Breatharians insist my dependence on food is an illusion. The only thing you need to eat, they say, is light (or cosmic energy, or “the holy breath of God”).
One of the leading proponents of the approach is Jasmuheen. Her book, Living on Light: A Source of Nutrition for the New Millennium, claims not to be about weight loss or dieting, but completing a twenty-one day program designed to eliminate our “addiction to food and water.”
Jasmuheen charges over $2000.00 (US) per person to attend her worldwide seminars, where she encourages people to “live on air.” Jasmuheen herself (born Ellen Greve) claims not have eaten a thing — with the exception of an occasional bite of cheesecake or chocolate — for the past eight years.
Forty-nine year-old Verity Linn followed Jasmuheen’s advice. Not long into the program, her body was found by a Scottish fisherman. Ms. Linn was determined to have died from a combination of exposure and starvation, but Jasmuheen, upon hearing of the death, engaged in telepathic contact with “an ascended master” who informed her that Ms. Linn was merely a “spiritual warrior whose work was complete.”
When Lani Morris of Melbourne, Australia, fell over dead from the same diet, Jasmuheen responded less kindly, indicating Ms. Morris wasn’t “coming from a place of integrity and lacked the proper motivation.” The same fate awaited a German kindergarten teacher who fell over dead after twelve days of fasting inspired by Jasmuheen’s work.
When investigators visited Jasmuheen’s well-appointed home, they discovered the cabinets stuffed with food (it was, she claimed, for her husband — a small-time shyster and former convict).
As part of an investigation into her claims, an Australian television program, 60 Minutes, initiated a controlled experiment, locking Jasmuheen in a hotel room with neither food nor water. Four days later, doctors supervising the event ended the trial when Jasmuheen, eyes dialated and speech slurred, was believed to be dying from dehydration.
Light snack, anyone?
I guess you can’t servive on waith alone.
gav.
Oh man–are people still falling for this? My copy of “Jay’s Journal of Anomalies” by Ricky Jay (subtitled “conjurers*cheats*hustlers*hoaxsters*pranksters*, etc. —http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1593720009/qid=1079986218/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-6655378-2994336?v=glance&s=books) has an entire chapter titled: “The Ultimate Diet: The Art and Artifice of Fasting.” Lots of neat info from 18th and 19th century English pamphlets and entertainment broadsides on remarkable fasters.
And to bring it up to date: Jay’s last section of the chapter is on Breatharianism. He says a man named Wiley Brooks headed the Breatharian Institute of America and in 1983 claimed not to have consumed anything except an occasional fruit juice for 18 years. When he was spotted downing junk food and soda, 13 of the organization’s 15 officers resigned.
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese…