The Silent Evangelist
There’s a new pseudoscience
out there that doesn’t involve devices, dogma, or even claims—so
they claim.
Braco (pronounced Braht-zoh)
is a “gazer.” He is a spiritual healer with a difference: there
is no consultation, no cold reading, no contact and no paraphernalia;
his performance involves standing on a podium and simply gazing at his
audience. Moreover, he doesn’t claim to be a healer. (But his advertising
does.)
Hundreds of thousands in
Europe have already experienced Braco’s silent gaze in the last 15
years. He doesn’t call himself a healer, but up to 10,000 people a
day who come seeking his gifts happily say otherwise.
Braco doesn’t call himself
a healer because he doesn’t make any claims directly; his claims
are made by his staff and devotees. Furthermore, he doesn’t make any
claims because he doesn’t speak in public.
It’s all very difficult
to explain – that’s why Braco stopped speaking in public 8 years
ago – leaving it up to the people to decide for themselves what it was
about.
And with the help of his publicity
machine, the people have decided that Braco heals with his gaze.
The Non-Healing Healer
Braco’s biography 21 Days
with Braco describes him as a “Super Healer” and claims he has
“a gift of healing that defies scientific understanding and human
comprehension at this time.”1 Nevertheless, Braco’s team
has found a few medical practitioners to attest to his “invisible
powers.”
Many medical doctors have
shared their opinion that Braco’s healing abilities are extraordinary,
but cannot explain his work though the conventional scientific process.
However, these doctors dabble
in the metaphysical. They include Professor Alex Schneider, President
of the Parapsychological Association of Switzerland and founder of the
World Healing Congress, and Dr. Wiesendanger, “one of the top experts
on healers and healing” and founder of the International Agency for
Outstanding Healers.
They all confirm, that those
impressive reports from Braco´s visitors proove
[sic] his successes and that they show that something flows
through Braco, which can change the lives of thousands of people and
solve even fundamental problems in health like cancer, epilepsy and
psychological problems.2
But these “impressive reports”
are anecdotal and Braco’s alleged healing abilities have never been
“prooved” under test conditions.
Journalists and scientists
who have studied Braco and his energy have been impressed by him and
by the impact of his work, which has resulted in an incredible number
of documented cases of physical healings and life transformations taking
place in those who attend his gazing sessions.3
These “documented cases”
are testimonials featured on Braco’s website. Apocryphally, he performs
miracles, bringing healing and good luck to those who view his gaze.
He has allegedly “cured” countless people of countless chronic conditions:
anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, post-traumatic stress
disorder, thyroid conditions, asthma, brain tumors and cancer of various
kinds. He allegedly restored someone’s sight, healed a paraplegic
woman, and even cleared someone’s blocked nostrils.4
He’s a modern-day Messiah,
but he’s not affiliated with any religion.
Braco does not relate his
successes to any form of religion or to a specific methodology, and
he has changed his working-methods over time. He tries to develop his
methods further and further to enable as many people as possible all
over the world to feel this energy and consciousness.
However, it seems his one and
only method is standing in front of a crowd and looking at people. There
seems to be a lot about Braco that no one can explain.
The healings are unexplainable,
yet undeniable. Reams of documentation recount stories of countless
souls remarkably and often spontaneously transformed by standing before
Braco’s silent gaze — and not just physical healings, but emotional,
spiritual, mental, and interpersonal healings, too.5
Braco makes many claims for
someone who claims to not make any claims.
The Eyes Have It
Braco was born Josip Jelavic
in 1967 in Zagreb, Croatia. In 1993 he became a student of the Serbian
prophet and healer Ivica Prokic, who bestowed the spiritual name Braco,
“Little Brother,” upon his talented protégé. Prokic died in 1995,
and now Braco continues his work.
The experts are also impressed
that Braco is able to have such a strong impact on his visitors, and
began his work at the extraordinarily young age of 26. Braco has reached
a level of consciousness now in his fourties, which even the most famous
masters did not reach before they were sixty, seventy or eighty years
old.
Braco’s gazing sessions usually
last five to ten minutes, and during that time he only makes fleeting
eye contact with each member of the audience. His powers are so potent
that people only need look at his likeness to reap the benefits, but
to avoid being “overburdened,” YouTube videos and DVDs of his gazing
carry a warning.
Braco has been given firm
guidelines from Spirit that no gazing in any DVDs or online
can be longer than seven seconds.
It is further advised that
people under 18 years of age and pregnant women beyond their first trimester
should not view Braco’s gaze, for their own safety.
The energy could overburden
children, so the sessions are not open for visitors under the age of
18, or to pregnant women after their third month. For your children
and for other people who are not able to attend a session, it is recommended
that you bring a photo of that person to a session instead. The power
of Braco’s gaze can equally reach people through photos, and the same
level of healing and transformation occur through this method.6
Braco also offers a line of
Sunce (sun) jewelry that displays his mentor’s symbol: a golden sun
with 13 rays. The price of the jewelry ranges from $190 for a pair of
earrings to $2395 for a diamond pendant. Website testimonials claim
these talismans bring good luck to the wearer.
The Gazing
Braco’s fame has stretched
beyond Europe and he is currently on a tour of the U.S.
Braco does not take any
money for his help, he does not accept donations and the sessions are
always free at his Center in Zagreb. There is only a small fee at international
events, when he visits other countries on tour, to cover the
event facilities rental and organizational costs.7
Aside from his moneymaking
books, DVDs and jewelry, the “small fee” is $8 to attend each session,
but he conducts multiple sessions daily and hundreds of sessions annually,
with hundreds of thousands of attendees. I attended a session in Denver,
and was informed that 3,500 tickets were sold for that day alone.
The room was filled beyond
capacity, with people lining the walls. Reminiscent of a Benny Hinn
performance, there were many hoping to be healed, including people in
wheelchairs. Everyone filed into the hall to the tune of singing glasses
and a female vocalist warbling a mesmerizing song.
The female host appeared and
conditioned the crowd for Braco, the “healer who doesn’t call himself
a healer.” We were told to “take this time to frame your intentions.
Everyone’s experience will be different,” but we were to expect
healings and miracles. She assured us that after seeing Braco “skeptics
become believers.”
There were some “bliss piggies”
in the audience—people who had attended Braco’s sessions all day
long. This was the final session for the day and we would be rewarded
with some “extra gazing.” But Braco would not address us. “He
doesn’t speak in public anymore,” the host explained. “He made
a promise eight years ago. It’s not important what he says, but what
people see.” However, she claimed that “The Voice” is healing.
New Age music began and all
those who were able were asked to stand as Braco emerged and climbed
the stairs of the podium. He stood before the room awkwardly at first,
and then his pose grew majestic, like he was standing on the edge of
the Grand Canyon. Everyone watched him expectantly.
Then Braco gazed at the audience.
For ten minutes.
He was expressionless, but
his eyes scanned the room intensely. His head barely moved but he seemed
to make eye contact, like one of those paintings where the eyes appear
to follow you. As we all stared back we were looking at Braco for longer
than the “safe” seven-second period.
As Braco “gazed,” some
meditated or prayed, some rocked back and forth gently, and some were
crying. Some held photos of sick or deceased loved ones to their chests.
We’d also been told that if we had photos of people in our phones,
Braco would heal them too.
Then it was all over.
Braco ceased gazing across
the room and then appeared to go slightly cross-eyed. He took a step
backwards, tripping slightly as he did so, then he stepped down from
the podium and left the room. As he exited an audience member screamed,
“Thank you, Braco!”
The After Gaze
Braco’s security guards,
known as “guardians,” ran around the room with boxes of tissues
for those overcome with tears. Then the host asked that we stand again
to listen to “The Voice.” They proceeded to play a pre-recorded
speech by Braco—in his native Croatian. Amazingly, some people claimed
they could understand Braco! Braco-info.com claims:
It was very amazing to see,
that even in Germany or other countries, where people cannot understand
what Braco is speaking, the reactions of the visitors during the session
with his voice are exactly the same as with those people who understand
Braco’s words.
There are several possible
explanations for these claims. In this context, people may simply guess
the spiritual-related themes of Braco’s speech. As for claiming to
“understand” Croatian, people may hear cognates:
Croatian words that sound familiar because they are historically related
to words in English. Also, like Electronic Voice Phenomena and other
audio pareidolia, people search for recognizable patterns and perceive
sounds they construe as familiar words.
Then
the host asked the audience for testimonials. One woman claimed Braco
fixed her car before she’d even seen him, so she could attend the
gazing. A man who had recently suffered a stroke claimed Braco’s gaze
left him with tingling, healing sensations. Others also reported tingling
and other non-specific feelings; perhaps they were numb from standing
for so long?
It
seemed that Braco and his crew practiced a form of stage hypnosis on
the audience, given the long periods of standing, the repetitive music,
the suggestions of what we “would” experience, the testimonials
and the disorienting speech read in a foreign language.
One
source reports the following experiences during a session with Braco.
During my first session,
people reported seeing Braco’s white and golden aura all around him.
Braco submerged in gold; there were vibrant violet colors all around
the ballroom. The same violet color was swirling like a whirlpool on
the back of the audience. People heard sounds of the universe, comparing
it to the ocean and wind. People saw wings behind Braco, and large white
wings spread open on the stage. One gentleman saw angels in the ceiling
dancing and looking down on the audience. People saw bubbles, light
balls touching people one by one and white aura surrounded the audience,
everyone seem to be glowing. There was a light emanating from Braco
reflecting onto others. People felt electricity, warmth all
over their bodies, warmth on their hands, trembling, shaking, moving,
skull moving, energy pushing back, blissful feeling, euphoria, tears,
a healthier deeper connection, emotional, loving, hot heat, and felt
the flow of energy enter their body. Braco’s pupils turned into golden
suns, his face morphing and shifting as if he was becoming another being.
Everyone felt born again and found a true home for their hearts and
souls. Everyone was healed.8
In
one of his Youtube videos a viewer also claims Braco “shapeshifts”
during his gazing sessions. This is a lot to live up to, so the host
made some vague promises instead: “You will experience shifts, transformations
and healings.” Like a psychic that encourages clients to connect the
dots in hindsight, she said, “But it doesn’t always happen here
in the room; it may happen later on when you’ve left.” Finally,
she warned us, “There is lots of extra energy about, so be careful
tonight!”
Those
who arrived in wheelchairs left in their wheelchairs. No one in our
large contingent of skeptics reported any healing, miracles or good
luck during or after the event. We did have a 17-year-old in our party,
but fortunately, he was not “overburdened” by Braco’s gaze.
Navel Gazing
Gazing
is best classified as a type of spiritual healing, due to the claim
that its major benefit is therapeutic, in conjunction with other ambiguous
alleged benefits such as bringing good luck, “shifts and transformations,”
and miracles.
Gazing
for healing is popular for its simplicity and as a novelty, but it’s
unlikely to become as common as other paranormal and pseudoscientific
practices. But it’s not new. Will Johnson’s Rumi: Gazing at the
Beloved: The Radical Practice of Beholding the Divine describes
the “ancient mystical practice” of “intentional gazing” for
the purposes of healing. However, this method is different from Braco’s.
As seminar leader William Record puts it, eye gazing “involves 2 individuals
coming together for the purpose of mutual healing. There is no healer/client
distinction.”9
Johnson explains how eye gazing
works.
When eye contact between
two people is initiated and maintained, an invisible energetic circuit
is established between the participants, dissolving the barriers that
ordinarily separate them from each other, drawing them ever closer into
a shared sense of union.10
Eye gazing is not only used
for healing. Eye Gazing parties are events where people sit across from
a partner and gaze at them to assess potential compatibility.11
Eye gazing is also a tantric sex technique, whereby couples use gazing
to increase intimacy and bonding.12
There is no evidence that Braco’s
kind of gazing has any benefits at all, but he takes credit for any
perceived successes, and absolves himself of failure by claiming he
makes no claims. However, the “no claim” claim is disingenuous;
whether the claims come from the public or his crew, the claims are
promoted by and therefore made by Braco.
References
1. Whitecliff, Angelika. 2009.
21 Days with Braco. Awakening Within. [Publisher?-JB]
2. Braco. Description of an
invisible power. Accessed 03/30/2011. Available online at
http://www.braco-info.com/dcms/what-does-braco-give/description-of-an-invisible-power?lang=en.
3. Braco.net. About Braco.
Accessed 03/30/2011. Available online at
http://www.braco.net/?page_id=152.
4. Braco America. Testimonials
from the American road. Accessed 04/04/2011. Available online at
https://bracoamerica.com/Braco_America/Testimonials.html.
5. Braco America. Accessed
04/04/2011. Available online at http://www.bracoamerica.com/Braco_America/Welcome.html.
6. Awakening Within. About
Braco. Accessed 04/04/2011. Available online at
http://awakeningwithin.us/about.htm.
7. Braco Pendant. About Braco.
Accessed 04/04/2011. Available online at
http://myjazzydays.blogspot.com/2010/07/braco-silent-gaze.html.
8. ibid.
9. Healing Through Eye Gazing.
Accessed 04/15/2011. Available online at
http://www.eye-gaze.co.uk/essay.php.
10. Johnson, Will. 2003.
Rumi Gazing at the Beloved – The Radical Practice of beholding the
Divine. Vermont USA. Inner Traditions.
11. Eye Gazing Parties. Accessed
04/15/2011. Available online at http://www.eyegazingparties.com/.
12. Tantra: Gateway to Ecstasy.
“The Science behind Tantric Eye Gazing.” Accessed 04/15/2011. Available
online at http://tantraecstasy.blogspot.com/2008/02/science-behind-tantric-eye-gazing.html.