"Why do we watch the sunrise? Why
do we concentrate on it? In order to learn to mobilize all our
thoughts, all our desires, and all our energies, and to direct them
toward the realization of the highest ideal. A person who works to
unify the many chaotic forces that pull him in every direction and to
project them in a single, luminous and salutary direction becomes such
a powerful centre that his presence, like the sun, is able to radiate
through space. Yes, he who manages to control the tendencies of his
lower nature can spread these blessings over the whole of humanity, and
he becomes a sun. He lives in such freedom that he expands the field of
his consciousness to include the entire human race, to which he sends
the abundance of light and love that pour forth from him. "
by Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
In
November of 2002 there were some flyers put up around school (American
College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, ACTCM), about an Indian man,
Hira Ratan Manek (HRM), coming to lecture in Berkeley, CA. The flyer
was preaching this man's ability to store the sun's energy in his
brain; it was also advertised that HRM hadn't eaten food in seven
years. At the time I was certainly caught up in the ‘supernatural’ and
the quest of 'enlightenment'. Along with many Bay Area individuals; I
owned the tapes, the books and the scented oils. I burned incense, I
took classes, and although I had not taken classes on burning incense,
I certainly believed there was more to life than meets the eye. What is
the goal? Why are we here? Who am I?
I didn't go to the lecture.
These far eastern guru types are a dime a dozen, and there was a
playoff soccer match at Stanford I was looking forward to watching.
Some of my classmates went to HRM's lecture; their feeling was that he
was genuine. He lectured on world peace, struggling and suffering. He
spoke of hungers; does your hunger control you or do you control your
hungers? Not just hungers for food but hungers in general. Why do we
make the choices we make? What drives us to complicate things so?
World peace begins with the individual, until the person finds peace of
mind, there will be no peace. HRM said if we could exist without
hunger, then we would have no suffering. He shared his thoughts that
one way to experience peace was to embrace the sun. His formula was
simple, stand on the earth and stare directly at the sun for 10 seconds
with an addition of 10 seconds each day. In 6 months your hungers
would be under control and understood. Stand there for 10 months you
would never have the need for food again. Not only that, but, you would
not have to stare at the sun again. After 44 minutes of sungazing one
would be ‘full’, energized, just like a solar charged battery. There
was no need to continue the practice; so, within a year HRM was
preaching anyone could reach an incredible level freedom.
Some
of the information I read about the effects of sungazing included: a
decrease in irritability, anger and frustration; an increase in memory
and immunity; not to mention bold claims of complete awareness and
relief from all disease. Hey now, where do I sign up? I was open to
anything that could potentially decrease my frustrations regarding
taxes and increase my ability to remember my neighbors name.
Apparently (according to HRM) the brain is able to store solar energy,
therefore creating the capability to access a larger percentage of our
mind. I am told we use about 6-12% of our brain's capacity (Einstein
used about 20%), through the practice of sungazing imagine utilizing
over 50% of your brain. With that kind of power I might be able to
balance my check book and discuss a recent film at the same time.
Well,
I'm game. While I am here on Earth I might as well taste the tastes of
life. Stare directly into the sun during sunrise or sunset, if he says
it will be ok, bring it on. My parents and teachers have shared with me
many of their 'no's' in life: no smoking, no drinking, no speeding, no
sex, no, no, no. I am sure the 'don't stare into the sun, it will burn
your eyes!' was on the list. In fact, the fear of burning ones eyes
seems relatively universal. Ironically enough while the 'no drinking'
and 'no sex' suggestions didn't seem to stick, the 'don't stare at the
sun' has had some real staying power. People don't seem to have any
trouble pouring poison (alcohol) down their throats, but one mention of
staring directly into the sun and many people stop listening.
I'm
in, if HRM's eyes were ok, maybe mine would be fine as well (in fact,
his lecture mentioned the ability of sungazing to heal many visual
impairments). I lugged myself out of bed; walked a few blocks away to
Holly Park, stared at the rising sun for 10 seconds and went back to
bed. The next day I gazed for 20 seconds, then 30 then 40. As I
increased the amount of time staring into the sun certain physical
sensations were beyond words, and my mental acuity was certainly
changing. Sungazing became an obsession, for the next few months I
traveled a fair amount, there were occasions where I would get up at
4:30am, hike an hour in the chill of the approaching dawn to a ridge to
stare at the sunrise for 3 minutes. Crazy.
Is this
conceivable? Could the problem of world hunger have such a simple
solution? Could it actually be possible to live without food? For years
people were ostracized for stating the world was round. For centuries
scientists have been locked away, doctors have been put in jail, and
witches have been hunted. What are we all afraid of?
Sungazing
is free to everyone on earth. Without prejudice or judgment the sun
rises each day for all of us to witness. The implications are enormous,
could a planet without the need for food include peace? Imagine, John
Lennon's words having a chance to ring true. Another unique quality of
this practice is it’s brevity. Nine months to a year and that's it. You
don't have to pledge the next 40 years of your life to a master
sweeping their ashram; a year or so and you do not have to sungaze
again. HRM has promised a lot. However, if his claims hold water
then, yes, the implications are staggering. Our global economy is not
ready, society is not ready; are you ready? Am I ready?
Visualize
your day without the need of food. No time spent on: cooking, shopping,
preparing, eating, cleaning, reading and thinking about food. Never
having a sick day and having all of those extra hours to pursue your
dreams. It is overwhelming.
Sungazing causes hungers to
diminish? There are many theories, all of which include understanding
the power of light, and the more subtle mechanisms of the pineal gland,
not to mention quantum physics. How is it possible?
If you wish to read more about my experiences with the practice of sungazing feel free to check out 'the earth was flat'.
