Crap
Theories of the Mind, Body and Spirit
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Breatharianism: the cult that’s
quietly out to lunch?
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Crap
rating: *****
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That not all breatharians are cynical
fakes is exemplified by the ‘failed breatharian’ (or ‘corpse’ as this variant
is more commonly known). |
‘London -- As off-the-wall millennial fads go,
breatharianism doesn't so much take the cake as put it firmly back in the
package and throw the whole lot in the garbage along with the rest of the larder's contents. Followers of Jasmuheen [real name Ellen Greve] the 43-year-old former businesswoman based
in
The taxonomy of Earth’s carbon-based life-forms recognises three broad
classes of organism: the animal, the plant and, now, it would seem, the breatharian. Animals, as we all gleaned from our
schooldays, must gather or hunt to earn a living; plants, give or take the odd
Venus Fly Trap, neither hunt nor gather but absorb nutrients through their
roots or convert sunlight into food by a process known as photosynthesis. Both of the above classes quickly die
without water. Breatharians, by
contrast, do not require water. Nor do
they hunt, gather, photosynthesise or absorb square-meal nourishment in any
shape or form. Remarkably, the
breatharian, it is claimed, derives its fuel from the sunlight and the air that
it breathes, that air being a source of pranic energy – a substance as
yet unexamined by even the most wayward drug-addled biochemistry
post-grad. Forget Solomon in all his
glory – not even the lilies of the field are arrayed like these lucky bastards
in the paucity of their nutritional requirements.
The discovery or, indeed, invention of the breatharian living principle
comes down to one man, Wiley Brook (1983), who explains it thus:
‘The Breatharian needs air and Sunlight only, and
nothing more to sustain his body.
The world is flooded with books on food and
eating. No one seems to realize that eating is not natural, but an
acquired habit, like smoking and drinking, and that FRESH CLEAN AIR is the
Cosmic Reservoir of all things, including the substance that builds and
sustains the human body. Science has shown that the body is built
of cells, which are composed of molecules, which are composed of atoms, which
are composed of electrons, which are nothing more than whirling centers of
force in the ether. Electrons do not
eat, atoms do not eat, molecules do not eat, cells do not eat, and the body is
built of and sustained by the cells, and not by what man eats.’ [6]
Well, that’s a point of view. And
just as taxonomists like to divide up the Earth’s flora and fauna into phyla,
species and variants, a number of discrete sub-groupings of breatharian may be
identified.
Pseudobreatharians
megabullshittimus
First, take pseudobreatharians
megabullshittimus. According to some commentators, the
pseudobreatharian is more properly regarded an animal of the genus homo
sapiens, since its survival strategy involves adopting the outward
trappings of a breatharian diet, whilst surreptitiously consuming the standard
food-and-water-based fare familiar to the regular humans in your home and
mine. Pseudobreatharianus
megabullshittimus knows damned well
that he/she is not living on air and sunlight alone, but takes pains to create
that impression when addressing the faithful or the world’s press. According to the Brisbane Sunday Mail,
none is more guilty of this fakery than the aforementioned breatharian
spearhead known (though not to her mother) as Jasmuheen:
‘"I
wish to state categorically that, yes, there are individuals on this planet who
no longer obtain nourishment from food," declared Jasmuheen, as she
invited the audience to attend the Breatharians forthcoming international
conference in Noosa Lakes, Queensland. "I am one: I have not eaten a meal
for six years, although I do occasionally eat some chocolate or a few biscuits,
just for a taste orgasm."’ [2]
We quickly gather from other sources that Jasmuheen keeps to-hand a rich
supply of taste orgasms. Oliver Burkeman
again:
‘Jasmuheen freely admits to
drinking orange juice regularly and occasionally nibbling chocolate cookies for
a 'taste sensation.' In the past she has described her diet as including tea with honey and soya milk, chocolate,
potato chips, soup and the odd piece of fruit.’
Theoretically, a diet consisting of those foods in small amounts could
represent a calorific intake to which the body could adjust without significant
weight loss. Reporters visiting
Jasmuheen's
'No, no,' she replied. 'Well,
yes, okay, I did. But I won't be eating it.' [2]
Note Jasmuheen’s admirable ethical principles in her insisting on not
eating vegetarian food, rather than refusing to
eat meat-based fare. Wiley Brooks
himself has been similarly caught out by surprised onlookers, trying to
surreptiously order a chicken pie in a public restaurant.
Breatharians
moribundis
But then there is breatharianis moribundis. Tragically,
this is more like it. That not all
breatharians are cynical fakes is exemplified by the ‘failed breatharian’ (or
‘corpse’ as this variant is more commonly known). Heroic and dedicated to the spartan, 21-day
food- and water-less regime outlined in Jasmuheen’s book ‘Living on Light’, [3] at time of writing,
no fewer than three Western breatharians have achieved a grisly martyrdom of
sorts through accepting their leaderine’s foolish blatherings at face value.
Breatharians
veritas
But somewhere, presumably, between all this faking and failing, between
the snacking and starving, someone might yet look under a bush and discover breatharians
veritas – the creature who embodies Brook’s dictum that ‘The Breatharian needs air and sunlight only,
and nothing more to sustain his body’.
On best evidence, neither Brooks nor latter-day cultmeister Jasmuheen is
that creature. So who, if anyone, swims
in Brooks’ cosmic reservoir of eternal pranic renewal?
Don’t try this at home, kids…
Perhaps more frightening than Jasmuheen’s seeming indifference to the
self-harm she encourages in her followers is her apparent inability to
recognise that harm as it happens. Her
website contains a page entitled: Living
on Light Research Update, which is happy to publish the following
first-hand testimony from t.f. of
‘Hi all, I'm 22 years old and over the
past couple years have had experieces that have lead me to finally undergo the
21 day process.. Basically I am overwhelmingly enchanted by unity and harmony
between all and see it everywhre natrally breaking through all obstruction we
create. I find one truth and that is that all in one unified immortal limitless
love-light that forever flows in augmenting harmonic paridise. All else is illusion
and obstruction crerated from resisting the natral course of the cosmic mind. I
was a raw fruit and green-leaf eater for 9-months and then reduced my
consumption of food too a couple of peices a day for two months prior to the
process. i wanted to live on light for freedom, prove limitlessnesss to my full
cellular body and mind, live ahimsa, bring forth my highest potential to
benifit all. So I've recently done the process and was willing to face the
illusion of death. I know no others that have tried (I'm a friend of david
wolfe Jasmuheen) it and recived resistance from family fearing my death.. So
i've done the process learned and faced heaps, but i have lost more weight and
muscle than I thought was possible its day 24 now and I have not eaten and I
not wanting to drink much (1 liter or less a day of water with lemon taste)
however I look honestly like I'm near dead skinny face totally sunken, alll
bones visible, thighs the size of my calves. I'm 6'2" and estimate I weigh
100 lbs. I also have been having kidney pains for about two hours for the last
two days, my skin is massively dry and flaking, and I'm getting purple spots on
my chest, heart rate seems faster too. So I'm not doing that great but my faith
is huge to be fully sustained by the one truth I AM. Am I all alone here? Can I
speak to somebody please? Similar experiences? Well I'll pray. Peace and love
to all.’ [4]
It is not yet clear whether t.f., for all is brave effort has graduated
to become breatharians
veritas or has
had to settle for breatharians moribundis. But at
least he mentioned ‘love’, which might give him a fighting chance. From Wiley Brooks’ own website:
‘Bruno: Are you saying that we can live on love alone?
Wiley [Brooks]: Yes,
literally. The Human Body is simply a love machine. A machine that
uses love as fuel. There was a time when our environment was saturated
with the energy of love. Because it is the very nature of love to
nurture, harmonize and unify, we were all harmonized with the planet and with
each other. We were all One. We Humans Beings are Creatures of love
and as well as Creators of love. It stands to reason that we would create
our physical bodies with matter or materials that were in harmony with
ourselves and our environment. Where there is harmony, there is a flow of
love. The hunger the world is experiencing is not for food, but for
love.’ [6]
The term ‘dangerous cult’ is sometimes too liberally applied by
mainstream commentators to characterise unorthodox ideas and lifestyles:
typically non-mainstream but semi-benign practices that seduce the minds of
gullible youth. Kids who mostly grow out
of chanting Hare Krishna before
middle age or psychosis sets in. But
then, some cults pose a real danger, not only to members’ sanity but
also their lives. When a Heaven’s Gate
or
LINK: The Hunger Site
REFS:
[1] Burkeman, O. (1999) The
Observer, date not so important.
[2] The Brisbane Daily Mail
(1999) – Author uncertain.
[3] Jasmuheen (1997) Living
on Light. KOHA Publishing.
[4]
http://www.selfempowermentacademy.com.au/copy_of_jasmuheen/_disc3/0000000a.htm
[6]
http://www.breatharian.com/breatharianism2.htm
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