Mystery of Yogi Fasting

The Strange Case of Prahlad Jani

In Sanskrit, the word yogi refers to "the one who masters himself", the practitioner of yoga. For a yogi, immortality as a mystical experience of eternity constitutes a state of consciousness accessible in this world. What energies are these holy men able to release and concentrate, which give them this extraordinary inner strength?

Red suit in honor of the goddess Amba Mata

In a cave not far from a temple in the state of Gujarat, in western India, lives a hermit, the yogi Prahlad Jani. As a tribute to the goddess Amba Mata, he dresses exclusively in red, because it is she, he says, who has conferred a special aptitude. She would have pierced a hole in his mouth which would let a nutritious fluid flow into it, completely dispensing him from eating and drinking. Prahlad Jani says that he has not absorbed anything since 1965 and, therefore, has not had to relieve himself. Believers who visit the Gujarat Temple and have known the yogi for many years confirm his claims.

A life of absolute fasting

The neurologist Sudhir Shah, who had known Prahlad Jani for many years, finally convinced him to submit to an observation in the hospital of the Indian city of Ahmedabad. A team of doctors was attached to this mysterious man, then seventy-six years old. They confirmed the presence of a hole in his palace, as well as the emission of a liquid. They can not, however, pronounce on the phenomenon. A doctor admits that this yogi is a real challenge for science. Hospitalized for ten days, the man with the ascetic pace and the long white beard did not consume food or drink and did not go to the toilet any more. Despite constant video surveillance, there was no explanation to shed light on this mystery and all the medical tests went well. The examinations showed that Jani's bladder does produce urine, but that it is absorbed again by the wall, so that it is never evacuated. The yogi has since been considered a saint and his followers say he has never fallen sick.

The followers of the diamond voice

A yogi is a practitioner of yoga. This is the explanation of the multitude of mysterious faculties endowed by yogis such as Prahlad Jani. Some are able to slow their pulse to the point that it becomes imperceptible and they plunge into a state of near-clinical death. Through meditation, others levitate or walk on hot coals. Would classic Patanjali yoga of the II century BC, the way of the eight members, allow such prodigies? Through breathing exercises associated with acrobatic body positions, the yogi aspires to achieve purification and transformation of his body. Science, however, remains a mystery, namely how the yogis, which Tibetan Buddhism calls the followers of the diamond voice, achieve such results by pure meditation.