WTB members and guests sat down at tables with lovely tablecloths and a variety of foods. Knowing that the topic was fasting and breaking fasts, a few women had fasted before this gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gay Montague explained that WTB began as an expression of compassion after 9\/11 when our co-founder, Betsy Wiggins, reached out to the Muslim community. She connected with Danya Wellmon and they began a conversation that continues today. This particular WTB meeting was one of more than 200 worldwide celebrations of the Charter for Compassion, the initiative of Karen Armstrong, a noted historian of religion. She recognized that compassion is the foundation of all world religions and is what connects us at the deepest human level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Charter is a carefully crafted document with contributions from faith traditions worldwide. It was announced to the world at a Peace Summit on September 27 held in Vancouver, and was attended by the Dalai Llama and Archbishop Tutu. The Charter of Compassion focuses on the Golden Rule, a central tenet of faiths worldwide. One hundred and fifteen organizations worldwide have partnered with the Charter; WTB is the only CNY partner. Judy Antoine then played meditative music and read from the Charter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our\nco-founder, Danya Wellmon, then introduced our six speakers who would discuss\nfasting in their respective faith traditions. The first to speak was Betty\nLamb<\/strong>, who explained that her faith journey began with Methodism. She then\nconverted to Catholicism, and has now found a home in Judaism. She\ndescribed her pilgrimage as \u201cgleaning in God\u2019s field,\u201d and commented that God\nis flexible, but guidelines for practice are nice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Betty\nexplained that there are seven fast days in the Jewish calendar, when healthy\nindividuals over the age of 12 (girls) or 13 (boys) are commanded to refrain\nfrom eating. Those days are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n1. Gedaliah, which occurs the day after Rosh Hashana, the beginning of the Jewish\nliturgical year, a 12-hour fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n2. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), nine days after Rosh Hoshana, a 24- to\n25-hour fast. This is the only fast day that is commanded in the Bible\n(Numbers 29:7) and the most important of the fasting days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n3. Tevet, which commemorates the siege of Jerusalem in 588 B.C. E., a 12-hour\nfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n4. The fast of Esther (the day before Purim), which celebrates an event in the\neighth century B.C.E. that prevented the destruction of all Jews, a 12-hour\nfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n5. Passover, which commemorates the protection of the Jewish people from the\nplagues visited on Egypt and is a fast from wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and\noats, a seven -or eight-day fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n6. Tammuz, which commemorates the breach of the walls of Jerusalem during the\nreign of Nebuchadnezzar, an 18-hour fast<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n7. Tisha B\u2019Av, which remembers the destruction of the first and second temples\nin Jerusalem and other tragedies, a 24- to 25- hour fast<\/p>\n\n\n\n During\nthe three weeks between the last two fast dates, no festivals or weddings may\noccur, as it is a time of reflection, preparing for the New Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However,\nmore important than any of these specific dates is the Sabbath, a weekly Friday\nevening through Saturday observance that involves fasting from cooking (though\nnot from eating), use of appliances (even lights), and all forms of work. This\nis the day that God rested, so it is a day of rest from work and varies with\nthe observers\u2019 cultural and religious tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fasts are\ntypically broken with bread and wine, followed by a meal that starts a\nfestival. Betty read two blessings, \u201cBlessed are you, Lord our God, King\nof the Universe who creates fruit of the vine,\u201d and \u201cBlessed are you, Lord our\nGod, King of the Universe who brings forth bread from the earth.\u201d On our tables\nwere plates of challah bread and grape juice, which we were invited to sample.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our second speaker was Saro Kumar<\/strong> who discussed her Hindu tradition of fasting. She remembered that as a child, she didn\u2019t think her elders were very compassionate, at least in terms of fasting! To begin a fast, they gave her a bitter liquid derived from the leaves of a tree which had antibacterial properties to cleanse the digestive system. Castor oil was also taken. Fasting started as part of the medical practice of ayurveda to remove toxins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nfast cleansed the temple of the body, and became associated with\nspirituality. The fast was broken by drinking lemonade because the acidity\nwas considered good for the body, then followed by bland simple foods, perhaps\nwith no salt, according to the individual\u2019s typical diet. For the fast, meat\neaters would refrain from meat and vegetarians would refrain from grains. \nRefraining from food creates Dharma, which in the Hindu tradition basically\nmeans good karma arising from good actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is\ncommon for Hindus to fast on Fridays. They deprive themselves, and\ninstead feed the poor and the animal world. A woman may sweep the ground\naround her house and create simple or complex designs with rice powder as food\nfor ants. The days of the full moon and the rising moon are especially\nauspicious for fasting, and ensure that food nourishes others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For\nevery possible virtue, Saro added, there is a Hindu god or goddess. To\nenlist the help of the appropriate deity, one can fast and pray to the deity,\ngiving up one good to receive another. What began as a health benefit\nbecame a spiritual practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our\nthird speaker was Naima Barbour<\/strong>, a second-generation Muslim. She\ncould smell the food that was waiting for us at our meeting, and said it\nreminded her of waiting<\/em> for food when, as a child, her parents required\nher to fast. Fasting is prescribed in Sura 2:183 so that one may learn\nGod-consciousness. Fasting had been common in the Middle East even before the\ntime of Mohammad, but was not decreed in the Qur’an until the fifteenth year of\nhis prophecies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Muslims\nofficially begin fasting at puberty, but illness, being on a journey,\nmenstruation, pregnancy, and nursing provide exceptions. However, if one\nis unable to fast at the specified times, one is expected to make the days up\nwhen possible. As an alternative, one can feed the poor so that someone\nbenefits from the time of fasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One\nfasts from food, drink, and sexual activity, things used to satisfy the self,\nin order to develop consciousness and restraint. One is expected to ask,\n\u201cHow am I treating others?\u201d and become aware of how one treats one\u2019s own body,\ngiving it the right foods. It is not a holiday, even though communal\nmeals to break the fast are common. During this time one is expected to\ngive more and pray more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fasting\noccurs during the Islamic month of Ramadan and lasts during daylight\nhours. Because this is a lunar calendar, the months vary in season each\nyear, so that Ramadan rotates throughout the year. Naima laughingly\nrecalled that her first year of official fasting at age 13 occurred in July, so\nshe was required get up before dawn to eat, and then to fast from 6:30 a.m.\nuntil 8:30 p.m., a requirement that she did not consider compassionate! \nHowever since Naima has been pregnant three times and nursed each baby, she\nsaid it would take her a very long time to make up for the months of fasting\nshe has missed. However, various charities have gotten a lot of food from\nNaima to make up for her missed fasts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ntraditional foods for breaking fasts are dates and water, followed by evening\nprayer, then a meal. On our tables were pitchers of water and cups, and a\nlarge bowl of dates, and when Naima finished speaking we all were invited to\npartake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our\nfourth speaker was Stephany Richardson<\/strong>, who presented the Christian\nperspective on fasting. Stephany was raised Roman Catholic and explained\nfasting in that tradition. She said that after she agreed to speak on this\ntopic, she did some research and found that there were at least 78 references\nto fasting in the Christian Bible, which includes the Jewish Bible plus the\nChristian New Testament. This indicates how important and how central\nfasting should be. Because she has practiced fasting in her own life, she\nfeels it is beneficial, but noted it is neglected in much of Christian\npractice. She believes that as people are more educated on what fasting is\nand isn\u2019t, that more they may reap the benefits and make it a part of their\npractice of faith. It\u2019s not starving yourself to death, nor roaming around\nin sackcloth and ashes<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stephany\u2019s\nfirst recollections of any kind of fasting were the meatless Ash Wednesdays and\nthe meatless Fridays during Lent, a period of 40 days when Jesus entered the\ndesert to fast. Catholics were also asked to give up something as a sacrifice,\na penance, as it were. For little kids it was usually candy or something\nof that sort, and as a kid, she remembered snitching a bit. Also, during Holy\nWeek, in which many churches recall the Last Supper, passion and death of\nJesus, fasting from meat, alcohol or sweets was and still is accepted as a\nmeans of purifying the heart and mind for the Easter celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As\nStephany has grown older and her faith has evolved, fasting has taken on a\nwhole new meaning. When there is a matter of great importance, she will fast\nand pray for a day or two. She finds that when her body is clear from\nsome of the junk she puts into it, her spirit is much more receptive to the\nvoice and heart of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Being\nhypoglycemic, she needs to be careful about how strictly she fasts, as it could\ncause more harm than good if not done with some safeguards. She will take her\nmedications as usual, have one cup of coffee, and have juice, water and broth\nthe rest of the time. She will eat a very light meal at the end of the day\nto replenish her energy, or when she believes the Lord is leading her to end\nthe fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During\nthe fast, Stephany keeps her schedule loose, and eliminates Facebook, Internet,\nphone, and TV. She meditates, and quiets her mind by repeating a religious\nphrase as a mantra. She feels that during meditation, impurities will\nwork their way out, like soup boiling; the distracting thoughts and emotions\nwill rise to the surface and dissipate. She tries not to judge the thoughts\nand emotions that occur. After that, Stephany\u2019s mind and heart are clear\nto hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and to get a sense of where He is leading\nher. During a fast, some Scriptures may take on a new and enlightened\nmeaning, and Stephany can be surprised by the Spirit during the time of fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nclosing, Stephany read some Scriptures about fasting that resonate with her:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isaiah\n58:6-8. \u201cIs not the kind of fasting I have chosen, to loose the chains of\ninjustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and to\nbreak every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry, and to\nprovide the poor wanderer with shelter\u2026 when you see the naked, to clothe him,\nand not to turn away from our own flesh and blood? Then your light will\nbreak forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nMicah 6:6-8 (a slight paraphrase): With what shall I come before the Lord, and\nbow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt\nofferings? \u2026 will the Lord be pleased with my fasts, with not watching TV, not\neating sweets or not going on Facebook for a week? Shall I offer my\nfirstborn for my transgressions, or even my second born? Shall I not buy that\noutfit I\u2019ve always wanted? He has showed you, O man (and woman!) what is good\u2026\nand what does the Lord require of you\u2026 to do justice, love kindness, and to\nwalk humbly with your God.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our\nnext speaker was Tori DeAngelis<\/strong>, a former Catholic who has found her way\nin Buddhism. She says nature has become a big source of spiritual\ninspiration for her, and that caring for others is an important focus. When she\nlived in Washington D.C., she regularly attended the Shambhala Center, a center\nfor Buddhists and lay people to study the Tibetan tradition. The Center offered\nweekend retreats and she participated in those and became adjusted to the\npractice of meditation. She agreed with Stephany that in the practice of\nmeditation she watches her mind without judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buddha\nhad a difficult path to achieve Enlightenment, and fasting was one of the tools\nhe used on his journey to consciousness. He had been eating one grain of\nrice and one sesame seed each day and became weak and unable to meditate. A\nyoung girl fed him, giving him the strength to meditate for 49 days, thus\nleading to his Enlightenment. He embraced the middle way<\/em>, a path of\nmoderation, one filled with awareness of the world, but no extremes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later,\nBuddha is said to have passed a man on the road. The man was impressed\nwith the Buddha\u2019s radiant presence and peacefulness, and asked, \u201cMy friend,\nwhat are you? Are you a celestial being or a god?\u201d The Buddha\nresponded, \u201cNo, I am not.\u201d \u201cWell then, are you a magician or a\nwizard?\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cWell then, are you a Man?\u201d Again, \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cWell\nwhat are you then?\u201d \u201cI am awake!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consciousness,\nbeing present, coming to understand ourselves – that we are part of a great\nwhole rather than a single, egoic being – is the essence of the Buddhist\ntradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although\nfasting is never required in Buddhism, in the monastic tradition it assists in\nmeditation, purifying the body and reducing attachments. It is one of 13\nascetic practices meant to “shake up” or “invigorate”\npractitioners. Fasting is cleansing, and afterward helps us more fully\nrecognize the gifts of the universe. Fasting and the practice of mindful\neating can foster appreciation for all those who grow, harvest, transport, and\nprepare our food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nconclusion, Tori read a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh called \u201cBefore We Eat,\u201d and\nasked us to take any food item from the table and eat it mindfully, noticing\nand appreciating what went into it \u2013 the soil, the sun, the air, the labor \u2013\nand to be grateful for the nourishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our\nfinal speaker was Mary Roderick,<\/strong> who explained her Baha\u2019i experience of\nfasting. It has much in common with Islam, but significant differences as\nwell. There is a month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, but Baha\u2019i months are\nonly 19 days long. Also, the Baha\u2019i calendar does not cycle through the\nyears as the Islamic calendar does, so Baha\u2019i fasting always occurs before the\nspring equinox in March, when there are no long days. The pre-dawn and\nafter-dusk meals vary with the local culture, so the only stricture is not to\noverdo. Individuals age 15 to 70 in good health are expected to fast, with\nexemptions for hard labor, being away from home on a trip more than nine hours,\npregnancy, nursing, menstruation, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary\nstressed that fasting is not just physical. It should also include the\nspiritual, with meditation, prayer, and making readjustments in one\u2019s life. One\nshould be abstaining from selfish and carnal desires. The intent is more\nimportant than the action: It is possible to think you’ve fasted, but the\nintent is not right, so God does not recognize the fast. Conversely, God may\nthink you have fasted when you yourself don’t think you have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After\nthis period of fasting and self-reflection, the New Year begins. Mary ended\nby reading a Baha\u2019i blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After\nthe speakers finished, we were invited to come to the buffet where seven\nhome-made vegetarian soups awaited us, and baskets with a variety of freshly\ncut breads. Returning to our tables (most of us with more than one soup to\ntry), we began to chat with friends old and new. Questions concerning\ncompassion were available to start discussions. At one table, discussion\nwas so vigorous that we never got past question two!<\/p>\n\n\n\n All\ntoo soon it was time to wrap up the event. Terra distributed several\nstrips of paper containing the following sentiments concerning compassion, and\nasked the recipients to read them aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong … because some day in life you will have been all of these.” (George Washington Carver) <\/p>\n\n\n\n “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” (Dalai Lama)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our\ntask must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace\nall living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” (Albert\nEinstein)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Peace cannot be achieved through violence \u2026 it can only be attained through understanding.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Words\nhave the power to both destroy and heal. When words are true and kind, they can\nchange the world.” (Buddha)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Compassion\nis the basis for all morality.” (Arthur Schopenhauer)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability. It is essential for human survival.” (Dalai Lama)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The\ndew of compassion is a tear.” (Lord Byron)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Six speakers discussed fasting in their respective faith traditions. Fasting was described as a way to cleanse the temple of the body, develop consciousness and restraint, and become more receptive to the voice and heart of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[30,21,15,22,16,17,41],"class_list":["post-7420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-programs","tag-bahai","tag-buddhism","tag-christianity","tag-hinduism","tag-islam","tag-judaism","tag-spiritual-practices",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7420"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9000,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7420\/revisions\/9000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}