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FASTING –
ITS MEANING, ITS PURPOSE
A fast is: A fast is not:
About God About food
A time of reflection A time of hunger
For peace of the body, For pakoras and
mind and spirit puris
A day of discipline A diet
To purify you To frustrate you
Today, fasting has become a great trend across the world.
In any bookstore you will find volumes of literature extolling
one fast or another. There are juice fasts, water fasts,
fruit fasts, etc. Fasting is frequently heralded as the “miracle
weight loss” for those who have tried all else without success.
A True Fast
A true fast, undertaken with understanding and discipline
has the ability to restore all systems of the body. The nervous,
circulatory, digestive, respiratory and reproductive
systems are all regenerated. The toxins and impurities in
our blood and tissues are eliminated and our system
becomes rejuvenated. The majority of all today’s terminal
illnesses are rooted in over-consumption, and a fast is
a way of purifying our bodies from an excess of not only
food but also preservatives, chemicals and toxins.
A fast also is one of the best ways of controlling our mind
and senses. Fasts have been used for millennia to subdue
passion, anger and lust. They allow us to withdraw our
senses from the outside world and become refocused on
our own divine nature and our connection to God. Additionally,
during this period of sadhana, austerity, and
restraint one realizes that one is truly the master of one’s
body, not vice versa.
Unfortunately today, so many people in the Indian community
seem to have forgotten much of the purpose of a
fast. Today, you will see people with plates overflowing
with puris and pakoras who say they are fasting. There
are phalahari chapatis, saboodana kichari and so many
other hearty foods that we barely even notice it is a fast. I
have heard that there is even a recipe for phalahari pizza
dough!
On the one hand, it is wonderful to see such a proliferation
of the idea of phalahar, and I am glad to see that
observing weekly fasts, or fasts on Ekadashi are rituals
which have not been lost as we enter the 21
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st Connection with the Divine.
However, while fasting is certainly of great health benefit,
to define it merely as a type of “diet” is to undermine one
of the oldest and most sacred spiritual practices. Fasting
has been used for millennia by the rishis, saints and sages
in order to purify their bodies, minds and souls and to bring
every cell of their bodies into connection with the divine.
century.