Ambassador of the Sun

By Christine Walsh

Hira Ratan Manek says he has not eaten solid food since June 18, 1995, but he bristles at the suggestion of trying to secure a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. The 68-year-old, who says the practice of sun gazing has converted his body into a "solar chip" that subsists on energy from the sun and plenty of water, has a more important mission. The self-proclaimed "ambassador of sun" is out to profess the benefits of solar healing. The sun, he says, can increase brain capacity, eliminate mental illness, spur weight loss and cure diseases.

"I am spreading this message all over the world so that human welfare and world peace come very easily," says Manek, a native of Kerala.
While Manek became interested in sun gazing as a child, it was after his 1992 retirement from his family's shipping and spice trading business that he began to research and study the ancient practice. The method had been practiced in ancient times by many civilizations, including the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Native Americans, but mostly had been forgotten. Manek spent three years working on rediscovering the secrets of sun gazing, according to his biography.

During his study, he was mainly inspired by the teachings of Lord Mahavir of the Jain religion, who practiced sun gazing 2,600 years ago.
In 1995, Manek achieved the non-eating phase of sun gazing. He drinks only water, he says, except for an occasional cup of tea, coffee or buttermilk for hospitality and social purposes. He says he does not miss the taste of food.

Manek says he has been happy to turn his body over to scientists and physicians for observation during three separate periods in which he lived on sun energy and water alone. The longest was a 411-day stretch in 2000-01 in Ahmedabad, under the watch of an international team.
Manek was later invited to the Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where scientists who observed him for 130 days included brain specialist Dr. Andrew Newberg. While scientists who have studied him have agreed that his hunger is being eliminated, they have been unable to explain why sun gazing has this effect, Manek says.

According to Manek, medical science is causing "needless hysteria and paranoia" with its credos that the sun should be completely avoided for fear of eye damage and skin cancer. Sun gazing done properly can even improve eyesight and stave off cataracts and glaucoma, he says.
"There's no record of anyone going blind [by looking at the sun]," he says. "And if you remain away from safe sunlight, you get cancer and so many diseases."

The key word here is "safe." Manek stresses that the eyes are delicate organs and prescribes a slow, careful foray into sun gazing. A first-timer should spend just 10 seconds looking at the sun during either the day's first or last hour of sunlight – what he says has been scientifically proven to be safe sun time. This should be done while standing on bare ground – dirt, not grass – with bare feet.

One's sun-gazing time should increase by 10-second intervals each day until, after three months, it reaches 15 minutes.
"Sun is not fast food," Manek says. "It's a nectar of light. Taste it very slowly, then better results, you'll get."

At this point, the sun begins to have an effect on what Manek calls the "brainuter" (i.e.,brain-computer). The sunlight, he says, removes all of the "dirt and dust" inside a person, negative traits like anger, jealousy and greed. "Fear of death goes away," he says. "You become full of self-confidence. You think positively."

A three-month sun gazer still experiences some hunger for food, Manek says. At six months, a gazer is "liberated from diseases," he says. If a person's goal is physical health, he can give up the practice permanently. Manek urges such a person to walk on bare earth for 45 minutes a day while barefoot to remain healthy.
"You will never feel physical illness ever in your life," he says. "That is a guarantee. Sun is insurance." Then, he jokes, "One thing is not covered under this: If you meet with an accident."

To Manek's knowledge, almost 50 people worldwide have joined him in the journey beyond the six months to the non-eating stage. He calls it a "higher form of spiritual exercise." According to Manek, the human body needs energy, but not necessarily from food. He says the sun gives him everything he needs to survive and has benefited him in other ways as well.
While most people barely use 5 percent of their brains, an MRI has shown that Manek uses about 25 percent, he says. He walks six or seven miles a day, barefoot, and sleeps just four or five hours a night.

For more information on Sun-gazer Hira Ratan Manek’s Atlanta-area appearances, contact Paulus Bommarito, 770-664-5065.