits.net.  I have followed Jonathan’s blog, projects, and other social media identities for almost as long as he has been writing. Illuminated Mind began as a spiritually minded blog that explored simple Buddhist-like concepts and was critical of both productivity and personal development.  However, over the past year the blog has changed into a guide to “become free” through a variety of “unconventional” methods, much like the ones highlighted later on in this post.

In this post I argue that through the manifesto Mead posits the reader as a slave to their work and society, and then offers them new-found freedom via the Project Mohave pay-site. This model does not work in a sociological sense for a very basic reason: it isn’t sustainable in any realistic way.  If everyone in society subscribed to Mead’s “freedom,” we would all be selling digital products on the internet, with no one to grow our food, fix our plumbing, or treat the ill.  I then expose the manifesto for what it really is, a sales pitch under the guise of a political and economic savior. This critique takes the form of a loose rhetorical read, in the sense that I use the tools of postmodern rhetoric to explore the messages that the manifesto sends to its reader, and asks why those qualities are persuasive.  I’ll generally go at this manifesto in order as it lays out its arguments. I suggest you briefly read the manifesto first, and then come back and read my response to it, you can get it here.

On  Hard Work and Enlightenment

The most striking thing about the first page, is how it immediately posits the reader as a slave, or a lesser than, and puts the author in a sort of “enlightened state,” as if they have great knowledge to endow on the reader and can move “from slavery to freedom” (3).  This evidenced by Mead’s second paragraph, and then the preview of emancipation in the third.  This tells us two things, first that you should hate your job and it is a prison, and second that he has the keys that will let you out. This does not consider the possibility that the reader actually loves their job, and has a good relationship to the company that provides it to them.  In many ways, this is a classic rhetorical act, by demonstrating the author to be an authority, they build trust with the reader, and the message can then be consumed much easier.  It is also well known to be a brainwashing method, by creating a sense of dominance over another, one can force them to follow an ideology without fail.  This positioning is very interesting by virtue of the fact that in the beginning of this year Meade wrote a blog post entitled “Enlightenment is Overrated,” where he opened post with the claim “I admit it. I am Enlightened,” he went on to completely ignore most of the Buddhist ideas about what enlightenment is, using enlightenment as a tool to explain to his reader that they should live their dreams, and to live “life more fully, passionately and fearlessly.” This all leads up to Mead’s slightly less spiritual belief that the internet changes the political and business landscape, and that NOW is the time to get in by starting your “freedom business.”

Going After Marx and Engels

Mead jumps into some really light political philosophy where he talks about Marxist power structures in a very uninformed manner, and then he positions the Internet as a savior when he writes; “the difference between now and before is the internet is opening up massive opportunities for the everyday entrepreneur” (4).  As if “before” refers to pre-internet class struggles, harking back to a work of pseudo-inspiration for Mead: the Communist Manifesto.  On the following page he offers that this is the path to “freedom,” and that you the reader have the choice right now to be free. In many ways, section reminds me of a quote by a cyberneticist who said ‘the internet isn’t the wild west anymore, it has long been established.  The internet wild west was in the early 90’s.’  Another relevant anecdote is,”the people who made money on the gold rush, were the people who sold equipment to miners.” And so it was for the internet also.  The internet and technology as a whole being our savior is an idea that has been around for quite some time.  Our society has become quite ingrained with the idea that the problems our progress has created, will invariably by solved by progress itself.  This idea is one that makes very little sense in the way it is expressed on a widespread scale, yet it is very much at play in the ideology that Mead is selling in the manifesto. The internet will save you if you let it.

Jonathan: The Romantic, The Marketer

Mead then goes back to talking about why working for someone else destroys us.  I’ll skip over most of this because it is just trying to do more of the same, convince the reader that they need change, and that this particular project is just the way to do it. Revolution is an ideologically and rhetorically charged word that I’ve noticed Jonathan use often, simply because it is sort of romantic, it is powerful, and it changes minds.  Through this section, it becomes clear that Jonathan knows how to manipulate people.  I plan on exploring Jonathan’s notion that working for someone else is “soul-raping”  (from Mead’s about page) in a future post.

In section three, Mead talks about meaning.  I love this line, because it contradicts the most obvious premise of the whole project (make money), “No amount of money, cars, swimming pools, private jets or company paid luncheons can make up for that” [in reference to making meaning]. From here, we talk about more of the same, changing our lifestyles, making money, meaning, and forming a community of new-rich meaning makers.  “Our ultimate mission is to break down that social belief-structure of limitation and drudgery.”  I’m not really sure that those social belief structures actually exist, but after reading this manifesto, one might come to think so.  Skipping to the end, we get to the best part.  All of this awesome pump you up to get involved in our “revolution” rhetoric culminates in a simple call to action, “join us” (28).  The perfect sales letter.  No price, no indication that it costs anything, in fact I would think that this were some sort of holistic community of entrepreneurs who would gladly welcome me into their arms for free if I didn’t know better.  Mead gets them hooked before they even know what they are into.

The Manifesto that Could Have Been

This manifesto could avoid many of these problems if it weren’t for the fact that it has a massive asterisk hanging over it.  Simply put, it is a sales letter for an expensive membership site. It sets up the reader perfectly, putting them into a corner, a poor American worker chained to their bourgeoisie corporation, slaving away for the betterment of the elite.  But wait! We can save you, we can show you how to make your own money (ultimately selling sketchy information products on the internet).  The missing piece here is simple; the system simply does not work that way.  Not everyone can be a mini-retirement-taking entrepreneur.  Everything would fall apart. The question remains, how can Tim Ferriss’ Indian virtual assistants have their four hour work weeks? Mead talks on end about making meaning and “freedom,” but the fact remains that this information and freedom is not free.  I cannot think of a single revolution in history that required the beneficiaries to pay a corporation for their freedom if it was legitimate.

This is a huge gap in the whole manifesto’s argument: it is made of the same stuff  it claims to be trying to save us from.  One corporation taking our money, time, and whatever else claiming that they will make our lives better.  This isn’t a freedom revolution, it is a sales pitch. This demonstrates Mead’s approach to Project Mohave, he tells you that he really wants to save you from some massive problem you don’t realize that you have, yet deep down, he always really just trying to sell you something.  In many ways, Mead emulates Tim Ferris’ work  in the Four Hour Work Week, except he tries to sell his life-hacks via some sense of profound social emancipation.  The worst part is he really believes it will free people.

My next post will explore why this freedom is likely to be impossible.