Concept of Fasting across religions
By: Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi
Most of the religious texts and traditions define the practice of fasting as the voluntary abstinence from food and certain bodily functions for a specific period of time with the aim of obtaining not only physical but also spiritual well-being.
Without abstinence from bodily functions, we shouldn’t really be talking about fasting but more about dieting. In the case of Taoism, however, this distinction is not so evident, as is usually the case with the polysemy inherent to the Chinese language. This tradition recommends a regime known as bigu, which is generally understood as the “prohibition of eating cereals”, but there are those who also understand it as a particular type of continence.
It is mentioned in the context of inner alchemy (neidanshu) and is compared to a kind of cooking that helps to detoxify and regenerate the body, as well as providing it with immunological virtues. Christianity and Islam also emphasise this protective value of fasting. In some archaic and folk forms of Taoism, there were also a series of annual expiatory and cathartic festivals with elaborate ceremonial in which talismans played a crucial role.
These festivals were preceded by particular fasting (chai) closely linked to the talisman used. The Taoist calendar also recommended fasting several days every year, depending on the lunar phases and the solar cycle (solstices and equinoxes), always in honour of a specific deity.
Hinduism mentions fasting (ekadashi) practically in all its sacred books and recommends it as one of the best ascetic methods (tapas) for purifying the body and concentrating the mind. We also know that Mahatma Gandhi used it as a political weapon. Ayurveda is the medical science that studies the practice of fasting. It is especially recommended for phlegmatic ailments or conditions (kafa) and for its ability to generate “the inner fire” (agni). Ayurveda also teaches us that the body’s metabolism is not the same throughout every hour of the day, which, among other things, explains how certain intermittent fasts that advise not eating from the afternoon onwards work.
Practically every current of Hinduism has its own fasting calendar but, generally speaking, the most favourable times for fasting relate the lunar cycle, especially after a new moon and a full moon, but without setting specific obligatory dates. It is only in the so-called Abrahamic religions that fasting has a regular or liturgical status.
After having suffered the grave consequences of excessive fasting, the Buddha harshly criticised this disproportionately prolonged practice among Hindus and Jains. In fact, no religion prescribes rigorous fasting and so-called inedia (sustained abstinence from consuming food or drink) is only found highly exceptional cases. Advocating the path of moderation, Buddhism prescribes a period of abstinence that varies according to the school. Normally the recommendation is not to eat after midday or to only eat one meal a day. A light, vegetarian diet is usually recommended so as not to slow the mind and meditation.
In certain schools of Vajrayana Buddhism, fasting is often performed for the full moon of Vesak (celebration of the birth of the Buddha) or as a therapeutic practice, such as that inspired by Chenrezig (Tibetan form of Avalokiteshvara). The relationship between Tibetan medicine and Ayurvedic science is well known.
As regards Judaism, the Torah only mentions fasting on one day: Yom Kippur. That translates as the Day of Atonement or of Repentance and it falls on the tenth day of the lunar month of Tishrei, following the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah). On the other hand, Jewish tradition proposes six days of commemorative fasting throughout the year (Gedaliah, Asarab’Tevet, ShivahAsarB’Tammuz, TishaB’Av, Purim and Bekhorim; the first four are related to the Temple) and numerous optional fasts for more devout people (Shovavim, TuB’Av, Zayin Adar, etc.). As most fasting is related to fateful events, it is usual to fast when faced with any misfortune: drought, death, accidents, and so on. Given its importance, a whole section of the Talmud is devoted to talking about and discussing fasting (ta’anit o tzom).
All fasting under Judaism takes place during the day, except Yom Kippur and TishaB’Av, which can last up to 25 hours. Also very significant is the restriction on eating leavened bread during the Passover. Christian exegesis sees an image of impurity or sin in leaven, which explains why there is fermentation. Consequently, the bones consecrated to the Eucharist are made of unleavened bread.
From what little we know of Orphism and Pythagoreanism, both recognised the value of fasting. The same is true of all Western medical tradition since Hippocrates, which has always regarded fasting as a means of detoxification and a purifying or cathartic therapy.
Western alchemical tradition, largely inherited from ancient Greek thought, uses abstinence as a metaphor for its purifying operations or rites of fire. Imitating nature, alchemists regard as impure any “natural function that is not in action” and which, therefore, entails disorder and corruption. Bodily excretions are an example of this, due to their excess and residual dysfunction.
As Zosimos of Panopolis used to say: “let your body fast, restrain your passions; if you control yourself, you will attract the divine being”. The process of transmutation is not the goal but rather the preparatory path or prior condition that leads to the final transformation that is the “Great Work”.
Both Moses and Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert. In this highly significant place of extreme austerity, the Devil appears before Jesus to frighten him and the latter responds with what might be the best definition of the goal of fasting in the Christian context: “man shall not live on bread alone but every word that comes out of the mouth of God”. The Word of God is the bread that nourishes the spirit and is identified with Christ himself: “living bread that came down from heaven”. The same applies to the water metaphor, as Jesus teaches the Samaritan: “whoever drinks from my water will never thirst again”.
Although fasting has a fundamental role in the entire Christian monastic and saintly tradition, the various Churches do not encourage their faithful to fast, but rather recommend certain restrictions on food and drink. These are called fasts because the intention is the same as fasting: to encourage repentance or penitence that will lead to the faithful’s sins being pardoned.
Lent is the 40 days of preparation prior to Easter and the most important fast in Christianity, but not the only one. During this period, and especially on specific days such as Ash Wednesday, Good Friday or every Friday, it is recommended that Christians practise austerity in their meals by mainly abstaining from eating meat. The count is always lunar: Easter, as part of Holy Week, is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the spring equinox. Abstinence is also recommended on Christmas Eve and the eve of other feast days linked to the Virgin Mary (Purification, Annunciation, Assumption) or the Apostles (Pentecost, Peter, Paul). Certain Orthodox Churches also do weekly fasting (for example, every Friday to commemorate the crucifixion) and even extend abstinence to sexual relations, as well as the consumption of fish, eggs, oil, milk or wine.
Christian mysticism has always attached great importance to the pairing of fasting and prayer, and many currents arising from the Reformation have continued to do so, especially the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the Seventh Day Adventist Christian Church (Adventists) and the Church of the Morning After (Mormons), where it is highly recommended for its physical and spiritual benefits. Joseph Smith, precursor of the Mormon movement, recommended “to fast and pray fervently” at least one Sunday of every month.
In the same way that Jesus criticised the ostentatiousness of the fasting of the Jews of his time, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, criticised the hollowness of Hindu and Muslim fasts. Sikhism does not prescribe any kind of obligatory fasting, but it does recommend moderation in eating and, above all, the generous act (vandshhako) of offering food to those who are most in need of it.
Rejecting the Islamic fasting of the month of Ramadan, the Bab, the forerunner of Bahaism, prescribed eating during the last month of the Bahai calendar. The subsequent coming of Bahá’u’lláh corroborated this prescription and, in addition, added a series of prayers (alwâh-e siyâm) to be read during the period of fasting. The Bahai year therefore ends with a fast and begins with the feast of Naw-Rúz: New Year.
Fasting throughout the month of Ramadan is one of the five obligatory pillars of Islam. From sunrise to sunset, Muslims are forbidden to eat, drink and having sexual intercourse during the day hours. For Muslims, Ramadan is the blessed month in which the body and the soul fall into a dialogue of passion and restraint. In this season, humility, patience and discipline of the spirit and the corpse are entwined to liberate them both in to a world of harmony. Ramadan is said to be an auspicious month for revelation at all levels as it coincides with the revelation of the first verses of the Quran to the prophet of Islam, Mohammad (Peace Be upon Him).
People put more effort in the practice of their faith and refrain from seeing, hearing, touching or tasting any obscenity.The goal is to resist temptation in all forms. Purity of thoughts, intentions and actions are emphasized and the road to self -discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and compassion and affection is paved by will power and endurance. People are not, however, expected to relinquish their daily routine and occupation despite the challenge of fasting.
In fact, these hardships are meant to carve an ascetic sense of spiritual satisfaction out of the persistence of individuals. Ramadan is not only a wonderful time for dialogue of the soul and the body but a dialectic of the spirit and the corpse in which the truth of our mortality comes face to face with our immortal possibilities of goodness through the doors of remorse, redemption and reformation.One hopefully attains the fine attainment of the body and the soul, the worldly and the celestial, and the godly and the human in persistence and endurance as they attempt at creating a meaningful space where they all could possibly function in harmony.
Ramadan is also the month of the Quran, as it was in this month that the revelation began. Muslims therefore fast during the day and complete the reading of the entire sacred book in this month. As in other traditions, the end of Ramadan also culminates in a great feast,Eid-ul-Fitr.
The Author is the Resident Representative to President, J&K Anjuman-E-Sharie Shian on Interfaith Dialogue and can be reached at: [email protected]
Kashmir Images is an English language daily newspaper published from Srinagar (J&K), India. The newspaper is one of the largest circulated English dailies of Kashmir and its hard copies reach every nook and corner of Kashmir Valley besides Jammu and Ladakh region.
