An Indian pensioner recently set a bizarre new national record after allegedly spending an entire hour staring directly at the sun without sunglasses and without blinking once.

The 70-year-old retired Government officer from India’s Uttar Pradesh state was identified as Mr. MS Verma. He apparently trained for this incredible feat for 25 years, after being inspired by an Indian guru. His attempt to beat the previous record of staring into the sun without blinking was overseen by a representative of India’s Book of Records, as well as a group of politicians and physicians. After an hour of staring directly at the sun without sunglasses and without even blinking, Mr. Verma’s eyesight was deemed normal, as was his overall eye health.

Mr. Verma managed to break the previous record, which was set a few years back by another Indian man who had managed to stare at the sun without sunglasses and without blinking for 10 minutes. The septuagenarian told journalists that he is ready to have his feat acknowledged by Guinness World Records as well.

Although the retiree seemed fine after his successful attempt, smiling and posing for pictures with the invited officials, experts caution against attempting this feat, as looking directly at the sun with the naked eye, even briefly, can be very painful and puts people at risk of suffering irreversible retinal damage.

Still, there are some who swear by the health benefits of “sungazing”, the practice of staring into the sun without any kind of protection for the eyes, with some gurus going as far as calling it a form of free medicine.