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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?  

Disclaimer:  do not ever stare directly into the sun due to the possibility of eye damage and blindness. it is at your own risk that you would participate in such an activity.