On Fasting and its purposes - an opinion.

A couple of weeks ago, in the sunday edition of a local newspaper, I read a column from one contributor about fasting during Ramadan month. The author’s husband practices Islamic faith and the author being a Christian says in the column on how difficult it has been to fast dawn to dusk every day and she had to do it initially to please her husband. She goes on to say how this sacrifice from her has helped her connect with her husband and improve on their marriage through team work and trust.

I do agree and understand with her on the aspects of team work, trust and sacrifice in marriage and do appreciate her fasting for Ramadaan along with her husband. However I felt after reading the column, that there is a lack of spirituality in her which made it seem very difficult to go through this religious practice of fasting.

All world religions attest to the practice of fasting and the positive benefits derived from it. The time, duration etc. of the fasting may vary from one religion to another, but the basic premise is one and same - the premise is that by fasting the individual tries to transcend his/her attachment to physical body (gross) as well as to the subtle (mind & intellect) layers and tries to go deeper into his/her soul. By searching deeper into the soul and integrating it with the supreme power of this cosmos (that we call Brahman in Vedanta and as GOD in general), we realize the oneness of all living beings in this universe. This is the basic foundation of spirituality.

The purpose of fasting is not starving oneself of food, starving is suppression of the emotions and needs of the body. A person does not gain anything by suppression, what is needed is sublimation. Sublimation is making any activity nobler and purer through knowledge. This knowledge has to come from reading of religious scriptures, contemplation, and meditation and there by developing the spirituality within oneself. So for fasting to be easy and effective, there has to be a strong affinity for spirituality, whatever the religious beliefs may be. Individuals with materialistic mindset need to overcome many of their attachments and ego for such religious practices to be successful.

Hari Om.

Kauai’s Hindu Monastery and their publications

The past few days, I have been reading a wonderful magazine by name ‘Hinduism Today’ published by the Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, based out of Kauai island in Hawaii. As per their website http://www.himalayanacademy.com, they practice the Tamil Saiva tradition of Hindu worship which is originally popular in Tamil Nadu (India) and in Sri Lanka. The monastery has a well equipped publishing team and they are doing a great and noble service of publishing excellent books and magazines on Hinduism which covers a range of topics from Vedantic philosophies to modern Hindu traditions and lifestyles. Their quarterly magazine Hinduism Today www.hinduismtoday.com has very insightful articles and commentaries on Hindu Dharma, interviews and news clippings related to Hinduism. The monastery also has published a book on ‘What is Hinduism’ which can be downloaded free as PDF copies from their website http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/wfdownloads/viewcat.php?op=&cid=2. This book will also make a great option as gift for others who may be new to Hinduism or would like to know more about it. I heard that some Hindu communities across the US are conducting discussion groups among adults and kids in temples and other community centers where a chapter from this book is read regularly.

Hari Om.