1. Introduction to the case study of overeating

This is a case study of a teenager who developed compulsive overeating. Compulsive overeaters eat uncontrollably even when not physically hungry. They spend excessive amounts of their time thinking about food and eating it. Compulsive overeating usually leads to weight gain and obesity, but not all people who are obese are compulsive overeaters. Also, not all compulsive overeaters are obese.

2. Pratik’s overeating habit

In July 2003, at the age of thirteen, Pratik’s eating habits began to change noticeably over a period of a month. The volume of food that he consumed dramatically increased and he kept eating throughout the day. Even immediately after a hearty meal he would ask for food again. Initially he would eat normally for his age, but now it was more than double the normal volume. Sometimes even in the night he would get up to eat. Initially while his mother and grandmother expressed concern over this sudden change, it was largely ignored by the rest of the family as they attributed it to him being a growing teenager.

Pratik’s grandmother would try to explain to him lovingly and sometimes sternly about his overeating habit. On a number of occasions she tried to discipline him to eat an amount commensurate with his age. He would sincerely try to listen but eventually used to give in to his desire to eat. Once he said, “I cannot stop my overeating even though I know it is not right. As soon as I see or think of food I cannot control myself.” His mother tried her best to reduce his habit of overeating by reasoning with him. As all attempts to reason with him failed, she finally resorted to hiding food from him.

As time went by it became evident to the whole family that his eating was really abnormal. Pratik would get upset hearing others talk about his overeating, but he still just could not control himself. He then began to eat secretly. This upset his mother and grandmother even more and they felt helpless in overcoming Pratik’s problem. Over a period of a year Pratik’s weight increased by some 12 kgs.

Another thing that changed was that initially Pratik would sit and chant the Name of God but as his overeating habit picked up, he ceased doing any spiritual practice.

3. Diagnosis of Pratik’s overeating habit by the subtle department of SSRF

About a year into his habit of compulsive overeating Pratik’s aunt came to visit the family. His aunt, Ms. Maya Patil was part of SSRF’s subtle perception department. When she saw Pratik’s incessant need for food she realised something was amiss. On taking a subtle-reading the she advised Pratik’s mother that the root cause was spiritual in nature. A departed ancestor of their family was causing the problem.

Refer to section 5 which explains this spiritual cause in more detail. Also refer to our section on ‘what is spiritual research’.

4. Suggested treatment for Pratik’s overeating by SSRF

On taking a subtle-reading it was clear that the food consumed by him was in fact not being utilised by him. He was advised to make the following prayer.

Along with this they also told him to resume his spiritual practice of chanting the Name of God. Pratik sincerely implemented this with immediate effect. That afternoon itself there was a 50% reduction in his habit of overeating. In the next two days, there was a further 30% reduction. For the first time in many months Pratik felt satiated after his meals and his urge for more food reduced. Within 4 days his abnormal eating stopped completely.

5. What is the spiritual root cause of overeating? How can one know that the cause of overeating is spiritual by the means of one’s intellect?

Spiritual research into the causes of compulsive overeating and binging on food from time to time, are as follows:

In the absence of access to subtle-knowledge we can safely conclude that the cause of overeating is most likely to be spiritual after physical and psychological causes have been ruled out. When a ghost or departed ancestor begins to eat through the person that they have possessed, the person can become a voracious eater.

The following also need to be kept in mind

• An overeating habit that may have begun due to physical or psychological causes can well be exploited by an ancestor or a ghost for its benefit. So in the end it finally becomes a problem with a spiritual root cause.

• Also, even though a person’s eating habit may be due to a spiritual root cause, physical or psychological factors may also be present. For example, a person may be possessed by a departed ancestor who is leveraging his give-and-take account with his descendant to fulfil his craving for food. However the possessed person may also have a brain tumour or could be depressed, which could be factors leading to compulsive overeating. The depression could have been there before the overeating, or could have come up due to the frustration of not being able to curb the overeating, or due to stress caused by people talking about ones overeating or resulting obesity.

• Sometimes a spiritual root cause like being possessed by a departed ancestor can also be played out through a physical or psychological cause. For example, a departed ancestor who wants to achieve the ultimate aim of fulfilling a desire of eating through a descendent in the Earth region (Bhūlok) may begin by making a person depressed. Later, the departed ancestor uses this depression to instigate overeating. This is done in order to throw the person and family members off the scent that anything unusual is happening.

Unless one is aware of these nuances, has knowledge about the spiritual dimension and has an activated sixth sense, one can easily make an incorrect diagnosis that the cause of the problem is physical or psychological.

Most of the time the change in eating habits is gradual as the ghost does not want to attract attention. However, it could also be a sudden change of eating habit. If a person who prefers non-spicy food suddenly changes his eating habits and craves spicy food it could well be a clue that the cause behind the change is spiritual nature. Quite often even a person binging on food once in a while could be being taken advantage of by a ghost or departed ancestor.

5.1 Why do some possessed people not put on weight despite overeating?

In some cases the possessed person does not put on weight even though they overeat. In Pratik’s case he did put on weight. If the ghost uses the Absolute Earth (Pruthvī) or Water (Āpa) Cosmic Principles to eat the food through the person, it generally increases the person’s weight. If the possessing entity is of a higher level and uses the Absolute Fire Principle (Tējtattva) to eat the food through a person, then there is no increase in the person’s weight despite overeating. The higher level possessing entity can also use the Absolute Earth or Water Principle if it wants to posses a person. The Absolute Cosmic Principle used would depend on how the possessing entity wants to harass the person it possesses.

6. What can be done to reduce overeating if the cause is spiritual?

Spiritual healing measures are the only way to reduce overeating where the cause is spiritual in nature. If a spiritual cause is suspected, then spiritual healing remedies like the following can be applied:

• Applying Holy ash (Vibhūti)
• Sprinkling Holy water (Tirtha) on all food consumed and on oneself and drinking Holy water
• Saying specific prayers to reduce the overeating as said by Pratik above
• Chanting the Name of God should be undertaken immediately. Along with this, chanting the chant for protection from departed ancestors is recommended.
• Also, considering that even apparently physical and psychological causes of overeating can be manifestations of a spiritual root cause, it is best to compliment all treatment at the physical and psychological dimension with the above-mentioned spiritual treatments.

The above case study is an indicator of the importance of having access to subtle-knowledge from the perspective of having accurate and instant diagnosis to a problem. In Pratik’s case, if he did not get a visit from his aunt who had an activated sixth sense to tell him that the problem was spiritual, he could well have spent many years fighting the problem of compulsive eating and doing the rounds of consultants in medicine and psychiatry with limited benefits to him. This would have amounted to a waste of time, effort and money, with limited to no benefit to him. This case also shows the importance of regular spiritual practice from the perspective of:

• Insulating us from spiritual problems or limiting them
• Giving us access to subtle-knowledge or at least to those who have subtle-knowledge
• Providing an early and complete cure to the problem if it is in fact, curable