Braco, Croatian mystic, cures with his loving gaze at Conscious Living Expo
HE’S here and it’s nothing short of otherworldly. This is what news.com.au journalist Daniel Piotrowski discovered when he looked up into the bright light.
ONE day back in 2012 there was no violent crime in New York City.
No murders, when there’s usually plenty. No shootings, not even the glint of a stabby knife.
The reason, according to some, was not down to good policing. Apparently, it was something of a miracle: Braco (pronounced Braht-zo) was in town.
Braco is a Croatian mystic. He has Fabio hair and, according to his followers, he has an incredible gift. He cures people of their ills with his tender, loving gaze.
In November 2012, Braco’s image flashed on the screen at Times Square and New York’s endemic problem was solved for the day, his followers claim.
“I, like many, believe their (sic) are no coincidences and propose that this is just one of the remarkable results of Braco’s gifts,” one disciple, Edith Billups, wrote on the Braco website. Meanwhile, crime experts attributed it to proactive cops on the beat.
Banishing violence is not all the energy healer can apparently do with his soft, kind eyes, breathy testimonials state.
Braco doesn’t give interviews, and does not promise to be a healer, but some of his followers claim his long public “gazings” — where he stands on a podium and silently scans a crowd for up to 10 minutes — can cure people of illnesses such as cancer, depression and asthma.
You name it, they say he’ll fix it. Although the Australian Medical Association disagrees. “(Healers) really should be avoided,” says Dr Brian Owler, adding that “so-called healers essentially prey on people who are unwell, particularly those with terminal illnesses”.
Many Australians are believers. There’s more than a hundred excited people at the Conscious Living Expo at Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse waiting for Braco — who honed his talent under the mentorship of a Serbian prophet — to bless them. He performed a series of hourly gazing sessions over three days.
I’m sitting in the crowd too, waiting to check out this supernatural force. A man named Geoff is on the podium telling us what to expect.
“I was sceptical about this (at first),” he says. “My children and sister think it’s a cult.” Polite laughter ripples through the room.
Geoff has a sick child who he says is “50 per cent healed”, although it’s unclear whether he attributes that to the gazing.
He then provides evidence that gazing works.
Geoff usually sleeps with a mouthguard, but accidentally left it in Melbourne before heading to Sydney for the gazing sessions. After volunteering at several sessions this weekend, he said he realised that he was not snoring anymore.
“I slept like a baby last night,” he says.
Wow I'll be off to the 'Conscious Living Expo' to experience Braco's "silent loving gaze". The poster alone ... pic.twitter.com/Ir4ld5ARON
— Adam Spencer (@adambspencer) May 21, 2014“So you see things are happening here,” one of Braco’s entourage tells the crowd. “(Geoff) didn’t even do a single gaze. He was just here in the room.”
It wasn’t exactly a medical marvel, though. I don’t have many ills, but I’m hoping for something bigger than just snoring.
Especially since the bloke two seats up told me I’m going to “short-circuit” if I keep sitting with my legs crossed.
And because pregnant women and children aren’t allowed to participate because the energy may overwhelm them.
It’s time for the great man himself. Braco strides into the room to meditation music. He hops onto the stage and the crowd stands.
Half-smiling, he stares at us, rotating verrrrrrrrrry slowly to capture everyone.
Around a third of the crowd hold up photographs of loved ones. Braco’s followers say it helps heal them too, even if they are not present.
The woman next to me is dabbing tears away from her eyes, just like what happened on the YouTube videos of his gazings.
Am I doing something wrong? We had been warned some people may not feel anything. And I’m not. Even when he’s looking straight at me I’m not exactly ascending to the heavens.
What if my energy levels are impotent, or something? Did I have to take something first?
It’s over faster than it started. Braco sweeps from the room and people share their experiences.
Many of them say it was profound. One felt enormous energy. Another says: “I feel lighter and clearer. It’s a really beautiful feeling”.
Another woman confesses she had a jaw issue. She doesn’t know if it’s healed, but it does feel a bit better.
Hallelujah.
This reporter on Twitter: @drpiotrowski
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