- Johnny Lovewisdom
Johnny Lovewisdom (
July 23 1919 –October 12 2000 ) was the author of "The Buddhist Essene Gospel of Jesus". He promoted a raw food diet called "Vitarianism", a diet that includes raw yogurt, vegetables, and a great deal of raw fruit. As a youth he promoted a strict fruit diet but later changed it to the "Vitarian" diet with vegetables, raw yogurt and avocado. In 1998, inspired by visiting young fruitarians, he returned to promoting a strict fruitarian diet, which he called the "Vitarian Fruit-Salad Diet". He tried to live solely on thepapaya tree's fruit and leaves. Eventually, he started to bleed profusely as a result of developing a severe allergic reaction to papaya. He also promotedbreatharianism (the idea that humans do not need food or water and can live on "spiritual energy" alone [ [http://www.skeptics.ca/articles/bailey-breatharianism.html Skeptics Canada: Skeptical Topics: Breatharianism ] ] ), "Modern Live Juice Therapy," and a number of other unusual "lifestyle" diets. Likely as a result of various diets, he suffered from paralysis and poor eyesight, and is thought to have had neurological problems associated withvitamin B12 deficiency .He lived as a hermit in the mountain crater lake,
Quilotoa , inEcuador . Lovewisdom believed that the thin air at high altitudes would allow him to develop clairvoyance and "drink alcohol like water without getting drunk." [http://home.iprimus.com.au/IP-PWP03/218/jlwalker/fruitarianism.html] For a time, he ran a mail orderdiploma mill and signed his name followed by several degrees: N.H.D, M.D, Sc. D, Ps. D, Ph. D, D.D.He believed himself to be the reincarnation of
Milarepa andJohn the Baptist [ [http://www.human-academy.com/english/news/news.asp?ID=11 The Nordic Unifier – the Way ] ] . As the successorFact|date=September 2007 to Kuthumi Lal Singh, Tashi Lama and Maha Chohan, he founded the International University of Natural Living at Vilcabamba, Ecuador in 1962 with its credo "build paradise and eat the fruits thereof." He started the "Pristine Order of Paradisian Perfection", a religious order. He authored over 50 books including "Spiritualizing Dietetics", "Vitarianism", and "The Buddhist Essene Gospel of Jesus".References
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