Wondery presents GURU: The Dark Side of Enlightenment

What Makes a Killer

Audioboom Studios

Documentary, True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.4 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2020

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When we face challenges in life, we seek answers from people we believe can help us. When tragedy strikes an exclusive retreat with a self-help superstar, many people are left to wonder: how far is too far? James Arthur Ray was an Oprah-endorsed self-help teacher who achieved fame, fortune, and influence. But friends and family members of his followers questioned his unorthodox methods, and tried to stop him. From Wondery, the makers of “Dirty John,” “Dr. Death,” and “The Shrink Next Door,” comes a story about the dark side of enlightenment. Hosted by journalist Matt Stroud.

Listen today at wondery.fm/whatmakes_guru

Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonder he has a great new podcast out called Guru, the Dark Side of Enlightenment.
0:08.0	It's the mid 2000s and James Arthur Ray is this charismatic self-help guru who has promised his
0:15.1	followers a path to wealth and happiness. However, not all who followed him found
0:20.8	that path. Ray wasn't really well known until he was in the movie The Secret
0:26.2	and then he was a guest on Oprah's TV show several times. After that, thousands of people
0:32.4	started attending his seminars, and he was touted as this next
0:36.5	great self-help guru.
0:39.3	Turns out, some of James Arthur Ray's methods were extreme, and while some of his pupils underwent a
0:46.2	transformative life experience, others underwent a life-ending one.
0:52.4	I've got a brief clip for you to listen to from
0:54.9	Wonder's new mini series guru the Dark Side of Enlightenment. Be sure to subscribe on
1:00.0	Apple Podcast Spotify or wherever you get your favorite pod.
1:04.0	You can binge all six episodes ad free on the Wonder App right now. It was March 2009 and in a big chain hotel in New Jersey a crowd milled around waiting. Once the doors opened everyone
1:26.5	headed for the same place. It was a large auditorium with a big stage in front.
1:31.5	The event was called The Harmonic Wealth Weekend,
1:35.1	a rigorous two-day seminar that promised
1:37.5	to get participants on the fast track
1:39.6	to personal and professional success.
1:42.2	It wasn't the kind of thing Jenny Brown was normally into, but her daughter, Kirby,
1:47.2	had insisted that they go together.
1:49.2	As they walked in, she had to admit the atmosphere was exciting and we had a walk through a gauntlet I will say of cheerleaders who were jumping up and down
2:01.4	rubbing up the energy in the room and I remember saying to one woman I said man
	...

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