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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

How James Arthur Ray is Getting Along in Prison

ADD: After you read this post, click here for some interesting updated official information.


Lewis -- Arizona State Prison
Adjusting to prison can't be easy. James Arthur Ray had been in the state system for less than 3 months when he was found guilty of a disciplinary infraction. Seems he failed to show up for a head count in late February. The exact infraction is:
 "Disrupting an Institution Count and/or Being Out of Place - Disrupting an institution count by purposely interfering with staff, or failing to be in an assigned bed or location for count; failing to be in an assigned area; being out of place in an unauthorized area."
James Arthur Ray attends his bond hearing in Camp Verde, Arizona on February 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Jack Kurtz, Pool)Ray apparently saw the incident differently than the prison staff did. Records show he appealed the citation.

But he lost.  

"Disrupting count" is considered by the prison to be a Class B infraction. It is punishable by a loss of privileges or extra duty, and so forth.  It can also affect time served by days. If you get 3 Class B infractions, it equals a Class A infraction, which carries more serious penalties.

The former star of The Secret and Harmonic Wealth currently has a work assignment behind bars. Looks like he's teaching other prisoners to read in the "Functional Literacy" program.

His current release date is showing 10/25/13.

Convicted on 3 counts of Negligent Homicide, Ray will be serving a total of 2 years. For more on his sentence click here. You may also be interested in this post.  For more, click on the "James Arthur Ray" tag below or at left to peruse many different posts and comment discussions on this trial.


Pssst! 

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Every time you make a purchase here, it helps me be able to do more for you! 

Thoughts on this or any article at this site? To the next person whose comment I use for a post I will send a free signed book!  (If you post as "anonymous" for convenience, try to include an identifying website or name in your remark so no one else can claim your prize!)  For an example, please click here.

47 comments:

  1. I don't believe he is teaching Functional Literacy... he tested out to needing Functional Literacy himself, strange as that sounds. He's in a program to bring him up to 8th grade competency in reading, writing and/or math.

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  2. Thanks so much for bringing this up, Anon. I'm working on getting a definitive answer for you. Check back here soon!

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  3. I've got an official answer for you! Please click here
    If you have already tried to visit that post, I am aware there were formatting problems for a few days. They should be fixed and entirely readable now.

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  4. What came from your findings?

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  5. Forgive my lack of sympathy for the people who allowed this to happen. I find James Ray to be a putrid individual and belongs in prison for eternity. He serves no purpose on the planet. The people who drank his Kool-Aid were smart enought not to do so. However they were so caught up in their wealth and attempts at being chic they lost all forms of integrity. It is the family of the fools that I feel sadness for.

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    1. What have YOU done for other people Jettstreams???

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    2. JettStreams, You're obviously a moron.

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  6. I feel the opposite. I believe he got a little too big for himself....from his book...when you think you're the bomb, the Universe drops a bomb right on you. He is human and faultered. His book "Harmonic Wealth" is one of the best books I ever read (and reread) and has helped me a lot. I would love to visit with him in person but not to idiloze him but his work is wonderful, his journey is fascinating. He is doing his time. When he is out of prison I can imagine a very humble and inspiring man to resurface.

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    1. i found it all very interesting, i ran a sweatlodge for many years and the max it held was 7 people. i had a bigger one but i felt it lost the closeness and connection. when i saw that he had 60 people(i have heard of others also fitting in this many) i thought, the universe is going to set him straight, and it did. i also believe that no one leaves the reality before their time so the ones who passed agreed to. no victims here all willing beings learning and growing. the picture of him above on this page is interesting to me as you can see the "other side" of him, his nostrels are flared and his eyes angry. i guess one could say he was a child that got called on and caught and is now paying the price. there are many laws in the universe...and this is also another way the law of attraction works. i also study astrology and 10 to 1 he had a transit that showed this was going to happen...any idea what his birth date/time/place is? perhaps i will search for it now~anyway...he is a good lesson for us all.

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    2. Without doubt James Arthur Ray's book Harmonic Wealth I believe has inspired and motivated many people including myself. He didn't claim to be a perfect human being in fact quite the contrary. Who are we to moralize and judge the actions of others. Are we any better? We all read these sort of self help books for some reason or another. Haven't we learnt anything from them? Have we forgotten that forgiveness rests with the source. I believe James Arthur Ray will have his own demons to fight in his journey to forgive himself. ZS

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    3. Chanson

      Did you manage to find out James' birthday? It's November 22 1957 born I believe in Oklahoma. incase you didn't find it. Sorry don't know his time of birth, but it would be interesting to read what you find based on this.

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  7. The man lives by a great philosophy just shouldn't be the one conveying its core elements. I applaud his persistence and complete surrender to this way of life. Prayers are with the families of the deceased but as James Ray preached YOU are not at fault but responsible for your circumstance. Give your a head a shake look around and realize NO MAN holds enough answers to justify completely putting your well being at their mercy. foolish.

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    1. See my response to Anonymous below, please.

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    2. Complete surrender to his way of life. Really? The only reason he didn't faint also is because he was hopped up on drugs and cooling agents. This guy is a liar and a creep and you are obviously an idiot for following him. I'll give you a clue: He's not God. He's simply a guy charging a lot of money to have to participate in exercises of which he knows nothing.

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    3. Anon of May 14, his most effective drug was oxygen. He was seated by the one and only air flap and he controlled the air flap. He was also in the coolest part of the tent. The people who died were trapped in the hottest part, had steaming water splashed on them, and no air circulation at all. Ray experienced none of those perilous conditions.

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  8. Instead of judging James for something he did out of negligence and not intention let's take the time to see where we may be negligent in our own lives and how it could lead to problems later. His life is a lesson for us all, and I have personally known him for 10 years. He is a great guy who wants the same success he has for himself for all of us. Shit happens, Learn from it.

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    1. Ok, but a true healer or facilitator NEVER does anything that puts someone's health at risk. This is not defensible. Take it from someone who experienced one of his retreats; it is easy for even the most level-headed, self-aware person to get carried away when a few hundred people are caught up in the excitement of something like that. It is totally up to the facilitator to be above-board and act responsibly. The participants trusted him and he let them down! I feel that your response shows a lack of understanding & caring. Sure, shit happens, but people don't die when a person of integrity is running the show! Please take him down off his pedestal and allow that he is a man fallen.

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    2. You don't charge $10,000 for a retreat consisting of potentially dangerous activities and not bother spending a few dollars to have emergency personell monitoring the situation. This wasn't just a mistake, this was willful negligence and stupidity. Yes, you're God is stupid. So, what does that make you for following him?

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    3. Not showing concern, ignoring pleas for help, chastising his followers, controlling their food/water the entire retreat, as well as pushing them to not sleep and meditate etc. are all the basics of a CULT leader taking control. Even requiring the followers to shave their heads/cut their hair was. Way to gain control. By calling himself a "self help" leader in public, but "God" during the retreat is full on manipulation and a Con. He does not deserve to be free, have an active website, FB page and more, so that he doesn't start his Cult up again. 36hrs in the desert without water and food and barely any sleep and going into a tarp sealed, unsafe "sweat lodge" with no medical personnel, was what he required of his followers/believers. A junior college drop-out, not trained by anyone, he was completely responsible for the well being of those he supposedly cared about. A true, sociopath. Their first clue he didn't care, was the paperwork absolving him of responsibility for anything that might happen.

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  9. I was involved in one of his Harmonic Wealth workshops, which included only tried-and-true exercises based on meditation, team-building, releasing limiting beliefs, etc. I had a mostly positive experience there, although I became suspicious of his "God complex" behavior on the last day & I now know I could have done something similar to the retreat for a lot less money! I still use one of his CD courses because it has information and exercises that really work for me. The concepts that Ray taught are nothing new, nor are they inherently good or bad; they are used by many seekers to improve their lives. His downfall is that he let his ego become paramount, rather than the message. I am appalled at what happened in that sweat lodge, as I have participated in many such ceremonies which were conducted by a true Native American medicine man. There was never a time when a person would be denied leaving the tent/lodge, and it was always advised that if you needed a little fresh air, you should lift up the tent at the floor where you sat and let some inside. They are a meaningful and beautiful way to share and grow spiritually, when performed correctly. My hope is that the practice itself has not been damaged by this case. Was it an accident? Probably, but it was one that never should have happened in the 1st place, and that is why he is responsible. I sincerely hope and pray that this guy gets a clue, has some real remorse, and gets his act together before he is realeased from prison. Maybe then he could use the experience for some type of restoration and healing of the families involved.

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  10. Ray is a shark. For any "self-help" guru to stay in business, they must continuously pump out new material. The "Law of Attraction" is a packaged up trend to sell materials under. So many people have come with countless items to sell under this "Law of Attraction."

    Hey, James attracted YOUR money with glamorized false promises that cost you nearly ten thousand bucks. A make shift sweat lodge?!?! Didn't allow people to leave the lodge despite cries?! His creepy twitter texts that included something must die so that a new you can emerge?!?! He later deleted those.

    These people are con artists...His appearance of physical health is all artificial too. Police had found a bag containing a sleuth of syringes, anabolic steroids, HGH pills, and pills. James Ray did not attract anything naturally, he stole from the week seekers. His information in books is nothing more than recycled material from others with a new modern spin.

    He tried so hard to look like a hero in these deaths. Pending trial, he tried hard to look like a world helper by providing free little videos online. Unfortunately, the "law of attraction" doesn't give you free passes when it comes to negligience. 2 years is a light sentence...even funnier that he tried to appeal it. Gifted gabber.

    I'm speculating that when he is released, he will be smacked with civil lawsuits.

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    1. Ray's a shark? Your saying he is a roid raging myopic megalomaniac? He repackaged garbage and prayed on the weak?
      Dude leave your NYC tude at the Subway.
      Although he made a miscalculation and some people died. They're responsible for they're own actions.
      They weren't chained down were they?
      They have a Free will don't they?
      If they were under water wouldn't they come up for air?
      Having taught hundred's of people to swim it's amazing how strong our will is to live. To breath air we can demonstrated almost super natural strength just to get a breath.
      So those people were not drugged or restrained.
      They made they're own choices and it cost them.
      Like many of our mother's told us ," if they told you to jump off a building would you do it?"

      James got railroaded.
      He is a great teacher and will come out of this better stronger driven and more popular than ever.



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    2. If he does, then shame on him and shame on you too. Are you really this naive?

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  11. My father and I attended one of his seminars and had nothing but a positive experience with profound life-changing life-improving results. To hear this happened was a surprise and it seems that a poor judgment call led to a serious accident that the man will have to life with forever. This is a man who positively benefited the lives of thousands and made one massive mistake. For those who feel the need to slam him down further, take a moment to look inside yourself and see where that anger and hurt projecting out of you is truly coming from.

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst and take what comes!" We can all learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. Shame on those who kick a man when he is down and shame on those who let their ego's get in the way of common sense and reality. I have made many mistakes in my life and have learned about myself through those mistakes. My thoughts go out to the families that lost their loved ones and also to Mr. Ray and the mental anguish he must be experiencing. Let's all put our positive thoughts to work and let the universe decide the outcome.

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    1. Hey if you want to make mistakes, then fine. Just don't make them when it comes to the safety of others. It's amazing how many people refuse to stop drinking the cool-aid and start thinking for youself. Guess what? You don't need Ray to feel self-worth - you can do it all on your own.

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  14. My wife and I attended a JAR event and got a ton out of it and we're shocked and saddened by the events in Sedona. To the comment about recycled material well duh! James makes no secret that his work is based on the work of Wallace Wattles who wrote in the 1920's, the bible, physics, Einstein and many others. This has never been about creating new thoughts but finding new ways of effecting people, much like teaching. I read where someone got burned during a Tony Robbins firewall recently that certainly would not negate the experience of the 20 some thousand people that have done it previously. Terrible things happen everyday to good people often times due to the negligence of others, we hope James has learned and will grow from this and hopefully will continue to help teach the rest of us these lessons that have been around for a millenium

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  15. I don't personally know James Ray, but I watched him in the Secret and then purchased his Science of Attraction (?)course and the Harmonic Wealth book and paid to watch a streaming version of his Harmonic Wealth Weekend on my computer. I think he has a lot of valuable information and he has the ability to present the info in a way that really makes it easy to understand. I really connected to some things he said. It was like a lightbulb went on. So, I really like him, but I remember watching the streaming video of the Harmonic Wealth weekend and thinking that he was really arrogant. I hadn't noticed it in his early work...I had also listened to recorded phone calls with him. So, is this a case of a good man, a smart man who lets the fame and fortune go to his head? Was it a "God Complex"? Well, from where I am sitting here in AK it looks like it. As a leader he was responsible for the safety of those people. He arranged the event and safety should have been a number one priority. Yes, the students had free will to leave, but that doesn't mean Mr. Ray has no responsibilty for their safety. Doesn't he teach something about taking responsibilty for your life? Owning where you are and what is happening? Has he accepted responsibility? Will he come out of this a humble, changed man?

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  16. These are some of the most sane reply's I have seen on a negative topic, thank you all. If this is the product of Ray's work, he has done well. I recently purchased Harmonic Wealth and I'm looking forward to reading it, now more than ever!

    "To err is human; to forgive, divine."
    Alexander Pope



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  17. I found it interesting that the builder of the tent was never investigated. It seems the architect of the structure would have more responsibility then the organizer of the event. James Ray conducted this same event for years without any problems. The first year using this architect and this happens. The tent was taken down before the investigation was concluded. Someone had to be blamed so they blamed the high profile person in the group. I think he will raise above this and come out even more popular than before.

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  18. Wow, there are still apologists out there for this guy huh?

    That's so sad.

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  19. I'm glad this charliton is in prison, he should have recieved a much stricter sentance. He took no safety precautions whatsoever, nor did he have any medical staff standing by when conducting a potentially dangerous activity. Futhermore, the whoe "secret" thing is a scam. It was simply some people getting together to plagerize the book "The Science of Getting Rich", which is so old that it's in the public domain and you can get it for free. Anyway, they took this book, which was very logical and made a lot of sense, and added to it a twist of new age metaphysical garbage. Hey, the secret was supposed to be that positive thinking will alter the universe in your favor. I guess it didn't work so well for Ray since all that postitive thinking still landed him in jail. Worst of all, this egocentric jerk showed no remorse and was more concerened with how these deaths would effect his empire. If anyone is stupid enough to follow this guy again, then I guess they'll get what they deserve.

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  20. I think that Ray just sells to you what you already own internally, and cannot, for some reason, bring to fruition. He preys on those with low self-esteem and people who cannot simply be satisfied with the gifts that they already have. If those people choose to spend tens of thousands of dollars to fulfill whatever need they have, that is on them. He misled people to believe that he was an expert about practices that he is not. He got people to trust him with their very lives, which ultimately injured and ended some of those lives. If he has a dime once released from prison, he will be lucky. I certainly would not spend any money on his "products," as is my choice. I am reminded of another leader who promised the answers, promised safety, and became a god in his own mind, then led over 900 sheep to the slaughter. Jim Jones, anyone? This likely could of been a much greater tragedy than it was. He needed to get knocked back down to earth and unfortunately, prison was what he ended up deserving.

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  21. I DO know James personally and while I am sorry he's having to learn such a hard lesson, I can say that over the years I've known him, he went from being a sincere, dedicated, caring human being to reading too many of his own press releases.

    The Christian people have a saying that goes something like, "Prides goes before a fall." It's sad those people had to die, but I share the opinion of someone above: I expect that James will come out of this a much more humble, loving, really evolved person - more than he was before this incident. He is truly capable of great things, but I believe it would behoove him to come from a place of love, not superiority.

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  22. "Everything happens like it's supposed to." I am very sorry for the victims and families.
    I STILL believe in James' BASIC teachings-always will, as he's not the only one who teaches and practices positive attitude. I expect that God knew what he was doing when the awful events occurred-and I'll guarantee many, many good things have come (and are still coming) from the events.
    Nancy

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  23. Check out a recently aired show called "Deadly Devotion" for more on this POS. Surprised this psycho still has some devotees here, but I shouldn't be. We live in a world where serial killers get marriage proposals and too many people think the Earth is less than 10,000 years old.

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    1. Just watched that episode and that is how I found this site! He deserves way more time in prison!! That sweat lodge was too low and a sweat lodge should NEVER be covered in tarps!! There was not enough oxygen for those people to breathe!

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  24. Snake oil salesman! Reckless egomaniac peddling puppy dogs and rainbows to all the over paying "believers".

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  25. Camille::
    I'm sooo very confused, for many reasons.

    I thought work was mandatory for Arizona prisoners. I mean if you check out other prisoner listings, the hours they work are listed on their page. Mr. Ray's pages shows zero hours worked. How'ed he manage that?

    While I don't dispute the fact that he may be granted early probation/release, there's currently no July release date listed on his page.

    There is however, a Detainer/ Warrant listed on the bottom of his record.

    I haven't been able to discover what this detainer is for and/or what it means.

    Any clues as to what's going on???

    As always, thanks for your wonderful articles and blogs.

    Warmest Regards,
    Jeanne Barkemeijer de Wit

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  26. James Ray is a self absorbed, egotistical, DUMB DUMB DUMB human beings. He is evil and I hope he doesn't make it out of prison. Leaders of cults are evil to the core.

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  27. I've just seen a documentary about the man. He appears to be a complete narcissist. Not a mere sef-centered person but a full-blown NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder). They have no remorse. He's not likely to come out of prison as a humble and repentant man, as one commenter suggested. We can only hope. Also, I am a Native American, and all I have to say is Caveat: If anyone charges money for Native ceremonies (even if the person is Native), run fast and far. Anyone who is on the good side of spirituality does not charge for it.

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  28. You can't mess around with spirituality without consequences. Non-Natives should not attempt to be medicine men (or shamans, or whatever you want to call it). These ways were not meant for the masses. They were given to Native Americans and should not be used by others. If you don't understand what I mean, then think of Judaism. No one can just choose to be rabbis or spiritual leaders. They have to be from a certain lineage and have specific teaching and mentoring. This was insituted by God for a specific people. Likewise, medicine men and the sacred ceremonies were instituted by God for a spcific people. A person has to be born for it, not just choose it to become wealthy.

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  29. The very WORST aspect of this whole thing and the bit which speaks VOLUMES about the man himself, is his behavior AFTER it all went down. Save Your Own Skin being his obvious motto. No matter what anyone thinks about the victims and whether or not they could've saved themselves, James Ray denied all responsibility for everything at the time. He let those victims arrive at hospitals and spend DAYS as Jane Does. One was a long time member of his Dream Team and yet she was lying in hospital nameless. He made no attempt to contact victims' families (this is fact, as recorded by police in the trial) until his PR people realized Big Mistake and too little too late he made some appalling naff gesture. He made no attempt while it was all going down to do anything to help (witnesses at the trial said this) just got on his cell phone to his lawyers who told him to get out of there. So he did. Leaving the dead, the dying, the whole sorry debacle. He did NOTHING. That's the tough part when it comes to 'forgiveness'. And now he's back writing his first blog on his website, new (old Peru) photo on FB, no doubt newly Botoxed and smoothed out, all about Gratitude. This guy understands NOTHING about law of attraction. He used to preach 'what you focus on expands' yet fails to make the correlation between that and his trials & tribulations. In his blog he's almost trying to make it sound - superior as always - that UNLESS you have gigantic pratfalls & tragedies in your life, you're not doing it right. Nothing's changed. He's back, FBing and Tweeting and once again, it's all about him .... too sad.

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  30. Is this the kind of behavior you'd expect from someone who purports to have all the spiritual answers to life? Harmonic Wealth? When he can't even treat his fellow human beings compassionately? To run away? And this is NOT a media vendetta, these are all points brought up at the trial by those who were there & shocked at his lack of action. The man has no integrity whatsoever and by his own admission in his books, has thought he was invincible many times in his life, usually just before a huge pratfall of his own making. Just like this was. If he'd handled the aftermath like any other compassionate human being would've done, he could have avoided much of the hatred that subsequently traveled around the Internet about him. But he doesn't 'get it.' He still thinks he was badly treated and it 'wasn't his fault.' He owes hundreds of people THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for events that never happened where he took money a year in advance. The sweatlodge, in his own words, was Hotter than Hell (idiot) covered in plastic tarps (idiot again) which probably off-gassed some of those in the worst spots inside. Everyone will have a different point of view on who could've got out, should've left, chose to be there, etc etc. Regardless of all the arguments about 'whose fault it was' and why it happened, the fact remains that he was a complete prick after the event - not the behavior of a self appointed know all Spiritual Warrior. It was HIS event, HIS responsibility. And when it counted, he did nothing.

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