Fasting: The Ghandi Diet

I've only fasted once in my life. It was the Jewish holiday of Purim, a yearly remembrance of Queen Esther's courage, which saved the Jewish residences of Susa from extermination. For three days, she and her tribe fasted and prayed to God for wisdom and strength.


"Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Susa, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which isagainst the law; and if I perish, I perish!” (Esther 4:16)

It was senior year and I was thirsty for some discernment. On day two I ate 3 brownies (at bible study no less), and the fast was over. Or as I like to call it, the Ghandi Diet.

In almost every book of the bible people are fasting. Moses fasts when he receives the ten commandments. Ezra fasts in mourning for the ungrateful returning exiles. And, of course, Jesus fasts for 40 days and nights in the desert. 

Buddha, a key figure in many major world religions,  receives enlightenment by fasting under a Bodhi tree. Fasting leads to Nirvana. (Nirvana: The spiritual awakening, not the 90s grunge band. Kurt Cobain could have done with some enlightenment...) 

Today people fast from all sorts of things; technology, media, shopping, relationships, complaining, etc...

Technology and media are big ones. 

But there is something to say for a fast from food and drink. First of all, it's ancient. Second, it's universal: every religion and culture has a history of fasting, or traditions of food restriction. Third, food speaks to the basic needs of our physical being. 




By denying ourselves food, we are holding onto something else that can sustain us. Something that once we consume it, we no longer hunger for anything else. 

Since senior year I have only done a few minor day fasts here and there. Usually, I fast on Ash Wednesday, which is a traditional Christian day of fasting. 

This year I learned a lot about Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Children as young as 10 uphold Ramadan. In Judaism there are a few holidays which call for fasting, including Yom Kippur and Rosh Hoshanna. There are exceptions to these fasts. For women, there's  a lot: sickness, menstrual cycles and pregnancy. If it were me, I'd claim a month long pregnancy/menstrual cycle educing flu. I know that's an oxymoron, but hopefully everyone else would be so delirious from hungerI'd get away with it. 

Here's my problem with fasting: Usually I want to use it as a diet. But that goes against the intent of a spiritual fast. God wants us to connect with Him, and in doing so lose ourselves. Jesus said only when you lose your life will you truly find it. When fasting, we put down the mirror showing us our own reflection, and instead look out into the world - Seeing it through God's eyes. Then, I believe, we can pick up the mirror again and this time know ourselves more intimately. 

I don't see a fast in my immediate future. But I am determined to do a major one once in my life. For now, I'll leave fasting to the Ghandis out there.