 |
| Indian monk Swami Sivananda (C), who claims to be 120 years old, is watched by one of his followers while practicing yoga in Kolkata on August 2, 2016 (AFP Photo/Dibyangshu Sarkar) |
Kolkata
(AFP) - Looking remarkably unlined for his claimed 120 years, an Indian monk
who says he is the oldest man to have ever lived puts his longevity down to no sex
or spices, and daily yoga.
Hindu monk
Swami Sivananda was born on August 8, 1896, according to his passport. If true,
his life would have spanned three centuries, but despite his apparent age he
remains strong enough to perform yoga for hours at a time.
He is now
applying to Guinness World Records to verify his claim. It currently lists
Japan's Jiroemon Kimura, who died in June 2013 aged 116 years and 54 days, as
the oldest man to have ever lived.
 |
Indian monk
Swami Sivananda holds
up his passport showing his date of
birth in the house of
one of his followers
in Kolkata (AFP Photo/Dibyangshu
Sarkar)
|
India's
passport authorities confirmed Sivananda's age from a temple register, the only
record many Indians even decades younger have of their date of birth.
However it
would be extremely difficult to independently verify his age.
Sivananda
was featured by local media earlier this summer, with the Times of India noting
he looked 50 years younger than his apparent age but taking his claims at face
value.
Sivananda,
from the holy city of Varanasi, grew up in extreme poverty and chose to become
a monk, saying he owed his age to "yoga, discipline, and celibacy".
"I
lead a simple and disciplined life. I eat very simply -- only boiled food
without oil or spices, rice and boiled daal (lentil stew) with a couple of
green chillies," he told AFP after a two-hour yoga session in Kolkata, the
eastern Indian city where he had come for a short visit.
Standing
1.58 metres (five feet two inches) tall, Sivananda sleeps on a mat on the floor
and uses a wooden slab as a pillow.
"I
avoid taking milk or fruits because I think these are fancy foods. In my
childhood I slept many days on an empty stomach," he said.
Sivananda
said he had not previously come forward to claim the record because he did not
seek publicity, but was eventually persuaded by his followers to apply.
 |
Indian monk
Swami Sivananda, who claims to be 120 years old, is applying
to Guinness World
Records to verify his claim to be oldest man to have ever lived
(AFP
Photo/Dibyangshu Sarkar)
|
The elderly
man lost both parents before he was six and was given away by his relatives to
a spiritual guru, whom he travelled with around India before settling in
Varanasi.
Fit and
without any medical complications, he lives independently and even travels
alone on trains.
Sivananda,
who was born in colonial-era India without electricity, cars or telephones,
says he is not enthused by new technology and prefers being on his own.
"Earlier
people were happy with fewer things. Nowadays people are unhappy, unhealthy and
have become dishonest, which pains me a lot," he said.
"I
just want people to be happy, healthy and peaceful."
-- This
story accompanies a photo essay by Dibyangshu Sarkar --
Indian 'oldest man ever' says yoga, celibacy key to age https://t.co/fNSxPGOSA2 pic.twitter.com/z330yb2rZf— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 23, 2016
Dutch centenarians double in 14 years to 2,200
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“… 3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…
Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?
The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].
Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”
