"I'm not against eating... I'm not against McDonald hamburgers... I'm not against the establishment... I'm not against anything... and... I'm not looking for any followers." - Wiley Brooks

I had read about "breatharians" (people who live without eating) in a few esoteric health books, but never considered it a possibility for myself, or for any modern man or woman in the western world. Then I heard about Wiley Brooks, a self-proclaimed breatharian, who made national news in the late 70's, claiming that he had been living without eating for about twenty years.

Brooks, who was 50 years old at the time, came to Hawaii in 1983 to give a talk and then a 3-day seminar. I attended both. Besides the subject matter, I was very impressed by his deep penetrating voice, his ability to stay calm, centered, relaxed, and focused, even under hostile questioning from the audience, and by his obviously limber and lithe body for a man of his age.

I came to the 3-day "breatharian" seminar in Hawaii, but without the $300 fee to attend. Wiley asked me: "If you can't find $300, then how do you expect to find God?" Within 15 minutes, I had the $300.

At first, I was the biggest skeptic, and prodded Wiley at every opportunity, trying to find fault wherever I could. I forgot the saying: "As you seek, so shall you find." Since I had been looking for error, I found it wherever I could. However, had I been seeking for the truth, I would have found plenty of that as well. Finally, after a couple of days at the seminar, I was converted, at least in my beliefs if not actions. I became convinced that Wiley was telling the truth, and that "breatharianism" is a revolutionary and important concept. As Wiley says: "They laughed at the Wright brothers... and they ridiculed Thomas Edison..." Wiley Brooks is an intelligent human being with much goodness in his heart, and wants to help people experience an increased sense of well-being and joy, which comes from not-eating, rather than eating as we have been told.

The thing about breatharianism, which Wiley emphasizes, is that it is a way to great happiness, as well as to physical well-being. From my own personal experience, as well as from observation of others, I am convinced that "fasting" (in general) is good for one's health and happiness, and not just for losing weight.

I have found that really great happiness, as well as exceptional mental clarity, and even increased sex drive, comes from fasting, rather than from eating. Arnold Ehret (author of "Rational Fasting" and "Muscles Diet Healing"), who did many public fasts in the latter 1800's and early 1900's, also noted his rapid hair growth during fasts. Dr. Ronald Klatz, president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, and author of "Grow Young with HGH" (i.e., Human Growth Hormone) (published 1997) also notes that one of the human actions that will increase the secretion of human growth hormone (HGH), is fasting from food. HGH is considered rejuvenative, and many people are spending thousands of dollars a month taking HGH supplements or injections... The same effect can come naturally, from fasting.

Wiley has explained many times how he "discovered" breatharianism through numerous experiences with fasting, in the 1960's: "Every time I fasted, I felt great... My mind became clear, and I got stronger, felt lighter, younger, and healthier... but whenever I went back to eating, my mind got less clear, I got tired, and all the old symptoms returned again."

Wiley admits that everybody is not going to be a breatharian, and that most people aren't even interested. He also says that he "doesn't care if anybody is interested or not interested"... "But for those people who ARE interested, in being healthy and happy, then breatharianism can certainly help you get there in a hurry. It is very FAST and very EFFICIENT."

Wiley is not a dogmatist, which is another attraction. He suggests that any way we can purify our blood, we should use that method, but he also adds that he has been looking for a better system than his, 24 hours a day, and that if he hasn't found it by now, it just doesn't exist.

Wiley says that he sleeps about one hour a night, or just one night a week. He relates sleeping and eating. The more you eat, the more you must sleep. As we already spend a third of our entire lives in sleep, this appears to be a way to significantly lengthen our waking lives.

A day or several days spent in fasting, seems to take a long time, while there is abundant mental energy for meditation, introspection, and prayer..

Fasting, then, seems to make time last longer, and increases the time available to experience more, as well as improves our ability to appreciate it all.

What does Wiley do then, if he doesn't eat or sleep? Does he ever get bored? Wiley says: "I assure you, there is nothing boring about being a breatharian. There are thousands of things to do." About better sex, he says: "If an average man can ejaculate, a breatharian can make love ten times better..." (although he believes in retaining his seed, which is the reason why he says he can make love ten times better than the man who ejaculates).

"You can eat if you want to; that's your prerogative... I used to play that game... I know what it's like... But I'm just not interested in it any more... I'm not interested in going out, and working for the money to buy the food, then shopping for it, then going home and preparing it, then eating it, then washing the dishes, then just letting it all out in the toilet... and in the end, you end up in a box, in the ground, on the outside of town." Meanwhile, we can't figure out why we don't feel that good, or why we don't have enough energy (another reason many people mistakenly eat more), or why we don't look that good... and we spend billions of dollars annually on ways to lose weight. In the Bible, even Jesus reminds us that "Food goes into the belly, and is cast out into the sewer."

Wiley admits to eating on a number of occasions, in the first 20 years after he became a breatharian. But he says that the food left him feeling sick every time, and obviously did not sustain him, or give him life. Wiley says: "Life comes only from life, and there is only one source of life, which is God." But he says "these liquids and solids, which we call food, do not give us life, or health, or beauty," as we are programmed to believe by the food industry.

The food-industry is the largest industry in the world, but it is unlikely that "breatharianism" will ever put a dent in food-industry profits, since eating is such an intrinsic aspect of society, as well as an addictive and accepted, pleasurable behavior (although it is also accompanied by a lot of pain).

What may happen, however, is that there is a possibility that there might come a time in the foreseeable future when there just isn't any food to eat. "The food supply on the planet is getting less and less, and the quality is getting worse and worse... It would be wise to look into breatharianism, just in case you are ever confronted with a time when you don't have any food to eat." (Wiley suggests that the best thing to do in such a situation is to empty your intestinal tract, rather than fight over any remaining food.)

Wiley does not recommend jumping intro breatharianism immediately, but he does suggest that we should rejoice just knowing that purification of the blood is the secret to health, happiness, and long life..."This is the secret you've been looking for."

Wiley is not the first or only breatharian. There are a number of cases of people who have lived without eating. One of the most famous, and most well-documented case of a breatharian, was Terese Neumann, a German nun, who did not eat anything at all for 35 years, between 1922 and 1957. There are at least seven books about her life. One of the best of these books is by an author named Johann Steiner. In these books, several other cases of "food abstainers" are referred to, and the one trait they all had in common was that they all had there uncommon gift of clairvoyance. (Even Wiley claims to be psychic, and able to see into the future).

For all these reasons, I find nothing objectionable, or extra-ordinary, or incredulous, about breatharianism. After all, it has been estimated that about 10% of all teenage girls in America are anorexic. Wiley says: "It doesn't take any discipline to be a breatharian... all it takes is understanding... It doesn't take any discipline to keep from standing in the middle of the road when cars are passing by... and I can assure you, that when you UNDERSTAND that the food you are eating is NOT giving you life and vitality, with increased energy, health and happiness, it won't take any discipline to STOP taking it."

"Breatharianism is just a simple understanding of how the human body works." Then someone asked him what is the purpose of the alimentary canal. "The purpose of the alimentary canal is to get rid of wastes from the body." Even Wiley admitted to going to the toilet every few months, proving the usefulness of this organ. "But if food is so good for you, how come the body keeps trying to get rid of it?... Man was not designed to be a garbage can like he is."

Wiley says he sees "a lot of people who are waiting to get their happiness in heaven, but meanwhile are suffering like hell, here on earth."

Wiley Brooks, Director Breatharian Institute