Eating the Sun is the title of the doc I watched. I think you can see it in entirety on Youtube. It is two hours long and the second hour sums up what the narrator deduced from his study.
I guess they start out only looking at the sun for 10 seconds and move up from there.
These people do not seem like fruitcakes and the practitioners were very much convinced that what they were doing was beneficial.
There is an ophthalmologist practioner… an ophthalmologist that is very much convinced of this lifestyle.
This is the SMDB. Answers about witches, and castles and other ignorant references only demonstrate childish thinking.
My original question was: “Do you know anyone that has experience with this?”.
I wasn’t looking for the musings of Harry Potter fans.
That was a Wizard of Oz reference, not a Harry Potter reference. I think the point was something along the lines of, “You can say whatever you want in a movie, but that doesn’t make it so.”
I work in ophthalmology, I am not a doctor or nurse. I’m 99% sure that if I asked any of the doctors I work with about this, they’d freak and say don’t do that, and then expect that these devotees will all end up with irreversible damage if they continue. I mean, come on, the doctors I work with all recommend UV-blocking sunglasses just for going outside normally.
You might have been better off asking that question in IMHO.
Bravo! You’ve demonstrated that you know the difference between two fairy tales!
This was a documentary, not a movie.
I wish someone with first hand knowledge of my original question would chime in.
I don’t need to be told that the claims are preposterous- I want to hear from someone that knows first hand about this.
I believe Ferret Herder’s point was that the documentary format for a film does not guarantee that the points presented are factual, regardless of the level of sincerity displayed by the participants.
Thank you.
As for first-hand knowledge of someone who’s tried it, you may be out of luck there. This does not sound like a widespread practice (thank goodness), and the board membership may not be large enough to include anyone who knows a current/former practitioner, sees this thread, reads it, and is willing to respond.
By the way, all of the side commentary, though apparently irritating to you, is serving to keep this thread higher up on the forum. No responses to it would have let the thread sink off the front page, where no one would have seen it unless you hope a stray Googler would have found it.
I would also note that your tone is acerbic enough that you may accidentally scare off anyone who might otherwise be willing to offer their anecdotes.
Missed the edit window: I also intended to suggest that their ophthalmologist practitioner is… delusional, lying about his credentials, or something like that, and explain my reasoning why.
Nobody with a lot of first-hand knowledge of this practice is going to be able to read your OP.
You should watch the “Documentary” and then ask the questions about the veracity of the subjects. While I believe that HRM is somewhat of a fraud, he was caught eating in a restaurant and actually photographed there, it is hard to believe that the other subjects are trying to dupe us at the risk of anyone going blind.
Not true. Didn’t you read Vinyl Turnip’s post above (#13)? Or have you been eating the sun too!?! I knew it!
Which is harder to believe? That these people are delusional or that they are not eating? Hmmm, let me think about that one for a long while.
Maybe they are just eating recreationally, for the fun of it, enjoying the flavours and textures and not because they need the nutrition.
Oh, I don’t doubt that most of the practitioners are sincere in their belief that sungazing wil not cause any eye damage if done right. But, even if they are not being deliberately fraudulent (“trying to dupe us”) it does not follow that they are right.
A person can be delusional and still strongly and sincerely believe in their delusions
Delusional to the point of being spiritually and physically healthy. Kinda’ like most religions.
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Keep the religious jabs out of GQ.
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Yes. I have found that the folks most disconnected from reality often report the most satisfaction with their lives. I do not know how to measure spiritual health, but I do know that self-reported physical health condition is almost always inaccurate.
(Personal anecdote: A year ago I would have told you that I was in great health and felt wonderful. Since then I found that my blood sugar was nearly at the danger level, and I have lost forty pounds, and my blood work now is in line with my personal impressions of health. Now I am as healthy as I think I am.)
You asked if any of us know anything about this. As it happens, most of us not only know something about it, we know more than the people who practice it do. Why should we seek out the opinions of those who demonstrably know less about the topic?
Oh, does the knowledge have to be first-hand? OK, how about this: I (like everyone else on the planet) know from first-hand experience that looking straight at the Sun hurts. Pain is nature’s way of telling us “don’t do that”. If we were “meant” to stare straight at the Sun, wouldn’t you expect that it would feel good? For comparison, we’re meant to eat, and eating does feel good.
Seeing is believing. The subjects in the video were quite healthy. The main character in the film runs a wellness clinic. He does not follow the “no food” belief. The film is about his personal journey across America studying this practice and deciding if it is something he wants to continue following.
Indeed, “seeing is believing.”
However, we have not seen any objective information about any persons reported to practice this behaviour.
We have so far seen nothing but a movie made by a self-described practitioner looking to affirm his beliefs.
There is a difference.
Wrong.
The documentary was made by Paul Sorcher, an accredited film maker , ABOUT the main character.
IMDB classifies this as an Award Winning Film.