in order to appreciate. This is why over-spoiling our children can hinder them when they grow older. The feeling of your first hard-earned, money-bought item is better when you know you have worked to achieve it.
The challenge of being a breatharian can be great; some of the difficulties are discussed in a later chapter. Facing the challenges and overcoming them teaches us persistence and strengthens our ability to persevere. This builds strong character. A person who gives up quickly or who changes his or her mind all the time will invariably cope less well with difficulties throughout their lives. If we want to trust ourselves, we need to trust that we will persist when required, give all we can and do our sincere best before we give up.
Appreciation
A breatharian discovers how to truly appreciate sensory input. One learns how to appreciate even the tiniest flavor in a drink. Your sensitivity sensory stimulation is dramatically amplified. Those who go back to eating describe a newfound appreciation for the flavors and textures of food as well as for the endurance of the physical body—the vessel which has amazing abilities and enables us to have great experiences.
Less Sleep and Less Shopping
This is my personal favorite! The basic rule of thumb for a breatharian is that they only need about two thirds of their typical sleeping hours.
The most logical explanation for this is that the body requires less energy to digest food and is therefore less tired. I also have a more complex theory, namely that during sleep our minds sync with higher vibrations and the Higher Self.
As I understand it, breatharians require less sync-time because they are connected to their Higher Selves throughout the waking day. A normal human being either goes to sleep late and wakes up late or goes to sleep early and wakes up early. Research shows that only 4% of the population sleeps for about 3-4 hours a night. I used to envy this four percent; I am now one of them and sleep between three and five hours a night instead of seven to eight hours before my initiation. Sleeping less became a wonderful gift. I started to go to sleep between 1am to 3am and woke up around 6am or 7am to meditate and be the first one in the office (I love my job). As my mornings became longer, I took up frequent meditations and did basic exercises or read a chapter from an inspiring book before starting the day. I started watching movies, took long walks and learned to play the guitar.
All this additional time can be used for spiritual growth, learning and self-fulfillment. It is an opportunity for us to reach higher levels of self-mastery. Another reason for the decreased hours is that I became less preoccupied with food. I did not need to shop often, prepare food or wash the dishes. Shopping is now an occasional event to pick up some juice or basic fresh fruits for a tasty smoothie. This simpler life without feeling thirsty or hungry or needing to nourish myself with food also allows me to seek out exciting new taste experiences.
Financial Independence
Although this is not one of the main considerations you should think about before you become a breatharian, it is true that food is one of our highest living expenses. Whether the food comes from the supermarket, eating out or ordering in, most of our paychecks go toward feeding ourselves.
There are also indirect expenses such as spending money on gas to drive to stores. Saving money in this way makes us less dependent on the currently accepted system and allows us more money to spend on the things that ultimately make us happier as individuals. The key word here is: independence.
Not Thinking About Food
Because eating is a daily habit, most of us eat according to the clock. We wake up and eat; it’s one o’clock at work, so we eat; we come home from work and we eat. Some of us also have serious issues and a lot of self-judgment around eating. We judge ourselves by what we eat and how much we eat. We find ourselves in a negative or positive emotional state and either console ourselves or celebrate with food.
All of this hinges on our own perceived body image—how we physically look versus the way we think we look and the way we think others think and feel about the way we look. Our personal relationships with food are complicated and hard to define unless considered individually. Whether one is a body builder or a high school student, a tremendous amount of thinking and emotional energy goes into what, when, and how much we eat. As a breatharian, all this is simplified. It is a great advantage not to have to deal with any of this mind-play. These are the basic building blocks of happiness. In addition, if you are overweight before beginning the process, a breatharian lifestyle will ultimately bring you to your ideal weight. For most people, this means they can stop worrying about how they look, forget about diseases that may be incurred because of excess weight and accept that they are at their finest when they are living a breatharian life.
SPIRITUAL BENEFITS
Long ago when I began my crusade to ‘change the world’, as some new-agers would call it, I was naive enough to believe I could talk sense into people and I tried to change the ones I met. I have since come to realize that the only way one can truly change things in others as well as the entire world is by setting an inspiring example.
Being a Real Life Example to Others
Becoming a breatharian allowed me to set a personal example for breaking down the illusions that keep us locked into this widely accepted sub-human form. Leading by example can bring about changes in consciousness. It allows me to illustrate to others that we do not really have material needs; we just want stuff, but in the wanting there is beauty.
This is a very liberating insight because it means human beings are able to reach their highest potential and highest levels of happiness. It assists in shattering our myths about want and need and opens our minds to new possibilities.
Happy For No Reason
You do not need anything to be happy, but we live in a society which keeps forgetting that.
I have embraced a happy for no reason philosophy since 2007 and completely live this truth. This is a philosophy that destroys dependence on external fantasies to be happy. In other words, you might think a new cell phone, a lover or a good grade at school will make you happy but when you actually achieve these things, more often than not your mind remains unsatisfied. To cope, it instantly seeks the next big distraction. The result? Sustainable happiness remains repetitively elusive.
Furthermore, most people will not allow themselves to be happy without a specific reason to be happy. This sets one up for failure because when you base your happiness on an external reason, the reason can be taken away from you. Your partner might break up with you or you might lose your job, your money or your health. You may also stop appreciating the new car/ cell phone/ apartment that you have.
One of the best ways to retain a high, constant level of happiness is to have no specific reason for happiness. If everything in your life is fine and nothing is severely negative, why not just be happy and content with what you have in the present moment?
Ideally, to maintain personal happiness one should cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Remind yourself daily of all the beauty in your life—the little things and the big things, the relationships you share with friends and family, the comforts you are blessed with, the smells and visual poetry that surrounds you every waking minute in the world.
Secondly,
