Interview with an autotroph

There are some people who claim they can live without food and water for years

A telephone rang in my apartment some time ago. I picked up the receiver and heard the following: “I am sorry to be bothering you, this is Vladimir speaking. Maybe you remember talking to me awhile ago. I am calling to inform you that Zinaida Baranova would like to see you. Newspapers printed a few articles about that woman. She has not eaten for more than four years now.”

The name of the woman definitely rang a bell to me.  

I did not hesitate taking the directions. Soon I was on my way to meet Baranova. I did not have any doubts falling under the category “it just can not happen because it can never happen.” I came across some charlatans before. However, I gave a series of lectures on the future of humankind in the Volzhsk University of Humanities a few years ago. I was citing the teachings of Nikolai Fedorov, a philosopher cosmologist, who maintained that humankind will eventually switch to autotrophic nourishment using cosmic energy. Nikolai Fedorov was confident that man would be capable of improving himself to absorb cosmic energy as a source of nutrients. Time wise there is no indication whatsoever in Fedorov's works, though. It may take the human race a thousand years and more to adopt autotrophy or self-nourishment.

We can cite a few examples with regard to various people switching to alternative nourishment in the past and present. The yogis can do without food for a long time. The Russian hieromonks including such well-known personalities as Seraphim of Sarov and Sergei of Radonezh held lengthy fasts. The Russian self-made medicine man Porfiriy Ivanov called for abstinence. He could refrain from taking food and water for several dozen days. Once he did not have a crumb of bread nor a drop of water for 157 days to prove that a human being is capable of doing such remarkable things.

To be honest, I expected to see some elderly scrawny woman. On the contrary, Zinaida Baranova was not a senior citizen. She looked rather attractive with her rosy cheeks and light-colored hair.

“Why didn't you look thin at all?” I asked Baranova shortly after being introduced to her. “For how long have you kept off eating so far?”

“I haven't eaten for four years and a half now,” said Zinaida with a smile. “Speaking of thinness, I should say that I lost some weight. I slimmed down to 74 kilos, I used to weigh 90 kilos. I really wanted to be thin and slender!”

We began our conversation.

“Yes, I'm aware of the Fedorov theory. “I spent some time looking for an explanation to my phenomenon. I believe the time has come for launching similar experiments,” said she.

“I believe you've been through a lot of hardship.”

“My inner light has been keeping me up,” said Baranova. She labored the point to address a hint ofperplexity in my eyes. “It is like an interior stability foundation. I am very happy to have taken possession of it, otherwise my life would have quite complicated. I could not go public with my talent for more than two years for I had no permission from Heaven. I had to lie low for some time.”

“Can you specify your idea of "inner light?" What do you mean by the term?

“First and foremost, it is purity, compassion, love. One morning I realized that something very important came over me. I woke up at dawn and felt immense peace and tranquility deep in my heart. My understanding was that a new quality came my way and from that moment onward I would be resistant to negative influence. I called my new state 'the inner light.' I believe I would be able to stay alive without it.”

“I would call the changes I've been going through a “fast.” It is something different. It is an alternative way of nourishment, feeding on original energy the way minerals, plants, and plankton do. This kind of nourishment becomes a reality when the points of spiritual power (called chakras in Yoga) on your body get cleansed.”

“But plants do consume water. Do you consume it?”

“I believe I do. But I take it out of air, the water take is not in a regular physical state. My lungs have transformed. They became capable of absorbing water from the atmosphere. I also brush my teeth, and take baths. That should be enough for me.”

“Can you please elaborate on the premises and the mechanism of alternative nourishment?”

“Speaking of the main reason, you got it right. I was switched on. It was not my own initiative. It was an experiment staged by the Supreme Powers that apparently look after us. I remember the day. It happened on March 29th, 2000. Easter was drawing near and I was going to refrain from food. Suddenly somebody else's thought crossed my mind as if somebody told me: "You shall not eat solid food from now on." I did not get a fright, I was amazed. Yes, I did not have any desire to eat anything as days passed by. Then another message was delivered to my head on April 18th; it read "Now you can do without water." I succumbed to the orders easily for I had developed great confidence in my Teachers by that time. And it happened as told. I did not have any need of liquid. Moreover, I stopped feeling the smell of food as if my sense of smell had been turned off. But I can still smell all other things. All the changes made my transformation easier”

“I am sorry to ask you this question. How old are you?”

“I am still very young,” said Zinaida with a smile. “I will turn 69 in a month.”

I was truly amazed at her answer. She looked like a woman in her fifties but not like somebody who was one month away from turning seventy.

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