I received the following from another list and thought it might be of
interest here.
JEM
------------
Subject:
Living on Light
Date:
Sat, 5 Jun 1999 21:19:15 EDT
From:
Robert Best <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To Ms Gaynor, Ms Voulis, Mr 'Light Toastie' Waldman
Thank you for your open minded interest! This is to you and all other
curious members of the list. What follows is a fairly detailed
explanation
of my recent experiences and achievement, and is what lay behind my
'watch
this space' mail early last month.
Living on Light is something I was first exposed to in Autobiography of
a
Yogi, in which Yogananda meets with two 'breatharians', Theresa Neumann
in
Germany, and Giri Bala in India. Both women had, by the time of the
meeting,
gone several decades without eating. Neumann, a nun who suffered the
stigmata every Friday, (heavy on bed linen!) insisted that she was
nourished
directly by God. Giri Bala said her nourishment came from prana
('breath')
or, as it's known in the far east, ch'i, or qi.
Last year I came across a lady myself who is a breatharian, an
Australian
called Jasmuheen. After hearing her lecture and seminar, my wife, Nikki,
and
I realised this is not just something for the super-holy - in fact, it
is
open to anyone with the right intent. We read her book (Living on Light)
which is spectacularly badly written, though serves well as a manual for
the
process, and checked out her web site
http://www.selfempowermentacademy.com
We also did further research into the subject, prepared from about
February
on and, for most of May, we took ourselves through the 21 day process.
In a nutshell, this involves isolating oneself for the entire time with
books, gentle music, and space to meditate etc. The first 7 days is the
period where the physical need for food is permanently removed, (the
emotional need can take a lot longer!) and the pranic connection is made
- 7
days of no food, no water, no liquid of any kind. Nil by mouth! Day 8-14
is
the healing week, conserving energy and allowing the body to re-adjust
to
this significant, cellular-level tuning. And Day 15-21 is integration
week.
This is necessary because the whole 21 day period is, in fact, an
extended
initiation and, in our experience, the incredible insights, the
information,
the connectedness which comes along with the conversion to prana take as
much appreciation as the re-tuning itself.
THERE IS MORE TO IT THAN I HAVE DESCRIBED ABOVE, SO DON'T TAKE MY WORDS
AS
DEFINITIVE. IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THIS PATH, BUY THE BOOK!
We were both successful, of course. In fact, we prepared well
beforehand. We
were already vegetarian, and over the preceding weeks moved off alcohol,
moved off cooked foods onto raw foods, and cut down intake gradually.
This
meant we avoided any of the usual de-tox hassles of headaches etc. These
were three of the most beautiful weeks of our lives.
And now? Well, having gone through it in separate places 300 miles apart
(together would not have been a good idea) we have returned to each
other to
find our already-good relationship has strengthened and deepened to a
remarkable degree. Our five senses are much more acute - at my retreat,
I
found I was hearing the dawn chorus from birds in the trees 100 metres
away,
and that's inside a caravan, inside a sleeping bag, under a duvet with
my
hood up for warmth! Our sixth - n senses are also more heightened - we
feel
the connection to the Universe on a much more profound level than ever
before. My thinking is crystal-clear. We're both sleeping much less -
I've
gone from needing a good 7-8 hours a night down, quite naturally, to the
4 -
6 hour range, and it has yet to settle. I'm never tired, despite
launching
back into my hectic job and lifestyle here in London. I have loads of
energy
- even on week three I was walking in the countryside, doing 5, 6, 7
miles a
day. And we both feel absolutely brilliant!
After the three week initiation, one of the real benefits is total
freedom.
We can eat if and as and when we want, or not. We don't even need to
drink,
although we both do. It makes little difference what we eat, as our
nourishment is coming in in a much more refined form, and therefore junk
food has no effect, negative or positive. It's just for fun. Nikki and I
have found ourselves living this reality. She has chosen to start
'grazing'
after the 21 days were finished, and eats something small once every two
or
three days - half an avacado, a bag of crisps, a bagel, whatever she
fancies. No meals, though, and no regularity. As I said, just for fun!
I, on
the other hand, have chosen to continue eating nothing for the
foreseeable
future. I want to take it deeper into my own consciousness (this is only
marginally easier to believe when you're living it!) and I want a daily
reminder, for now, of the complete shift I have achieved. As I write,
I'm on
day 29 of zero food and, I kid ye not, I've never felt better!
I have lost weight and am now perhaps 15-20 pounds lighter than ideal.
However, I am re-programming my body to return to it's ideal weight and
stay
there, and already it is coming back up. I intend to have a blood test
within the next few weeks to make sure all is well, and to re-assure
those
close to me. I'm not sure at present how long I'll continue without food
-
as long as it feels right. I'm not being dogmatic or hard on myself. In
fact, last night I had my first alcoholic drink in nearly three months -
a
wonderful vodka and tonic and two glasses of wine. It felt just right to
do,
and surprisingly, it had little effect. And I was up this morning with
the
birds, around five, after 4 hours sleep, and am now working. Or will be
once
I've finished this! And feeling great!
The wider implications of this are quite staggering. I'm a living
enigma,
defying some of the most basic and accepted norms of being a physical
human
- and I LOVE IT!! There are an estimated 5-6,000 breatharians around the
world right now, and more people are moving in this direction as a
result of
the publicity from Jasmuheen. (I can imagine people suggesting she is
some
kind of cult figure. I can assure you this is absolutely not the case.
One
of the attractions for us was that there was no preaching, no fervour,
not
even the offer of a high-priced personal guide through the process. She
simply presents her experiences, her reality, and the process that she
developed (or was developed through her) and let's each person decide
for
themselves. She has nothing to prove. Besides, Nikki and I are far too
level-headed to get into a cult!)
There has to be a challenge to all this, a difficulty. Right? Well,
there is
one. So much of our social lives are built around food - dinner parties,
business lunches, cafT snacks etc. - and that is the biggest challenge.
We
were out with an engineer the other night. He really struggled with the
concept (we feel no need for secrecy, but are cautious about shaking
people
unnecessarily) and we sat with water and olives (for Nikki) and water
for
me, whilst he ate. That can be awkward for all concerned.
I'm not sure what else I can add. As a writer, I intend to do something
with
this to take it out to a wider audience, but I'm not yet sure what. If
it
can progress the aims of AT in any way, I'd be delighted to help. In the
meantime, I'll carry on munching on sunshine, and keep y'all posted as
things change.
Love and Light
Robert
