The Fast

Is a beautiful time of the year.

from march 2nd, till march 21st, Baha'is around the world do the ludicrous - they don't eat or drink from sunrise till sunset. This is all in the hopes of achieving some spiritual growth, or at least doing some spiritual spring-cleaning. The idea, as far as I get it, of fasting is this: if you're not eating for God, you learn two things (at least): one is self-restraint, and the other is remembrance of God. The self restraint one is a simple 'technical' skill you learn from fasting - the repeated denial of a basic instinct allows one to control their desires. Of course, this doesn't always work out, sometimes you'll have a drink without realizing what you did till it's done - but even that can teach you to be more aware of what your regular routine is. The second is less technical, and more state-of-being-ish: fasting, for me, is more of a spiritual exercise...every time I feel my hunger or my thirst, I think of why I am hungry and thirsty, this leads me to think of God, and, in this way, I re-center my mind on God. It's surprisingly simple, and incredibly effective. I imagine, one could fast for any cause, and end up with similar results - you would center your mind around that which you fast for. For me, it's God - so the fast ends up being a spiritual reset-button - a kind of yearly battle against spiritual entropy. It's very nice, I like.

So that's the lowdown on my current mind-state. In the foreground, I'm still teaching the ESL, just closing up shop, marking finals (I became efficient!), having parties with the students in class (pics to come), and generally enjoying life. I've not had time to write my thoughts, feelings, or interesting stories up here for a few days now...and I've felt odd. I think blogging is becoming a part of my life routine -dangerous.

Thoughts on fasting?