More Details Emerge in Sweat Lodge Ceremony Deaths

The sweat lodge ceremony was part of a retreat run by spiritual guru James Arthur Ray. The retreat cost each person $9,000.

By the time that more than 50 followers of spiritual guru James Arthur Ray experienced the sweat lodge ceremony they had already endured five strenuous days of activity. Those included fasting, sleep-deprivation and mind-altering breathing exercises. Participants were thus already vulnerable to further stress.

In new details that are continuing to emerge, Dr. Beverley Bunn, an orthodontist from Texas and one of the participants at the retreat. She spoke with "The Early Show" this morning. She noted that Ray had essentially "abandoned" them, refusing to let anyone leave the sweat lodge ceremony while the door was closed. These statements, along with others, portray Ray as forcing participants to stay in the lodge despite signs of illness.

James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee, Kirby Brown, 38, and Liz Newman, 49, died after the sweat lodge ceremony. Newman was in a coma for a week before succumbing. Ray is a self-help superstar, and an investigation is ongoing.

The sweat lodge ceremony is a ceremonial sauna that is an important ritual used by some Native American cultures. It is frequently part of a longer retreat or ceremony. The ceremony is used for purification, cleansing and healing of mind, body, emotions and spirit.

Native Americans have spoken against the "appropriation" of the sweat lodge ceremony, which they note is more than just that, by so-called spiritual gurus such as Ray. They decry the use of the ceremony for monetary purposes. Writing of the tragey, Arvol Looking Horse, the 19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle, said:

What has happened in the news with the makeshift sauna called the “sweat lodge” is not our ceremonial way of life.

When you do ceremony, you can not have money on your mind. We deal with the pure sincere energy to create healing that comes from everyone in that circle of ceremony. The heart and mind must be connected. When you involve money, it changes the energy of healing.

James Arthur Ray claims to help people achieve both spiritual and financial wealth. He has appeared on Oprah twice as a guest.