Hi Serene.

 

Congratulations and thanks for the happy holiday wishes!

 

I thought of you the other day while I was listening to National Public Radio.  A woman was telling the story of her first fastings for Ramadan.  She talked about getting up at 4 in the morning and how she could not eat breakfast.  Then she starved all day at school.  She thought she would be a hit at school doing something so interesting but the kids thought it was weird.  Lol.  Her dad was delighted at her decision to join in of course!

 

There was another segment on fasting too.  They talked about some of the spiritual and symbolic backgrounds for fasting.  Basically, it is about doing without the "material" part of life and being closer to spirit.  That is part of the reason there are such famous fasts in history and religion where visions were the result.

 

:-D

 

Love,

Evonne

 

        

Congrats ! You made it :-)

 

Namaste Everyone--

 

Thank you *so* much for sharing my joy and contentment. I'm one of those people who believe that happiness gets much better when tasted with others, rather than sampled alone.

 

It's good to hear from you again, Czech! I was beginning to think that we were losing our place to the new communities that you've been working on.  I definitely am not "done" with you about the stones! lol

 

I had to laugh Evonne, when I read through your message.. I guess that person whom you heard on the radio makes a good description of anyone who has tried fasting at some point of her life. Eating in the middle of the night is really not much fun! And yes, when you first start fasting (your initial years) one can really get starved. Later, H2O and other liquids become the main issue though (for me, it definitely has remained coffee so far). The only thing that is slightly different in my case is, despite their piety, my parents never encouraged me to fast until I graduated from high school. I used to observe it for a couple of days, but then they used to say that I had to work for my classes and I was still 'growing up' (!) whatever that means when you are 17!! lol. It really became a regular thing for me after I went to college. Somehow, at that point of my life, I felt 'adult' enough to see through it all..

 

You make such a good point when you refer to the issue of fasting across the world religions to reach wisdom. Isn't it amazing? The styles of it may change, but the principle, I guess remains the same: to appreciate the nourishments of life, and spirit. It is one period when one remains 'hungry' physically, but gets filled up spiritually. I guess that's why everyone seems to be so keen to exercise it..

 

Blessings,

Serene