James A Ray - Harmonic Wealth - A Book Review

James Ray was one of the teachers featured in The Secret and owns a multi million dollar corporation dedicated to teaching individuals to create wealth in all areas of their lives. His journey caught my interest because of the dual path he has traveled, one of business and the other of spirituality. He has traveled the world spending time with indigenous people; finding shamans that have helped shape his philosophy as well as running a successful corporate career. This journey plus his growing up with a father that is a Protestant minister has given him a unique platform in order to teach others on how to find the way to integrate our spiritual practices with the physical world desires. Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want, made it to number five on the New York Times Best-Seller List after its first week of release. To date, his books have been translated into 20 languages and are published in 83 countries around the world.

He focuses on five pillars:
1.) Financial
2.) Relational
3.) Mental
4.) Physical
5.) Spiritual

He claims "balance is bogus"; he writes that the only people that are balanced are those that are dead. My mind immediately went - - WHAT? I have been spending so much time working to balance these pieces of my life and hearing that it was BOGUS definitely caught my attention. He describes what balance is by having us picture a scale. A scale is balance and - BORING --- he then compares the scale to that of a band. There is never a balance, there is always one instrument or a voice that is louder - one starts up and then stops, then another starts up and then stops, then what happens is the band finds harmony. I looked up the definition of harmony:
The just adaptation of parts to each other, in any system or combination of things, or in things, or things intended to form a connected whole; such an agreement between the different parts of a design or composition as to produce unity of effect; as, the harmony of the universe.

As this sunk in I felt a rush of relief. Oh my goodness - in my head I have always struggled to keep things equal and when I found my life leaning towards one way or another I would feel a level of stress and often some guilt for not getting enough done. He explains that everyone should tune into their life and where they are in relation to each of the pillars. If there is a part of your life that seems extremely lower than the other parts then we should focus on that area for a time until it rebounds. But expect that other areas of your life will slow down as you focus on this other area. He tells us "that all five areas must have some attention all the time but not all five areas demand all your attention all the time."

The entire book is full of questions that will challenge your beliefs, help you focus on your values and what drives you, and pearls of wisdom on how to reach goals within each of the pillars. James also conducts Weekend workshops that change thousands of lives. . I highly recommend this book and any of James Ray's materials and free events to anyone wanting to find harmony in their own life. For more information check out James Arthur Ray and his company: James Ray International at: