Breatharian
A
breatharian
is one who follows a
diet
in which no
food
(and possibly no
water
) is consumed. Breatharians claim that they are sustained by 'light energy' (or
prana
) alone, and that this 'diet' is an option for anybody, once the proper techniques for accessing it are made known. Both current
scientific
theories about
nutrition
and generally accepted
common sense
indicate that a person who followed these diets would die of
starvation
(if only a no food diet) or
thirst
(if both no food and no water). Indeed, there is no accepted scientific evidence for any of the claims put forward by the breatharians. The only breatharian to undergo scrutiny -- Ellen Greve (aka
Jasmuheen
), on Australia's
60 Minutes
http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/60/stories/1999_10_24/story_57.asp
http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/jasmuheen.htm
-- became ill and bowed out after a few days without food or water, citing
stress
and
pollution
as the cause for her symptoms. The well-publicized deaths of
Verity Linn
and
Lani Marcia Roslyn Morris
whilst attempting to enter the breatharian "diet" have drawn further criticism of the movement. To date, three deaths have been linked to breatharianism.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/453661.stm
http://www.rickross.com/reference/breat/breat08.html
The breatharian movement also suffered a credibility blow some years ago when another of its leading lights,
Wiley Brooks
, was caught sneaking into a hotel and ordering a chicken pie.
Paramahansa Yogananda
's
Autobiography of a Yogi
details two alleged historical examples of breatharianism, Giri Bala and Teresa Neumann.
See also
Cult
Esotericism
Fructarianism
Liquidarianism
Mysticism
New Age
Occultism
Qi
James Randi
Religion
Spirituality
Vegetarianism
External links
Skeptic's dictionary article about Breatharianism
BBC story: Guru condemned as 'dangerous'
BBC story: Woman 'starved herself to death'
BBC story: Fasting fakir flummoxes physicians
Spiritual Diets: Breatharianism (about.com)
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