Mind States
A Breath of Fresh Air?
by Derek Shaw
Since childhood, you’ve been told not to stare at the sun and always eat your vegetables. But what if you didn’t have to eat at all? Moreover, what if peering at the sky provided the only nutrition your body needed?
Inedia, or Breatharianism, is an ancient custom of fasting that originated in China. It is also based on the concept of prana, which is the vital life force in Hinduism. Its followers believe that you can survive and, in fact, live a healthy life, without food or even water.
Similarly, sun-gazing is closely related to Breatharianism in the belief that humans can be sustained solely through fresh air and sunlight by turning their bodies into photovoltaic cells. Although not all Breatharians sun gaze and vice-versa, some people pursue sun gazing as a transition into Breatharianism.
“It took me a year to complete the entire course,” admits Mead Riche, a vegan who opted not to become a Breatharian. “I began by staring for ten seconds and increased my exposure ten seconds every day thereafter until I could sun gaze for forty-five minutes straight.”
Sun gazing should not be attempted before proper research and training have been conducted. There are also certain procedures involved in the process that must be closely followed. The main guidelines are that sun gazing should be performed with bare feet on bare earth at dawn or dusk when the sun is least potent. After completing the sun gazing course, which can take anywhere from nine months to a year, practitioners only have to sun gaze twice a week for fifteen minutes to feel the affects. Sun gazers claim the benefits are increased energy, mental clarity and improved eye sight, but doctors warn that staring at the sun can cause retinal damage or blindness, especially if proper protocol isn’t followed to build up your eye’s tolerance.
There remains a lack of hard data and long-term investigation on both sun gazing and Breatharianism. The leading advocate of sun gazing is Hira Ratan Manek, or HRM as his followers call him. HRM, who is from India, sent shockwaves through the medical community by demonstrating his ability to fast for over a year. As the only sun gazer to submit himself to such thorough testing, Manek has become an enigma and an international hero.
Once rarely practiced and limited to ascetics in remote regions of the Far East, Breatharianism is spreading throughout the world—but not without controversy. In the late 20th century, various self-proclaimed gurus emerged at the forefront of the Breatharian revival. They publish books, conduct seminars and establish institutes—recruiting people into what the media not so affectionately calls an “air cult.”
Australian Ellen Greve, whose guru moniker is Jasmuheen, first popularized the movement. She has toured the globe extensively since the late 90s promoting her book Living on Light, which promotes the Breatharian lifestyle. She claims to have amassed over 6,000 practitioners of the regime. Three of these individuals, however, have died of starvation. Greve’s website for promoting personal and planetary peace is called the Cosmic Internet Academy. These days Greve conducts seminars that range from a few days to three weeks. Her comprehensive 21-day workshop costs $2,000 and she states that it will provide the participant with the tools necessary to achieve immortality and stop aging. She also claims that her diet, or lack thereof, has changed the chromosomes in her body, allowing Greve to develop an additional ten strands of DNA. She refuses to take a blood test to confirm this alleged anomaly.
Although she says that she has not eaten since the early 90s, Greve admits to consuming tea and the occasional piece of chocolate, which she swishes around in her mouth to achieve a “taste orgasm.” The Australian press who have visited her home have noted an abundance of food there, which she attributes to her husband. 60 Minutes also conducted a weeklong experiment in 1999 to test her claims. Supervising doctors stopped the proceedings after five days when Greve began to show signs of fatigue and weight loss.
Another popular Breatharian is Wiley Brooks. In the 1970s, Brooks established the Breatharian Institute of America. The notorious figure is praised by followers but chastised by critics who question his dogmatic methods. Brooks has twice been caught ordering junk food, which resulted in the loss of much of his California staff. Brooks currently holds a weeklong “Ascension Initiation.” The cost of the workshop is currently $25 million, up a staggering $10 million from last September. Although there are no refunds, Brooks will consider a payment plan.
Is Breatharianism the answer to world hunger? Can we be reprogrammed to move away from eating into a fasting state of mediation? Brooks and Greve certainly believe so, as do their thousands of global followers. Still, the evidence to support their beliefs remains largely empirical and scientifically-unfounded and the personal experience of self-proclaimed Breatharians is up for skepticism due to the lack of research and oversight into their day-to-day lives.
Responsible, supervised fasting for a limited period of time is a practice as old as humankind and can certainly have mental and physical benefits for most people. However, the means by which Breatharianism is currently being promoted is dangerous on many levels. It should never be used as a crash diet or as a replacement for exercise. People have died from recklessly embarking on this lifestyle without preparing their minds or bodies for such a dramatic change. Breatharians have a rigorous deep-breathing discipline to increase their body’s ability to take in nutrients; not to mention, they also have a strong spiritual conviction in the practice.
“There is no scientific grounding for this phenomenon,” states Elaine Keegan, Head Dietician at Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, California. “Most doctors are baffled because medical history shows that if you don’t eat, you starve to death.”
Nutritionists also fear that embarking on Breatharianism could exacerbate eating disorders. Many young girls and others in our society are already preoccupied with weight and body image. For them, there is a clinical name for abstaining from eating. Its called anorexia.
“In the hospital, we see people live without food and water for months because they either refuse it or cannot physically consume anything,” says Vince Alvarez, a dietician at Sharp Cabrillo Hospital in San Diego. “Just because you survive, doesn’t mean you are healthy…Many anorexics die before the age of forty from electrolyte imbalances.”
In an increasingly superficial world of ‘no carb’ and South Beach diets and the Atkins’ Plan, what role does Breatharianism play? Perhaps it is just the spiritual awakening that our country needs, and we’ll defeat this Fast Food Nation one breath at a time. But people have already perished from prolonged fasting, and more will surely follow. Is the promise of immortality worth the possibility of premature death?
Derek Shaw is a musician, skateboader and writer. He loves his black lab Spot, and Spot loves him. Check out www.myspace.com/thedoomsdaydevice