Topic: Feasting on Sunshine

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Sun gazingIdea--also known as solar healing, solargazing, sun staring, Sun Yoga, Surya Yoga and Solar Yoga. All terms refer to the practice of staring directly at the sun in order to receive nourishment, healing and spiritual enlightenment. The gazing is done only during the first hour after sunrise or the last hour before sunset, when the sun’s rays are most gentle to your eye.

Hira Ratan Manek was born in 1937 in Bodhavad, India, and was raised in Calicut, Kerala, India, where he earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kerala. After graduating, he joined his family’s spice trade business before retiring from that in 1992 to pursue a life-long interest in sun gazing.

Manek states that we have a super computer in our bodies, given to us by nature -- our brain -- which he calls the “brainuter.” He says that sun gazing activates the full potential of your brain, bringing forth “infinite inherent powers” that have remained dormant for millennia.

In order to activate these dormant brain powers, Manek suggests:

    Being a holistic entity it needs a holistic power supply. Sun energy is the source that powers the brain, which can enter and leave the human body or the brain only through one organ that is the human eye. Eyes are the Sun Energy’s entry door to the human brain.

Converting solar energy to physical nourishment is not a new phenomenon but the rediscovery of an age-old healing ritual. Sun gazing originated in India more than 2,000 years ago with the teaching of Lord Mahavir of Jain, also known as Mahavira or Vardhamana. Lord Mahavir established Jainism, one of the oldest religions originating on the Indian subcontinent. Jains believe that every soul is divine and has the potential to achieve God-consciousness.

Sun gazing was also practiced by ancient Egyptians, Aztecs, Greeks, Mayans, in Tibetan Yoga and some traditions of Qigong, Tai Chi, and by some Native American tribes.

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The Sun Gazing Process

HRM has developed a method for sun gazing, based on years of study, and trial and error. He states it can be accomplished by anyone, in any part of the world, at any time of the year. Sun gazing is a one-time practice that takes 9 months to complete. It is generally broken into three phases:

    1. First 3 months

    2. 3-6 months

    3. 6-9 months

After the 9 months, there is a life-long regimen of “bare foot walking” on earth soil for 45 minutes a day, and the more you stick to this regimen, the more your body will be “recharged.” More about this later.

First Three Months

Manek instructs sun gazers to begin their sun gazing journey by spending a maximum of 10 seconds on the first day looking directly into the sun during the safe hours, which are defined as within one hour after sunrise or within one hour of sunset. While sun gazing, it is important if possible to stand on warm, bare earth. This helps to ground you and enhances the sun gazing benefits.

On the second day, look for 20 seconds. Add 10 additional seconds every day thereafter. So, after 10 days, you will be looking at the sun for 100 seconds (e.g., one minute and 40 seconds).

In this first phase, it is common for people to begin experiencing a more positive mindset, less negativity, more confidence, more compassion, and less fear.

Three to Six Months

At the end of three months, your gazing time will be about 15 minutes. This is the period during which many people begin to find their physical diseases subsiding.

HRM also states that 70-80 percent of the energy synthesized from food is used by your brain to “fuel tensions and worries”, and after three months, these tensions go away, leaving this newly freed energy available for more productive use. You might also find your need for food decreasing.

When you reach 30 minutes duration, he states you will be “slowly liberated from physical disease” since, by then, your organs are all receiving their needed Prana[iv], or life energy, directly from the sun.

Your body needs energy, not necessarily food. Food is actually our “secondary energy source,” according to HRM. The human body does not convert sunlight into energy in the same way plants do, with chlorophyll, but through a different photosynthesis process, like a photovoltaic cell.

HRM states:

“You are your own master at the end of 6 months.”

Six to Nine Months

After 6 months, you will start to utilize the original form of “micro food,” which comes from the sun. This has the additional benefit of having no toxic waste attached to it.

At around 7.5 months, or 35 minutes per day of sun gazing, you can expect your hunger to start decreasing appreciably. Hunger results from the energy requirements of your body, which is a must for your existence. Conventionally, you are getting the sun energy indirectly by eating foods that are a by-product of sun energy. Now, you are getting the energy directly.

Between 8 and 9 months (44 minutes), HRM says you can expect your hunger to be pretty much gone. If it isn’t, he says it is because you don’t have enough belief in the process, and it will take you a little longer, but it is still achievable.

More importantly, at this stage, your energy levels are very high and you will have a very deep sense of well-being.

After Nine Months

After nine months, you should discontinue solar gazing for the sake of eye care--your eyes have reached the limits of what they can safely take. However, your body will eventually become “discharged,” kind of like a battery, and must be recharged.

Recharging is accomplished by walking bare-foot, on bare earth, preferably in the sun, since the bare earth contains a great deal of sun energy.

This works, HRM explains, because the act of walking stimulates your pineal gland. As is described in reflexology[v] your foot is a microcosm of your entire body, and your big toe is connected with your pineal gland. The other toes are connected to the other major glands of your body. More information about the pineal gland will be presented in a following section.

The recommended walking schedule is, walk for 6 consecutive days once you have completed your nine months of sun gazing, for 45 minutes per day. Just walk at a relaxed pace--no need to walk briskly or jog.

Then, walk regularly (he doesn’t give a minimum or maximum) for a year, always for 45 minutes. After a year of “recharging,” if you are satisfied with how you feel, you can discontinue bare foot walking. But if you want to strengthen your immune system, memory, intelligence, etc., then continue the walking.

He also mentions that many other mental and spiritual benefits are possible during this time, such as new psychic abilities, a built-in “navigational” system, and higher levels of brain activity. He states:

“Almost all problems get solved.”

For more detailed instructions, please refer to his website.

The Pineal Gland

The pineal gland[vi] [vii](also called the pineal body, epiphysis cerebri, or epiphysis) is a small endocrine gland in your brain, about the size of a pea. It produces melatonin, a hormone that influences your wake/sleep patterns and photoperiodic (seasonal) functions. It is shaped like a tiny pine cone (hence its name), and is located near the center of your brain, tucked into a groove between the two hemispheres.

pineal glandThe pineal gland was the last gland to have its function discovered. Its long status as the “mystery gland” caused it to be shrouded in myth, superstition and the object of numerous metaphysical theories about its function.

The pineal gland is associated with the sixth chakra, also called Ajna or the “third eye” in yoga, and is considered to be the seat of “inner wisdom.” It is believed by many to be a dormant organ that, when activated, awakens psychic abilities. Some consider it to be where consciousness resides in your body. Rene Descartes devoted a great deal of his life to its study and called the gland “the seat of the soul[viii].”

Interestingly, the gland is activated by light. Light reaches it by passing into your eyes, then along a pathway from your retina to your hypothalamus called the retinohypothalamic tract, then along nerve pathways to your pineal gland.

Light impulses inhibit the production of melatonin, and at night when it is dark, pineal inhibition ceases, and melatonin is released. Therefore, the pineal gland is an important timekeeper for your body. Melatonin is also produced during visualization and relaxation.

How is the pineal gland associated with sun gazing?

According to Dr. Sudhir Shah:

    The hypothalamus is the commander of autonomic nervous system, and the pineal gland is in proximity to the autonomic nervous system, so it is logical that new energy transportation may either activate this system or it may use this system as vehicle.

HRM believes that the light energy you take in while sun gazing activates your dormant pineal gland, which then turns your “brainuter” on. It is this activation that causes you to experience the magical conversion of sun energy into nutrition, healing of disease, heightened energy, increased psychic abilities and, ultimately, enlightenment.

Looking at Sun Gazing With a Skeptical Eye

Is sun gazing really safe?

Sun gazing is highly controversial due to the considerable evidence which states that looking directly at the sun can be damaging to your eyes. Solar retinopathy[ix]

• is a form of damage to the retina from solar radiation, usually seen in those who look directly at the sun during a solar eclipse. Although vision loss due to the sun is generally reversible, permanent damage and loss of vision have been reported.

But how much of a danger is sun gazing, if practiced within the established safety guidelines?

Most eye care professionals will advise you against looking directly at the sun, during solar eclipses and otherwise. However, there seems to be a multitude of sun gazers out there who are carefully following “safe” sun gazing guidelines, without any real horror stories about visual damage or blindness.

So, who is right?

Since so many people appear to be successfully engaged in this practice and are reporting benefits, perhaps there is some validity to sun gazing, provided it is done with an appropriate measure of caution in order to minimize the risk to your eyes.

Astronomer Andrew T. Young[xi] wrote an article about the history of solar retinal injuries, exploring fact versus folktale. He states there is ample evidence in the literature that the normal human eye is able to look briefly at the sun without harm. He uses the statistical distribution of solar injuries as evidence for the safety of sun gazing:

    …The near-total eclipses at which eye injury occasionally occurs are visible only a few minutes per century at any given location on Earth; the unobscured Sun is available for viewing every clear day. If we suppose the Sun is up (on the average) for 12 hours a day, that's about 440,000 hours or over 26 million minutes per century that the Sun is up outside of eclipse, compared to a few minutes of dangerous time near totality.

    So you'd expect eye injuries from unprotected Sun-viewing to be roughly a million times more common than injuries during eclipses.

However, what we find is that the vast majority of solar retinal injuries occur as a result of viewing a solar eclipse without adequate protection because the pupil is opened up, allowing very high levels of UV to penetrate in a short time.

There are impressively few reports of any such injuries from non-eclipse sun gazing. And even eclipse-viewing injuries are relatively uncommon.

Dr. Young’s conclusion…

The potential for serious eye damage from sun gazing at sunrise or sunset is small; about the only way you could seriously damage yourself would be to stare at the full sun at high noon while your pupils were dilated by some kind of drug. (Quite a variety of nasal decongestants and other common drugs, as well as exposure to some pesticides, have been reported to dilate the pupils.)

Vinny Pinto of the Raw Paleolithic Diet website[xii], who has done a tremendous amount of research in the area of sun gazing and is a sun gazer himself, writes:

    There is definitely some potential danger to staring at the sun for any significant length of time anytime after a couple of hours after sunrise or a couple of hours before sunset, and particularly at high noon and during early afternoon, but even then the harm would likely be minor or temporary. There is also some significant danger from staring at an eclipse for even a short length of time, since the pupil may be tricked by the apparent low light intensity into allowing too great an influx of solar radiation at harmful wavelengths into the eye.

It is also worth mentioning that the urban legends about several students going blind in the 1960s while tripping out on LSD[xiii] [xiv] and staring at the sun were nothing but a hoax designed to scare kids into avoiding drugs.

Have the Claims of Hira Ratan Manek Been Substantiated?

Currently, there exists no solid scientific proof that sun gazing actually works in the manner that the “sun gazing gurus” claim, nor is there solid proof to the contrary. The sun gazing community is enthusiastically awaiting rigorous and definitive scientific studies on sun gazing to resolve the matter.

But until those come forth, the best you can do is to review the data yourself, and follow your gut.

Dr. Sudhir Shah[xv], a neurologist who led the 21-physician team that evaluated and monitored HRM during his 411-day water-and-solar-energy fast, publicized his conclusions and theories about how HRM can subsist on sunlight. He posited that HRM sustains himself based on four key factors/processes:

    1. Reducing calorie requirement by chronic adaptation

    2. Deriving basic energy from sun energy

    3. Utilizing the energy in an efficient way, and recycling it in his body

    4. Possessing a genetically or phenotypically different body disposition

He goes into great detail about each factor in his theoretical summary, which you can read in his online report.

Dr. Shah concludes that the sun gazing phenomenon is genuine, stating, “It’s just fantastic, and absolutely amazing, but this is not a myth.”

A glowing article[xvi] in support of HRM was written by Dr. Maurie D. Pressman, a Holistic-Spiritual Psychoanalyst and Director of the Pressman Center for Mind/Body Wellness in Philadelphia. Dr. Pressman states he spent a good deal of “personal time” with HRM and believes he is one of the “realized beings among us.”

He describes how struck he was with how HRM’s body looked--very slender, graceful, and firm--not emaciated at all. He was also impressed with his quiet, self-assured manner.

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When we hear the word "yoga," we imagine a yogi twisting his body into a pretzel or performing special breathing exercises. This is hatha yoga or physical yoga. "Yoga" means union. The goal of every type of yoga is union with God, the Solar Presence. Hatha yoga tries to reach this union through the body, karma yoga through service, kriya yoga through light and colors. Jnana yoga attempts to unite us to god through study, reflection and intellectual activity. Bhakti yoga os the yoga of devotion. Raja yoga teaches concentration and self-control. Agni yoga is the yoga of spiritual fire and shabda yoga connects us through sacred words or mantras.
     
      Surya yoga or sun yoga is the highest yoga and the fastest path to union. Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov wrote, “Surya yoga includes them all: adoration, wisdom, power as well as purity, activity and dedication, light and the sacred fire of Divine love… By the practice of Surya yoga you establish a link between yourself and the power that governs and gives life to the whole Universe: the sun.” By "sun" Omraam is referring to the spiritual sun which the physical sun is but a reflection.

      Sun yoga is still practiced as a daily ritual called Surya Namaskar by Hindus and Jains although its significance and correct procedure has been lost. It used to be a daily practice of many peoples throughout the world—Greeks, Egyptians, Essenes, Persians, Aztecs, Mayans, Incans, Tibetans and Chinese. In the last century, three people revived sun yoga in the West. The first was Omraam Mikhael Aïvanhov who left a vast body of knowledge during nearly fifty years of teaching. Over seventy books have been published from his lecture notes with enough material for 400 more books. One of Omraam's books that I highly recommend is The Splendour of Tiphareth which contains his teachings on surya yoga.

            The second person was the maverick archeologist, Gene Savoy, who discovered several lost cities of South America, read the records of the ancient solar science and rediscovered its principles and techniques. However, Savoy kept secret this information which he called “Cosolargy” except to select initiates of his school by word of mouth. He made the transition on September 17, 2007 at the age of 80. Fortunately I had the opportunity to interview him two years ago.

afe sun gazing time is generally from sunrise to one hour after sunrise or from one hour before sunset to sunset. You can find the times of sunrise and sunset in your local newspaper. But if you’re not sure, sun gazing should always be done when the UV index is below two. UV measuring devices can be purchased from $3 to $30, depending on how accurate a reading you want.  The least expensive and least accurate is a UV intensity meter card. They are available for $3.00 from the Measurement And Technology Company. To order online go to http://www.measurementandtechnology.com/uv.htm.  These cards incorporate a UV sensitive strip that changes to a shade of purple when exposed to sunlight. An adjacent color-matching chart provides the approximate UV Index number. If you use a UV card, make sure you don't leave it out in the sun as this will shorten its useful life.

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How to Sun Gaze
     
      HRM’s protocol is to gaze at the sun once a day when the UV index is close to zero—that is either within the first hour after sunrise or in the last hour before sunset. Some sun gazing teachers say that sunrise is better because it is more healing and enlightening. Omraam claimed that prana is most intense twenty minutes before and twenty minutes after sunrise. Sunset also is a time that is charged with energy and is conducive to meditation. This has to do with the angle of the sun’s rays impinging on the earth’s magnetic field at sunrise and sunset, charging the magnetic field and affecting the magnetite in your pineal gland.

      Did you know you have magnetite in your pineal gland? That’s how birds are able to navigate back and forth from north to south along the magnetic field during migration. Morning sunlight has more ultraviolet whereas the sunset rays have more infrared. Both are beneficial, so splitting your sun gazing time between sunrise and sunset is perhaps most balancing. This is advisable when you start getting close to 45 minutes of sun gazing. To do it all in one session might require that you go past the safe window. 

      Stand or sit erect with bare feet on sand, dirt, mud, pavement or concrete, in that descending order of desirability, but not on grass because grass drains your energy. However, walking barefoot on dewy, sun-charged grass in the early morning is a qigong technique that is very energizing. I once experimented with this. Noticing that I was coming down with a sore throat, I walked for a few days on dewy grass after sun gazing.  The sore throat went away!

       HRM also advises against standing on a rock or in water while sun gazing. However, Omraam had his disciples sun gaze every morning on a huge rock overlooking the ocean. And yogis in India perform surya namaskar while doing ablutions in a temple pool or a sacred river like the Ganges.

       Drink a glass of water before and after sun gazing because sun gazing can be very cleansing and the water helps remove toxins. Also, water is yin and it helps balance the yang energy from the sun. That’s one reason why we always sun gaze barefoot on bare ground. Think of the sun as the positive pole and the earth as the negative pole. We’re the rechargeable battery. And if we want to be charged, we need good connections.

      If you wear glasses, remove them. But it’s okay to leave contacts in. Gaze at the sun in a relaxed manner; don’t strain. It’s okay to blink the eyes. If your eyes tear, don’t rub them. Sessions start at ten-second lengths. Increase by ten seconds a day. If you find that too difficult at first, then gaze only five seconds and increase by five. If cloudy, sun gaze but don’t increase the time. When cold, gaze indoors through a window that does not have UV protection on it. Otherwise, sun gaze through an open door or window. If you live in a valley between east and west mountains and don’t see the sun in the safe hours, you may gaze at its reflection on polished obsidian stone or pure water if it is not too intense, never on salt water.

      Between ten seconds and fifteen minutes, sun gaze in silence with arms hanging loosely by your sides. During this time, your may find that you become less tense, spend less time worrying, are happier, more self-confident and compassionate. It’s important at this time to be passive and receptive and allow the sun to heal your mind. Don’t engage in prayer, mantra, visualization or contemplation. Just be. Children under twelve should stop increasing gazing time at five minutes and remain at five minutes until that age. This is because their nervous systems aren’t developed enough to receive much energy from the sun.

      Between fifteen and thirty minutes of gazing and your body will begin to be purified of disease and addictions. Different color pranas, aspects of the life force, are going to your respective organs to address any deficiencies. If you have myopia, remain at fifteen minutes of gazing time for a month or until you see improvement in your eyesight. Then you can increase your time. Sun gaze with arms outstretched to the sun, hands spread out and facing the sun. As you breathe in deeply, visualize healing rays of light coming from the sun and entering your left palm and traveling to areas of your body that require healing or strengthening.

      If you have no problems, visualize the light going to your heart. Mentally affirm that the light is healing or strengthening you on a cellular level. Then as you breathe out, visualize the light returning to the sun through your right hand. Express love and gratitude for your healing. Establish a continuous flow of energy. If arms get tired, lower them with elbows at sides and hands still facing out.



 Use of this posture was called “fire blooming” by the Greeks because the radiance or essence thus channeled burned away impurities in the solar plexus, which is associated with the sun and fire. There is a fascinating science of mudras or the use of the hands and arms to form sacred geometric patterns during meditation and sun gazing. But this science isn’t required knowledge for beginning sun gazers. Just stand in the fire-blooming position.

      After thirty minutes you may begin to feel free from desires such as food and material things. Fasting or dieting become easy, and you don’t get hungry because the sun satisfies your energy needs. Also, you may begin to have a greater capacity to love. Thus, begin with the energy circuit, but instead of seeing light going to problem areas in your body, see it creating a miniature sun in your heart and see the light from your heart radiating out to problem areas in the world. Mentally affirm that the light is bringing healing, sustenance, peace or whatever is needed in those situations. Also recite affirmations, mantras and fiats that connect you with divine intelligence such as the OM. Other mantras you may say may be, "I AM the Sun!" or "I AM the One!" or "I AM a Sun of God!" 

      If at any time, your peace of mind is disturbed, go back to sun gazing in silence with arms at your sides till your peace is reestablished. If at any time your health or strength is adversely affected, go back to visualizing light and affirming healing and strength in your body.

      After sun gazing, press your palms to your eyes and gaze at the afterimage of the sun until it fades away. This should take only a few minutes. If you continue to see a spot that lasts for hours or days, make sure you are sun gazing within the safe hours. If you have been careful to gaze within the safe hours, it may be that your eyes are sensitive and you need to stop daily sun gazing until the spot goes away. Then sun gaze with eyes open for half your time; after which sun gaze with closed eyes for the remainder of your time. When you feel comfortable, resume normal sun gazing with eyes open the entire time.

      After or before sun gazing or at some point during the day, walk barefoot for fifteen to 45 minutes. Barefoot walking on sun-warmed sand is another means of absorbing solar energy. It also massages the pressure points on the soles of the feet and helps balance the yang energy from the sun with the yin energy from the earth. The time you spend barefoot walking is also a good time to sunbathe. Another sun yoga practice is drinking sun-charged water. I will save that for a future article with recipes for sun tea and sun chi drink.

      After about 35 minutes, you should begin to notice a decrease in appetite. If you don’t overeat out of habit but only eat as much as you desire, you may attain a state of inedia (non-eating) and gain all your energy needs directly from the sun, air, water and earth. However, inedia is not the goal of sun gazing. The goal is total health of mind, body and spirit.

      If you feel that you’re ready to try inedia, first try what I call the “minedia diet.” Minedia means minimum eating. It consists of three small meals a day, consisting of one cup of food, preferably raw. The secret of this diet is to chew each mouthful 300 times and to breathe deeply between mouthfuls. The chewing extracts the prana from the food and the deep breathing provides prana from the air. Also, drink sun-charged water and soak seeds and nuts in it to get the maximum prana from water.

      When you reach 44 minutes of sun gazing, reduce sun gazing time one minute per day until you are down to fifteen minutes and/or walk barefoot 45 minutes a day on bare earth and maintain that practice for a year. After that, you are fully charged and need only expose yourself to the sun for a few minutes a day to maintain your charge. However, if you enjoy sun gazing or barefoot walking, you may continue with it for as long as you like.

      If you follow these sun gazing methods, you will have excellent results in general health and well being. If shortcuts are taken, such as increasing time too fast, not walking barefoot, not standing on bare earth, then the benefits are reduced. For most people sun gazing using these instructions is safe. Mental attitude is very important. If you are fearful that the sun will harm your eyes, then you should not gaze directly at the sun at first. Instead, gaze at the radiance of the sky before sunrise or after sunset. Eventually, your fear will go away and you will be able to sun gaze. Also, if you have a quiet faith that the sun will help you and express gratitude to the sun, results will be quicker.

      Don’t be impatient. Don’t aspire or push or results will be delayed. Be as a little child and just enjoy the beauty of the sun without expectations or demands only with love and gratitude. When you receive energy and wisdom from the sun, use them in loving service to life.

 
*All material provided on www.theheartscenter.org i

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Just bumping this thread.