The Fast: Body To Spirit & Back

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It’s Saturday. I’ve been fasting for over twenty-four hours. My last meal was back on Wednesday evening. However, my statement is truthfully a lie.

Last night, for a final supper in Paris before heading back home for the holidays, I forced a small bowl of pulsed vegetable soup down my throat. I wasn’t hungry, but I knew I would have disappointed Madame Joffres by skipping out on my final Parisian dinner of the year.

So, I went light and broke my fast—going all day Thursday into Friday, until an evening’s bowl of soup. Now today: Saturday afternoon. I come to my present condition.

I’m hot. Above a rain slick Paris and flying northward over an expanse of whiteness, the sun is welcomed, but noticeably, it increases the irregular internal heat of my body. My cheeks feel burnt, my flesh cooking from within, as the bridge of my nose feels as though it’s being squeezed by a wrench. My head is heavy. My eyes are sunken in somber. And above all, my spine feels as if it’s brandishing the blue-linen economy seat. I’m exhausted as the toxins are purged from my system and I question whether it is time to break this fast…but over airline food?

Fasting With the World

Fasts have many different purposes. Widely, they are known as a form of self-purification, but also as a method of protest. Mohandas K. Gandhi was an avid man of fasts. He would fast ceaselessly, near reaching his death.

During a fast, Gandhi often found himself lying in bed after a week or more into his fast. He rested to conserve his energy, but fought ardently, standing up for the people of his Mother India. His intention during each fast was to provoke change within the British colonial rule and liberate the India of his heart. He fervently encouraged his followers to remain firm to the precepts of non-violence, for Gandhi was a believer, above all; believing that anything could be done if one puts their mind, body and soul to it. We all know the phrase-turned bumper sticker, refrigerator magnet and IKEA print poster: Be the change you wish to see in the world.

The small Hindu man who lived in the deserts of Gujarati lived this principal more fully then any other man. He was the ideal figure for the precepts he stood for as far as non-violence and the power of change. And so, as a practice for the people as well as himself, Gandhi commenced a daily fast once a week—the second purpose of fasting: political protest.

Turning Inward

It is not often easy to convince someone to change his or her habits for the good of all sentient beings by starving yourself to death. In the first place, those who are committing the disagreeable act are doing so out of their own will, whether it’s harming one person or multiple beings. Therefore, what would they care if another person starved? Principally, fasting is performed under the accords of the practitioner desiring not external change, but internal transformation.

The body is constantly bombarded by action, sensation and work in one form or another. From time to time it’s beneficial for physical and mental health to eliminate as much stimulation as possible in order to rest and cleanse itself of its collected work. Here is where fasting’s role comes to play when practiced with the best intentions.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “The best of all medicines is resting and fasting.” A fast is an ideal method for this practice and Gandhi understood its power. Therefore, once a week, apart from the political attributes, he would allow his body absolute rest for one whole day, fasting and going so far as to prohibit speech. He cleansed himself, purifying his mind and body by washing away its accumulated toxins, which in turn renewed his strength. As he broke his fast and eased back into the intake of food, he sipped orange juice with a relaxed and clean internal system. The thin frail-looking man was charged with new energy.

In such regards, caring for the mind and body, and by such means so as to awaken oneself to the day’s highest potential, the practice of fasting is a spiritual endeavor. In a way, it is its own spiritual retreat as time, effort and strength are honored and one withdraws into inner discipline.

What the eyes are for the outer world, fasts are for the inner.
—M.K. Gandhi

For me, my fast was designed for it all. It was my own protest against the enormity of the modern world’s food consumption, equally as it was my retreat center of self-purification; a cleanse of the mind, body and soul for a variety of personal reasons. In Gandhi’s words, my fast was the eyes into my inner soul.

Community Strength in Culture

Apart from Gandhi, other cultures have practiced the spiritual discipline of fasting. Mr. Franklin believed in his methods of fasting and he was no Hindu like Gandhiji. In fact, fasting has a history stretching as far back to the first records of mankind.

First and foremost, when animals roamed the earth freely and were the kings and queens of the food chain, the fast was a religious ritual of the evolving human, meant to bring sharper awareness during ceremonial practices. Further along, in the Far East fasting was known for its cultivation of wisdom and spiritual knowledge, as well as self-purification. In the West, it was—and remains to be—a source of religious penance, though one having dispersed far underground in the modern consumption of today’s society (Who could think of not eating for twenty-four hours with Kmarts, Wal-marts, and Targets, and not to exclude the fast-food joints?). Likewise, within tribal religions around the world, fasting was a form of sacrifice towards the gods, allowing their humanness to dissolve as they fed off and nourished themselves with prayer and worship (KFC by-the-bucket? McDonalds between-the-bun? I don’t think so).

When America’s overachiever, dear Benj, remarked about fasting’s health benefits, he was coming from his Christian origins. He realized the power behind the purge; opening the mind, body and soul to the will of God. While Jesus lived on earth, he spent 40 days and 40 nights fasting, preparing his Self for Satan’s fated temptations. Today, fasting has eased off its pedestal, but it still retains its otherworldly powers with personal discipline to non-violent political activism.

My Kind of Re-education

As a spiritual education, and similar, as the purposes of the fast remain broad, so too are the ideas for the cleanse. To reiterate this signifying factor of the fast, it is important to point out how necessary it is, from time-to-time, to stop and renew. The human body and the brain’s mind benefit when we halt all intake and drop our life’s brush so we may splash a whole new layer of crisp white paint upon our canvas. It’s as though we start anew when we abstain from food and drink. It’s a re-breath of fresh air as we re-teach ourselves a different style of survival. We’re reminded of the presence of the non-physical and the strength we may find there when only we look and believe. It brings us clarity, one that has faded into the governing eyes of the world.

The rebirths from fasting are ideal during a period of transition. When we’re faced with change, movement, dramatic stops and starts, a fast can come in handy by giving us that option to start anew. With a fast in between our life’s transition, more so then ever are we reborn and allowed the clarity to stop at a new art gallery with a completely original style that defines our own development in life’s artistry. It’s scraping out the old and replacing it with the new. It’s weeding the garden in order to cultivate next season’s growth. You’re the chimneysweeper of your mind and body, and the bristly brush is the practice of fasting.

From the end of one season into the next. From the end of one year, and now—a year older and a year wiser—into the next and onward. One segment of the journey is completed as the following begins, and it’s another step up the career ladder while more then a few rungs are by-passed. You make yourself light, lean and spirited for this jump. Your ready for the change. You’ve been reborn by your own strength, determination and inner discipline.

This was my fast: a self-controlled method to bring about awareness and gratefulness as I honored the recent, as well as the old, which carried me into the present moment. It was a dedicated cleanse of the old for the new. It was a self-purification of the toxins for the healthful and joyousness in life. It was my fast as I strengthened my mind and rejuvenated my body while deepening my spirituality.

Firm As An Empty Stomach

Lunch is skipped as Copenhagen is descended upon. It’s my first and last layover before hopping on a plane direct to Seattle.
I check in to the awareness of my body as the plane moves down through the clouds and into a lower atmosphere. I feel light, almost numb. My mind is rooted, yet floating in intangible thought, and my feet tingle despite remaining seated for the last two hours. I inhale, fill my lungs, pressing deep into my empty stomach, and exhale. I reflect on the year as it comes to a close and give my Self a silent affirmation:

I’m ready for all that is and all that will be offered in this coming year. I withdraw into my center of spiritual retreat and honor my Self, giving thanks to the blessings of this world. I stand inward with my fast, choosing not to eat with those who have no choice in the matter. I am ready to fly forward into today’s world and absorb all that the Universe provides. I open the heart and soul to my surroundings, enabling my Self to learn to give more freely. I’m here today with my whole being—living, loving, breathing and fasting into the eyes of my inner soul. I am ready. I am the creator of my life.

My fast continues the following nine hours as I fly across the Atlantic and over North America to Seattle.

This article was originally written and posted on Brave New Traveler

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Comments

[Tim S.]

Wow!!!!
What an excellent blog....as a result of reading this blog which explains fasting so well, I remember the fasting that I did as a child, and I'm inspired to get into the habit of fasting all over again...keep writing!!!