Carol queried:

>Mr. Wolfe doesn't claim to be an Essene too, does he?  From the one
>talk of his that I have attended, and from actions of his, I get the
>impression that his belief system is based upon Tony Robbins and the
>almighty dollar.  He's trying, it seems to me, to be the Tony Robbins
>of raw food.  And Tony Robbins isn't exactly what I would call a
>morally inspiring model of human behavior.

Jo sez:

I don't believe he does. The relationship I discern is that Mr.
Robbins was
a business associate of Harvey Diamond (co-author of Fit For Life). In
Mr.
Robbins' first book, Ultimate Power, a chapter is devoted to Hygienic
dietary principles as a cornerstone to personal change. NFL also
openly
advocates neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and it wouldn't be too
much of
stretch to speculate that they were influenced by the successful Mr.
Robbins who, coincidentally or not, follows a Hygienic diet. So your
impression of Mr. Wolfe as the Tony Robbins of raw food seems not
inaccurate.

As for the Essene connection, the religion's validation of a raw vegan
dietary; its esoteric tenets and rituals that distinguish it from
mainstream Christianity; these could play on the loner /renegade
streak in
those who feel isolated from / superior to the general populace who
subsist
on cooked fare and animal products.

I'm sure the followers of the Essene lifestyle perceive personal
beauty and
draw inspiration from the religion. But this could be said of any
faith
worldwide. It's probably a commonality of dietary philosophies that
has NFL
promoting that aspect of the religion.