The Practice
Thanks to some “new age” spiritualists, I bring you an old, but new to me, practice of pseudoscience. There is little room for interpretation on this one. There are no muddy studies to pour over, no controversies to weigh, just an ancient practice that physically harms you.
Sungazing is a practice that includes gazing at the sun for nourishment or as a spiritual practice.
The impetus for such a practice is to “feel connected to the universe” or some New Age jargon. But, as we will see, all the connected feelings in the world are not worth your vision.
The Claims
Proponents of sungazing claim increased energy levels and decreased appetite; as with other forms of “inedia“, however, this claim is not considered credible due to the lack of scientific studies confirming it. Sungazers also claim their eyes are capable of converting sunlight into energy for their bodies. They claim the methodology is similar to photosynthesis. Sungazing is also part of the “Bates method”, an alternative therapy intended to improve eyesight. However, ophthalmologists do not regard the method as useful or safe, due to a consistent lack of evidence and confirmation.
These kind of rituals have found a home in the new age mindset. New agers take the findings and theories of modern science, and extrapolate them far beyond that which is either feasible or proven (like “quantum consciousness” or something equally pseudosciencey sounding). What this results in is people believing they can photosynthesize, or stare at the sun and not eat, and putting themselves in harm’s way to satisfy an ancient ritual.
New age proponents have taken ancient Indian ideas of spirituality and transferred them to a more scientific, although still wrong, understanding of stars. It should also be noted that there have been skeptics who have challenged these practitioners to prove that they can receive all of their nutrients from the sun. With one million dollars on the line, a crony was caught sneaking Burger King to the sun-gazing challenger.
A Quick Aside:
As an aside: If you ever hear the word “consciousness” in a spiritual discussion, with no reference to neuroscience or the like, a whole shit-storm of pseudoscience is about to hit you. Scientists don’t even fully understand basic consciousness, what makes you think that some guru has stumbled upon the explanation for a “quantum” or “universal” or “higher” consciousness while the enterprise of science has stalled?
Quantum nonsense, I assure you.
“Spirituality” in Science
Don’t get me wrong, I feel connected to the stars/universe as well. I feel a profound awe take hold of me whenever I struggle to visualize the size and scope of the universe. However, this does not scale up to mean that your brain waves are one with the universe or some nonsense like that. Yes, we are all made out of the same “star stuff” (I love Carl Sagan), and the same energy, but this does not mean we can use this connection, or even interact with it. Just as an intuitive notion of physics can be consistently shown to be inadequate, so too can your intuitive feeling of connection to energy. You can be mistaken about the reality of your own experience.
Science can sometimes seem cold and stoic, but new age spiritualists should turn to more realistic inspirations. I find amazement and inspiration in everything that science has elucidated. Think about the complexities of the atom, the diversity of the microbe, or the mystery of the deep ocean. Just because our minds are not magical does not mean that they are not still a fantastically complex product of billions of years of natural selection (which they are). Just that fact is amazing in itself, and it conjures in me a “spiritual” feeling of complexity, insignificance, and wonder.
But that doesn’t mean that to appreciate the sun that I should put my retinas in a microwave!
Let’s do a cost-benefit analysis shall we?
The Dangers
I had the pleasure of getting this story from a guy on Facebook. I saw his conversation with another new ager:
…They say to stare at the Sun for 10 seconds or more, but if you get good at it, you should increase the amount of time. It’s hard though because it hurts your head after awhile.
What annoys me is that there is not even a recognition of the absurdity! Of course your head hurts, you are staring directly at the sun! Even new borns know not to do that! So of course, it must not be working, increase the time.
Obviously, the practice of sungazing is physically dangerous. Looking directly at the sun for even brief periods of time may cause blindness or severe damage to the eye. Solar retinopathy, damage to the eye’s retina due to solar radiation, and blindness to varying degrees and persistence frequently result from sungazing. Although vision loss due to this damage is generally reversible, permanent damage and loss of vision have been reported. Most eye-care professionals advise patients to avoid looking directly at the sun. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation, produced by the sun, is associated with damage to the eye, including pterygium and cataracts ( and you do not want those).
Another claim made by proponents is that since much of the gazing is done during periods of low light, that it is less dangerous, but this is a dangerous mistake. Yes, the decrease in visible light will decrease the stress on your eyeballs, but it is what you cannot see that really hurts you. Just as you can get sunburned on a cloudy day due to the invisible ultra-violet rays, UV light passing through clouds in even low light scenarios are still harmful to your eyes.
I am also aware that there are people who have been sungazing for many years and no harm has come to them, but I think that we can draw an apt analogy here. I know, for a fact, that there are many smokers out there who have smoked for basically their whole lives, and have seen no adverse health effects. But does this mean that smoking is not dangerous? Of course not, and the same can be said for sungazing. While some fortunate few are lucky enough to have their eyes spared, this does not imply absolute safety for the rest. Are you willing to risk your sight for that chance?
Common Sense
I am not saying that you shouldn’t be spiritual, do whatever you want. But if you are going to worship the sun, don’t stare directly at it! Aren’t there other stars that you could worship that wouldn’t cook your eyeballs? How about Sirius? What about Arcturus, I hear it’s pretty.
Personally, I like the ayurvedic concept of Sun as a source of healing energy. On the other hand, it is true that many enthusiastic followers of such spiritual opinions as you mention, put themselves in a great danger. I also enjoy sunny days spent on the beach, and feel kind of re-charged then. But I am always careful not to get sunburnt. Finally, your article reminded me of the Sungazing House, an excellent piece of green real estate, I was mesmerized by recently.
Honestly you shouldn’t have posted this. This is not new age beliefs it is ancient beliefs and history repeats itself. the real way of living is coming back. You say that feeling of being connected to the universe is a delusion then I feel sorry for you. All is one and one is all. U need to meditate and and on your questions and let the universe talk to you. Peace 13 love
“Ancient beliefs” does not imply that a practice works. The argument from antiquity is a logical fallacy where we argue that because something is old, it works. This line of reasoning is flawed.
I said no such thing about feeling connected with the universe. I sure do, I just don’t sacrifice my eyes for a practice that will not do anything.
For claiming that this is not a New Age thing, you sure have the lingo down.
If you damage your eyes from sun gazing, it’s not the sun’s fault, it’s yours. If you get sunburned in the sun, it’s because of an imbalance of omega fatty acids. I can almost guarantee that you have never tried sungazing for yourself, and yet you draw ‘scientific facts’ without any proof of your own. I have personally been sungazing for a long time for minutes at a time. There is a time when the sun has no ultraviolet light passing through the atmosphere. This is during the first and last hour of the day, you can test this with a UV index for yourself. If it has ANY health benefit at all, is that it’s healthier than TV.
Right, if you have a misguided belief that staring directly into the sun will help you in some way, that is your fault. I contest the tenets of the belief itself as being harmful.
Your supposed cause of sunburn is incorrect. Sunburn is caused by UV damage; having a “balanced” amount of omega fatty acids will not stop you from burning.
Anecdotes mean almost nothing to me. One person claiming something works by experience is not proof that is does.
What is this time when “when the sun has no ultraviolet light passing through the atmosphere”? This assertion is demonstrably false. The sun doesn’t just stop putting out radiation nor do clouds or other atmospheric factors block 100% of it. It can be greatly reduced at the times you mentioned, yes, but not to zero.
How is sungazing healthier than TV?
You are so wrong. I just searched in Google for others who practice looking at the sun. I’m almost 60 and have been looking at the sun since I was 3 years old. (before people like you , told me it was dangerous…. So am I blind now? Certainly not. It is not something to be demonstrated, and was something that I never ‘boasted about’ because I always felt it was not to be shared. I do however not tell my kids the ‘sun is dangerous’ because that is a perpetuated lie… Just like people over 4 or more decades have told me I’m an idiot for welding without a mask…I’m still just doing it and my eyes are well above average as far as sight…Rethink your philosophy woman, you don’t know as much as you think you do.
Just because others practice sungazing, doesn’t make it safe. A simple analogy with smoking could be made to illustrate this point (some people smoke for years and are perfectly healthy, though smoking it terribly unhealthy).
With all do respect, it is rather foolish to weld without a mask for 40 years, as far as I know.
I agree with you. First make your research well and then post something. I do SG and it helped me in a lot of aspects. I love it and don’t wear glasses anymore and see great. I am not blind. Btw. SG comes from India about 2 600 years ago. There are scientific proofs since they tested HRM but they don’t want us to know about it. I don’t encourage anyone to SG or not to. It’s everyone’s decision. I personally love it and will practice it for the rest of my life. My husband doesn’t believe in it and doesn’t practice it. And I fully respect it.
Staring constantly at the Sun has a potential to harm your eyes. I can respect anyone’s right to believe what they what, but I won’t advocate something that has a potential for harm.
Your “Common sense“conclusion was brilliant! lol
To do this correctly one is supposed to gaze at the sun when the uv index is at zero, which is up to an hour after sunrise and and hour before sunset. Although this is not always consistent, one must check the uv index for their area before performing this.
I have been sungazing for a few months now and am up to 24.minutes and 40 seconds. Before I started, my eyes were so light sensitive that I couldn’t leave the house or drive without sunglasses. I now never wear sunglasses because my eyes love the light. I also have severe fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and PTSD along with major depression. I have no more depression now and I am overcoming the post traumatic stress disorder. My panic attacks have almost ceased altogether and I am finding myself so much more centered. The fibromyalgia is the best its been in four years. I rarely seem to be plagued with pain as I was before. I still have food allergies which sets it off sometimes and this is one reason I began sungazing, to eliminate food allergies through the ceasation of food intake. My eyes are better than they ever were before. I am totally addicted to the positivity that sungazing brings into your life and I would encourage anyone who can gain self mastery enough to complete this program of sungazing, to do it, it is well worth the results.
I was compelled to search for people who do this. I started in 1956. Before anybody told me not to. I am now 58 and was just outside getting a hit of sun. I start by looking through my fingers and then increasing the size of the space to let the sun through until I can look directly at the sun. It works best when it is at the top of the sky. Another interesting fact I’ll share is that i have also been welding without a mask or shield for about 40 years. It is also common in China. I use a pair of sunglasses to protect my eyes from spatters of metal. I’ve not told many people about the sun, as people who are told to fear something like they do the sun, get fearful of people who do stuff like this. And fearful ignorance is dangerous. My eyes are well above average as far as sight goes. …Just thought I’d share this for research….
Yes I just began Solar Viewing about 2 weeks ago. I feel as though it is my responsibility to share this ancient knowledge with those that are ready for it. The person that wrote this article (like most of the population unfortunately) is riddled with fear. Everything comes down to fear. ME personally, I would not draw conclusions based on fear (as I have done in the past) because it gets you nowhere. The author should try this practice for themselves before ridiculing something they do not understand whatsoever. Let the light heal you.
Hi to everyone the above mentioned theory may be right for a common man but if u r speaking about spiritual facts I can make u meet a person h can get all ur. Questions answered he has been sungazing for more then 30 years and that too during the peak hours for 2 to 4 hours on a daily basis that’s his prayers.
this post is so full of fearful propaganda that it cannot be taken seriously or even at all, I found little to no information here.
is sungazing dangerous? yes
but so is eating if done wrong; one could choke, burn their tongue or stab themselves with a fork risking infection and lets not even bring up contamination or poison.
the first 45 mins after sunrise and 45 mins prior to sunset the uv index is 0. The uv is what harms your eyes. plus use common sense, if your eyes hurt, stop. if your body is one with the universe then you should listen to it too. Thats just for starters
Wow…the author of this is getting thrashed left and right like a boxing match with Tyson….I like everyone else can say that truthfully he has did very little to no research at all! and if so one-sided research to support a solid conclusion he already arrived at…I am a skeptical/analytical person by nature so before i started Sungazing 2 months ago, i remind you…IN NO WAY it could be a placebo thing for me….let me tell you the truth:
I am generally a healthy person but have spiritual/emotional (or psychological) blockages I been wrestling with for many years; Right before my eyes they are uplifting more and more evryday….and a new found strange confidence is apparent as well as strangers saying its some type of glow about me….
remember the powers that be taught us to fear the very power source that give lifes to this solar system…a hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset is PERFECTLY safe and i can stare at the sun EFFORTLESSLY..Im up to 5 minutes, and my vision ironically is getting sharper!!
a knife can be used for dinner properly but used to kill…potassium is excellent for the heart but TAKENED IN WRONG DOSES can give you a heart attack
same ith sungazing….when done with the proper ancient instructions (not like a idiot at 2pm with UV rays pouring in) is tremendous health/spiritual benefits! :)
Kyle, I would really like to see some firm facts and scientific research or evidence for your stance. The proper technique for sun gazing is to practice during the first and last hour of sunlight when the UV index is 0.
You my friend… Haven’t a clue!!!
sometimes i lay down with a crystal quarts on my forehead and let the pineal gland soak it all in. also when i look down at my cheeks when the sun is on my face i see little rainbow dots that are like targets, it really interested me. i guess thats how the eyes work. Also when i stare at any light i can blur my focus and the light starts to come out at me, whats that all about? something to do with the cones in my eyes?
And as for you trying to scare people, dont people are going to do things regardless, and you say you have concern for people who harm but i doubt you make articles about smoking, texting while driving, watching t.v., drinking fluorinated water, geting mercury filllings. These last ones are a lot more serious then staring at a sun. And by the way although the sun is strong on the eyes, the sun is also 100 times more important than most other things we inhale eat drink or take for nutrients, we are apart of the sun, we came from the sun so how could you say it could hurt us :,(.
And wouldn’t there be less chance of damaging the eyes in winter since the sun is lower in the sky? and i know you cannot get vitamin d from the sun in the winter which is why most americans are vitamin d deficent.