Enlightened: The Bizarre World of the Breatharians

True Crime Campfire

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2024

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For thousands of years, human beings have sought spiritual connection and enlightenment. A lot of us are seekers by nature, we want to know why we’re here and what—if anything—comes next. Sometimes it can seem like most of humankind is walking around with their heads in the sand, and we don’t wanna be one of those people. We want to chase after the secrets. We want to be plugged in. There’s a long tradition, as part of this search for truth, of self-deprivation as a spiritual virtue. Taking a vow of silence or poverty. Forbidding alcohol or dancing or sex. Fasting. Some people believe it strips away everything extra and leaves the spirit more open to connection with the infinite. Others prefer a more balanced approach to life, like the Buddhist Middle Way. But for those who choose to throw away worldly pleasures, the path can get pretty extreme. Today we’ll tell you about a group who claim they’ve given up one of our most basic needs—food—and have learned to live on nothing but light and air. Are these people just fully spiritually attuned, or are they just grifters?

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Sources:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascended_master
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmuheen
Cult Education Institute: https://culteducation.com/group/848-breatharianism/3279-prison-for-air-cult-discipless.html
Cult Education Institute: https://www.culteducation.com/group/848-breatharianism/3269-three-deaths-linked-to-living-on-air-cults.html
ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/International/man-eat-drink/story?id=10787036
GQ Magazine: https://www.gq.com/story/breatharians-the-people-who-think-air-is-food Vice: https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-one-hundred-day-fast/
YouTuber “Atrocity Guide”
Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2020/01/living-on-air-the-crazy-ideas-and-consequences-of-breatharians/
The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/gaunt-and-weak-the-sham-diet-guru-who-refuses-to-see-the-light-737972.html The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/sep/28/millennium.uk Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135324/Woman-starves-death-spiritual-journey-trying-live-sunlight-alone.html
CNN: https://money.cnn.com/2017/06/21/media/breatharian-couple-news-outlets/index.html#:~:text=After%20it%20was%20contacted%20by,the%20New%20York%20Post's%20story.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, campers. Grab your marshmallows and gather around the true crime campfire.
0:05.0	We're your camp counselors. I'm Katie and I'm Whitney.
0:08.0	And we're here to tell you a true story that is way stranger than fiction.
0:12.0	We're roasting murderers and marshmallows around the true crime
0:14.2	campfire.
0:14.8	For thousands of years, human beings have sought spiritual connection and enlightenment.
0:26.0	A lot of us are seekers by nature. We want to know why we're here and what, if anything anything comes next.
0:33.0	Sometimes it can seem like most of humankind is walking around with their heads in the sand and
0:37.6	we don't want to be one of those people.
0:39.6	We want to chase after the secrets.
0:41.6	We want to be plugged in. There's a long tradition as part of this
0:45.7	search for truth of self-deprivation as a spiritual virtue, taking a vow of silence or poverty, forbidding alcohol or dancing or sex, fasting.
0:57.4	Some people believe it strips away everything extra and leaves the spirit more open to connection
1:02.4	with the infinite.
1:04.0	Others prefer a more balanced approach to life, like the Buddhist Middle Way.
1:08.7	But for those who choose to throw away worldly pleasures,
1:11.4	the past can get pretty extreme. Today we'll tell you about a group who
1:15.6	claim they've given up one of our most basic needs, food, and have learned to live on nothing
1:21.1	but light and air.
1:23.3	Are these people just fully spiritually attuned,
1:25.8	or are they just grifters?
1:28.0	This is enlightened, the bizarre world of the Bratharians. So, campers, what if you never had to eat or drink again? What if humans could train ourselves
	...

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