air diet !

[Sunanda]

hey !

i've heared that some people, including some devotees, never eat any food nor they drink, but just get what they need by breathing exercices for years.

 

i'd like to do a research about it, it has a name but i can't remember, can anyone told me more about that !!?

 

Peace.

[Guest guest]

no prasadam no krsna, avoiding it is a nonsense and an offence

[cRimAl]

Personaly I think that this "no prasadam no krsna, avoiding it is a nonsense and an offence" is big nonsense !

 

Do you really think that Krishna would like a person less because he/she is not indulging in prasadam ? That sounds very very wrong !

 

Krishna is our friend, NOT our enemy.

[Guest guest]

yeah, but sacrifice for show is quite unnecessary and if you don't know what you are doing can be harmful

best to take everything in moderation (even sacrifice)

 

[theist]

A person asks a simple question an it gets turned without delay into an argument.

 

I believe you are refering to breatharians Sunanda. Supposedly they can extract enough nitogen from the air. I imagine other laws are at work that we know little of.

[Guest guest]

Haribol. I know a few that tried to just breath, but they had chillum and spliff in their mouths, so after such breathing, they hit the snack table.

 

We dont reject asceticism nor the activities of actual avadhutas, like the goswamis, some of whom were content to just eat a grain of rice and a pat of butter each day. But asceticism is quite selfish and the only god worshipped is the illusion of self.

 

To eat prasadam is worship of Krsna, the foundation of bhakti yoga. To become emaciated means all the service one does is sleep, and I think if this be the case, try the chillum and spliff, it works better. Maybe yall wake up hungry and have some prasadam.

 

tongue in cheekly, mahak

[Guest guest]

whose arguing?

 

[mahak]

we all argue, this is our age.

[Guest guest]

"you really think that Krishna would like a person less because he/she is not indulging in prasadam ?"

 

-prasadam is devotional service not indulging!

[livingentity]

is the mercy of the Lord and we breath by the mercy of the Lord.

 

 

[livingentity]

yup, and we prove it everyday.

[theist]

This one paper may offere some sources for further examination.

 

 

 

Historical Breatharians

 

 

--

 

In the press and in esoteric publications, we can find reports of quite a few examples of breatharians:

 

According to the Rosicrucian Digest, June 1959, a person by the name of Balayogini Sarasvati of Amma, India, lived on water only for a period of more than three years.

 

It was reported by Hilton Hotema of Health Research that Marie Frutner, a Bavarian girl, lived on water without food for 40 years and was under observation for a time in Munich in 1835.

 

Judah Mehler, Grand Rabbi, 1660-1751, ate and drank sparingly one day a week, broke his ‘fast’ about twelve times a year on Jewish holidays, led a busy life as Rabbi of three communities and lived to be 91, according to Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

 

Dr. T.Y. Gan, according to Jones H. B. et al, Am. J. Cancer, 40:243-50, 1940, gave the following report on Yand Mel, age 20, who hasn’t eaten for the last 9 years: She shows no signs of starvation, leads a perfectly normal life except for having lost [the] desire for food. Her alimentary tract has become dormant and rudimentary; she takes no water.

 

Caribala Dassi, sister of Babulamboxer, pleader of Purillia, has been living for the past 40 years without taking any food or water and has done regular household duties with no apparent injury to her health, as per India’s Message, 1932.

 

Danalak Shumi of Marcara, India, age 18, for over one year took no food or water. She leads a normal healthy life. At age 14, her appetite diminished until she could not assimilate anything. The Indian Government sent her to be examined at the Bangalore General Hospital according to the Bombay Press. August 1953.

 

Teresa Avila, a Bavarian peasant, born 1898, has taken no food nor water and does not sleep since 1926. She is not thin nor sickly, works in her garden and is described by "Aberee 1960" as one of the happiest persons.

 

Therese Neumann, a German nun, who passed away in 1952, did not eat for 40 years, no food, no water, and lived a contented life.

 

Paramhansa Yogananda, in his book "Autobiography of a Yogi" describes an woman named Giri Bala of Bahar, West Bengal, now over 70 years old, who, as a child, had an insatiable appetite but has taken no food nor fluid since she was 12. She has never been sick, is an expert in pranayama (breathing exercises) and yoga, is always happy, looks like achild, does normal housework and has no bodily excetions. Her case was investigated by the late Sri Bijali Chand Mahtab, Maharajah of Burdwan, India.

 

 

--

 

J. Buche, N.D. is a retired Naturopathic Physician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Before you write with a legitimate question, please check the News page for mailing etiquette.

Check out his credentials here.

 

Juergen Buche, ND, NHC, MI, Phy.D. is the Web Author - except where indicated otherwise. No copyrights reserved in this web site but acknowledgement of the use of any of my authored material would be much appreciated .

http://seasilver.threadnet.com/Preventorium/others.htm

[Guest guest]

About the prasadam: I wouldn't call eating prasadam the main thing of bhakti-yoga: for me that would be loving and serving Krishna and you may be surprised by how forgiving Krishna really is when you truly let your life be guided by Him and his amazing energy.

 

[Priitaa]

Thiest,

 

I have always believed this. I dont know for spiriutal purposes, as I am much more interested in trying to connect with Krishna and serve Him and share Him with others, then either my eating OR my breathing. But for health reasons, I sure could use some of that. I wonder how long they practiced Pranayama daily, because regarldess of religion, we know thats why they were doing. A rose by any other name is still a rose. You either obtain your nutrition from food or you obtain it from prana. Does it say anywhere how long they practiced breath work each day?

[cRimAl]

I heard that pranayama could also be very dangerous for the health. Apparentely it can be somewhat dangerous to try to master this by yourself.

[theist]

about any of this. Some of the Christain saints seem to have had this just become part of their lives without separate endeavor. They just concentrated on their prayer lives and connection to God and these other changes just came about. I don't think any of them were practicing pranayama with an aim to stop eatting.

[Guest guest]

Haribol. We could change this topic a bit by speaking of asceticism, which is a little different that just living on air. Great demons did this, like Hiranyakasipu, so why bother with the air-heads.

 

However, the christian history has great ascetics such as ambrose and jerome, and we could include the thomas merton types as well.

 

Vaisnavas of this type are well described, Jada Bharata, Lord Kapila, even the pandavas and Drtarastra and his wife, queen kunti, Vidura, etc. There comes a time when the body's needs are no longer of any consequence, and there are valid reasons for giving up the mantel of mater addiction. The six goswamis were quite austere, as well, but a grave instruction by Srila Prabhupada warns us against such imitation of the great personalities.

 

Srila Prabhupada once spoke of an ascetic woman who was over 200 years old, a pranayami, but he attributed no spiritual significance to such practice. Like Yogananda, he looked so yound when he was well over 60, but what good is looking young in a coffin?

 

Haribol, ys, mahaksadasa

[Priitaa]

Crimal,

 

Pranayama is not dangerous for health. Matter of fact, a lot of regular people who have used it, in other words they were not yogis and did not have extensive training how to employ its energy, healed stubborn illnesses. Maybe you mean Kundalini? Because pranayama is part of the process to raise the kundalini, and it can be VERY dangerous to prematurely raise the kundalini, especially when a person doesn't know what they are doing. But that is a different process then some simple breath work.

[Govindaram]

prasadam is an exchange of Love between Krishna,

also it depends what type of air you breath..

The fragrance of Maha-Prasdam being cooked? /images/graemlins/smirk.gif /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Guest guest]

"About the prasadam: I wouldn't call eating prasadam the main thing of bhakti-yoga:"

 

the second one, after chanting hare krishna, prabhupada came in new york, first harinama in thompkins square park then distributing prasadam in matchless gifts, then philosophy and so on...

[Priitaa]

I wish to clarify my personal point, as otherwise it may be confused with Krishna consciousness or overall spiriutal life. So, I do not have any interest in pranayama as a spiriutal discipline, I do not intend on giving up Krishna prasad hahaha, and do not see pranayama as having much to do with the highest science of love of God/Krishna. The original poster thought there was some connection, but we all know the science of breath control and the science of love, what to speak of love of Krishna directly, are eons away from each other.

 

My point is, just like we sometimes practice Hatha Yoga as a form of 'physical' exercise and not to become hatha yogis, pranayama practice is to improve the physical body in this oxygen depleted era, but should not be confused with using it for spirutal advancement. Its next to impossible to advance spirutally in this age of kali through any other yoga methods. The only yoga method that will stop this cycle of birth and death is bhakti or love and devotion to Krishna.

 

I view breath work in the same category as taking a vitamin pill, or using herbs to heal. Thats all. It can be helpful for those with asthama, bronchial problems. I myself have a disorder that can cause me to have a loss up to 40% of oxygen intake, tho when treated it is drastically decreased, but not eliminated. (Mine is treated. This is the only reason why I wondered how long they practiced it daily.)

 

So for material health, pranayama can be used, but no one should think they can get the inbreath to go into the outbreath and stop all breathing, thus transfer themselves to the heavens in this age. Nor would I want to go to the heavens! Am aiming for somewhere around Krisnaloka, tho not so sure I'll make it, but heck, I'll take Vaikuntha planets. lol (Tho they may not take me! ha Again, am working on it.)

 

Krsna prasad ki jai! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[cRimAl]

Crimal,

 

Pranayama is not dangerous for health. Matter of fact, a lot of regular people who have used it, in other words they were not yogis and did not have extensive training how to employ its energy, healed stubborn illnesses. Maybe you mean Kundalini? Because pranayama is part of the process to raise the kundalini, and it can be VERY dangerous to prematurely raise the kundalini, especially when a person doesn't know what they are doing. But that is a different process then some simple breath work.

 

 

Actually no, I do mean pranayama. It can be dangerous in that way that people who aren't used to using their lungs in that way can do serious damage. Holding the breath for and so on needs to be practiced very carefuly and it's favorably to learn it under the guidance of a skilled yogi.

 

But yeah, kundalini is a whole other story...and I also believe that kundalini can be awakened (by accident) without the heavy practice that it normaly takes.

[Guest guest]

 

Actually no, I do mean pranayama. It can be dangerous in that way that people who aren't used to using their lungs in that way can do serious damage. Holding the breath for and so on needs to be practiced very carefuly and it's favorably to learn it under the guidance of a skilled yogi.

 

 

Haribol Crimal,

 

Well, anyone who does not know to pull the breath all the way down into the abdomen yet thinks they know pranayama can't be too bright. I mean, even the new agers know this. Its kind of the A,B,Cs of any type of breath work. Or ven tho herbs are healing, we could be afraid to take herbs cuz some herbs will kill ya. I think we just need to employ some common sense.

 

Most people dont go into pranayama breathing blindly but do a little studying at least. It doesn't require a guru when only doing it for health reasons. No one would even attemptsome of those fancy breath exercises for that! ha

 

I would have to see evidence that it has harmed anyone, cuz I have talked to many who utilize it for health reasons, and not one has experienced any damage, but healings. Let me clear up, I'm not talking about real pranayama. We can't do real pranayama in this age. Most are just doing an advanced form of deep breathing with a touch of pranayama. Its often used to help with reiki too. Thats what the 'ki' is in Reiki, just another workd for "prana."

 

 

But yeah, kundalini is a whole other story...and I also believe that kundalini can be awakened (by accident) without the heavy practice that it normaly takes.

 

 

I've heard this theory before, that one can accidentally awaken the kundalini thru pranayama, but I've never met anyone who actually had it happen. I haven't seen too many self realized yogis walking around who accidentally awakened their kundalini one day during deep breathing yoga exercises. (Funny how we disbelieve in the postive power of these things, but strongly believe in their negative power.)

 

I guess I understand where you are coming from in a way. Before I read up on it, I was paranoid about the kundalini. I even remember someone wanted to put a link to kundalini in an old newsletter of mine, and I said "no, this is dangerous." She insisted it wasn't, but I would not budge, out of the same fears. But over time I leanred it was HARD to awaken the kundalini, not easy. I was informed of this by many who knew what they were talking about, and from various aspects. There may be a fluke here or there that does causes it to awaken, but to worry about it as a result of breathing would be like worrying about it regarding falling down onto cement. I have read some of these types of flukes awakened the kundalini that way too. When we fall down, our concerns aren't about the kundalini but a concusion. lol And thats becuase its as rare as awakening it with deep breathing. It actually takes a lot of hard work coupled with conscious intent to raise the Kundalini even a little. First, it has to penetrate the sushama sheaths, and in when deep breathing, it does not cause the kundalini to do that.

 

Heres a little educational info about how the process actually works:

 

>>>The sushumna runs up and down the central axis of the body within the spine, between the crown (top of the head) and sacrum. The sushumna is also connected to all seven primary chakras via the "stems," which provides each chakra with this vital energy. Besides the sushumna, there are two additional energy channels that play an important role in our energy system. These channels are known in Sanskrit as: "ida" and "pingala."

 

The pingala channel is the carrier of solar energy. It is full of heat and drive. It begins on the right hand side of the Root chakra and ends in the upper area of the right nostril.

 

The ida channel is the carrier of the cool and calming lunar energy. It begins on the left hand side of the Root chakra and ends in the left nostril.

 

These two channels wind their way around the sushumna from the Root chakra to the nose, meeting at the 6th chakra and polarizing each of the chakras in between, thus contributing to their spin (see Figure 6 above).

 

Only when one attempts to arouse the energy latent in the inner layers does the dangerous serpent fire begin to show itself. Think of this serpent fire as a ball or sphere of fire, or energy, and the ball is made up of layers, like a ball within a ball within a ball within a ball, etc.

 

The harmless fire of the outer skin of the ball or sphere travels up the spinal column using the three lines of sushumna, ida and pingala simultaneously.<<<

 

And even after all this, there is much more explained. So if its found overwhelming to read, thats one thing, but when taken apart we can see its not easy to wake up that kundalini, its hard! It takes an entire process. And again, in kali yuga we are not doing real pranayama anyhow. But especially, I wouldn't want to scare anyone away from using breath instead of some allopathic drug that may tear up their liver, etc.

 

Thats my two cents. How you choose to believe is of course, up to you.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thought I was logged in. Sorry.

 

That last post was from me.

 

YS,

Priitaa dd

[cRimAl]

 

I understand, but think about sports for a second. You can't just take up a sport (even though it will prove to be good for your health) and go all the way, there has to be a begin point where you take things slowly and then you build it all up gradualy. That's pretty much what I meant with the 'dangerous' part. Pranayama is mainly practiced in certain asanas and when your body (and lungs) are not used to this kind of practice it can prove to be dangerous in that way that it can cause you great physical pain...

And I believe that this is especially the case in this 'new age' area: I think that you are overestimating people when you claim that even new agers know this.

We are in an age where information has been spread all over the globe...so ancient wisdom is suddenly revealed to people who have been living entirely different since a very long time in history. That can be dangerous. (Just think about certain drugs *or what they can arise* and how they are being used in this chaotic modern world.) Anyways, my point being is that people do have access to the more advanced ways of pranayama and there will be people trying this out, afterall, how many sadhu's haven't 'testified' about the siddhi's one can attain by pranayama or yoga and somehow I do think that there will be people out there trying to hold their breath etc etc without really knowing what they are doing.

 

And about the kundalini: I think that there are more ways of awakening the kundalini force than by pranayama...I even believe that it can be awakaned without even doing any kind of exercise. Why ? How ? Of that I have no idea but I'm convinced that it has happened before.

 

This all said: I also wouldn't want to discourage anyone in doing breathing exercises or yoga because it 'could' be dangerous. Life in the crazy world is way more dangerous on a daily basis: polution goes beyong our worst nightmares, the planet's being raped 24/7, people are exploited 24/7, they are being programmed by other people that only have their own best interest in mind, our food is being grown in poluted ground or worst slaughtered with the excuse that it is so nutritional and that besides that it is our instinct, kids are taken away their innocence because it's profitable etc etc, now THAT is dangerous and health and mental threatening...so I strongly encourage every (positive) action that will uplift the human spirit and make it transcend the mess that we're in.