The Art of Manliness - #488： Fasting as a Spiritual Discipline

00:00:00.000 brett mckay here and welcome to another edition of the art of manliness podcast the health benefits

00:00:19.040 of fasting from food have gotten a lot of attention the last several years what's often

00:00:22.400 forgotten in these discussions however is that fasting has been practiced for thousands of years

00:00:26.500 not only for the sake of the body but from the spirit as well my guest today has written a book

00:00:30.440 the sacred art of fasting that explores the different ways fasting is practiced by all the

00:00:34.260 world's major religions and how it can be practiced by individuals today his name is father tom ryan

00:00:38.680 he's a priest and author today on the show we discuss the reasons for making fasting a spiritual

00:00:42.740 discipline how this discipline is practiced within several different religions and how it can still

00:00:47.000 be practiced by someone who isn't religious and how to get started with this universal age-old

00:00:51.360 discipline as well after the show's over check out our show notes at aom.is spiritual fasting

00:00:56.900 father tom ryan welcome to the show pleasure to be here so you wrote a book called the sacred art of

00:01:13.940 fasting before we get into what makes fasting sacred let's talk about the health benefits because that's

00:01:19.600 there's a lot of talk people are doing fasting today for health benefits so what are some of the health

00:01:25.240 benefits of fasting first of all i agree with you that there are very real benefits to fasting i think

00:01:33.780 we need to recognize simply that the body is a microcosm of the earth and just as there's a whole host of

00:01:40.220 toxins that are poisoning our earth's ecosystem so it is with our individual physical bodies especially

00:01:47.620 challenged in our era in which previously unknown unique synthetic chemicals and so forth are being

00:01:54.720 developed and tried out on us in different foods fasting allows the body to rest to detoxify and to

00:02:02.160 heal normally in addition to digesting food which is the body's biggest job the body works to eliminate

00:02:10.200 waste to fight diseases to ward off sickness it replenishes worn out cells nourishes the blood

00:02:17.200 and when it's relieved of its biggest job which is the digestion of food the system can then catch up

00:02:24.120 with some of its back work and our body through fasting is cleansing itself and healing the parts

00:02:30.440 that are ill and some of the benefits to which people attest are you just feel healthier the health

00:02:37.240 improvement claims that one finds in the literature on fasting it covers a wide range like sufferers of

00:02:44.420 such assorted ailments as constipation or hay fever or asthma peptic ulcers colitis and so forth they

00:02:52.760 witnessed that their symptoms were significantly alleviated or disappeared altogether after a fast

00:02:58.700 and they also witnessed to how they felt more tranquil you know how we sometimes turn to eating because

00:03:06.300 we're well anxious we don't really need the food but eating distracts us it gives us something to do

00:03:13.280 and in conjunction with that by and large people sleep better when they have a regular fasting practice

00:03:22.060 nearly half of the u.s population complains of difficulty in getting to sleep staying asleep well

00:03:30.320 it's what's going on in our internal organs that often keeps us awake if we're at rest sleep's going

00:03:36.380 to flow much more naturally if our body is not well being troubled by overeating or heartburn or bloating

00:03:43.540 or indigestion it also helps us free up some time for deeper pursuits certainly fasting or eating rather is

00:03:50.480 meant to be one of life's chief joys and when people sit down together it should be an event that closes

00:03:57.680 the door on routine opens a new space and time in which the food that's passed from hand to hand

00:04:03.540 becomes a symbol of deeper sharing for us around the table so the meal experience is meant to be more

00:04:09.980 than just putting food into our bodies but so often it's just that something taken on the run and

00:04:16.820 eaten alone there are very real health benefits of fasting so there's been a lot of attention to the

00:04:26.060 benefits of fasting to the physical body but what a lot of people i don't know maybe fail to recognize

00:04:31.240 or remember is that fasting is actually a spiritual discipline that cuts across religions and it's been

00:04:37.880 around for a long time so what do you think how do you have you come to personally understand

00:04:43.040 fasting as a powerful spiritual discipline what is it about not eating food that makes makes the

00:04:48.800 spiritual discipline that's a good story i had taken a leave i would have to say like most other members

00:04:55.760 of my church from fasting and abstinence as regular disciplines of the spiritual life this was back in

00:05:01.900 the 1960s and 70s and my first assignment after being ordained as a catholic priest in 1975

00:05:11.600 was to catholic student center at ohio state university in columbus there was in my first

00:05:17.980 year there a day of fast for world hunger sponsored by the university campus ministry

00:05:23.960 provided me with a new experience in fasting i have to say it was the first time i'd ever

00:05:31.160 gone a whole day without food there was a prayer vigil that evening at which people gave the money

00:05:36.640 that they would have spent on food that day half of it went to a neighborhood soup kitchen for the

00:05:41.920 homeless the other half went to the organization bread for the world well something in that experience

00:05:48.860 touched my heart and left me with intimations of power and fasting i wanted to explore further

00:05:54.640 so i began to keep my eyes open for books about fasting it was a revelation to me that so many

00:06:01.660 of the things people said in these books had no necessary or explicit connection to god there was

00:06:09.600 obviously a significant side to this practice that i had simply missed and the things i read only

00:06:16.100 deepened my interest what was i reading well several reasons that repeatedly surfaced in this literature

00:06:22.920 time related to what is most often cited as a motivational factor in fasting namely

00:06:31.300 body ecology many people said they fasted simply to give their physical selves a rest

00:06:38.720 the holiday the argument just kind of went along the lines of well the body is constantly

00:06:45.600 absorbed in the work of digestion food metabolizing it into energy eliminating the waste materials

00:06:52.180 and to go without eating from time to time is to reward our bodies with the same kind of vacation

00:06:59.400 that we give our minds after we've been working hard reading or writing fasting in short gives the

00:07:06.800 body a chance to renew itself it's a time in which the body burns its rubbish it's kind of like a house

00:07:12.320 cleaning day the list of motivating factors that i was reading about were quite long and impressive

00:07:18.500 you know just cite a few of them one was you feel better physically and mentally in other words you

00:07:24.760 save some money on food in other words give the whole system a rest and of course clean out the body

00:07:32.020 sleep better and so forth well those reasons of course were the one cited in the books on the health shelf

00:07:40.460 of the bookstore and in the other literature the pamphlets in the church bookstores or in the rack

00:07:46.260 at the back of the church it was all about god and usually in a lenten framework there was a major

00:07:52.600 disconnect in the two kinds of literature that i was surveying material from the health food store gave

00:07:58.560 you the body ecology approach and the one from the church the spirituality approach what i didn't find

00:08:06.320 were books or articles that help people integrate both the physical and the spiritual benefits of

00:08:13.020 fasting it doesn't have to be either or i told myself it can and should be both because we're not just bodies

00:08:20.460 and we're not just spirits we're embodied spirits you might say in spirited flesh so what's good for me

00:08:28.380 physically is good for me what's good for me spiritually is good for me there's only one me to which it all

00:08:36.220 comes back and confining a means of spiritual growth to the six weeks of lent made no sense to me either

00:08:42.280 i thought well if this is a valuable practice for those six weeks then it should have something of

00:08:47.660 value in it to recommend it for the other 46 weeks of the year as well shouldn't it as a spiritual life

00:08:53.900 practice it did not make sense to simply box it up and write lent on that box so i decided to explore

00:09:02.000 these questions further by preparing and promoting a lenten bible study series called the adventure of

00:09:08.800 fasting people i think were kind of drawn even by the title because they certainly hadn't considered

00:09:13.680 this an adventure but we began with this survey of all the passages and fasting in the bible and

00:09:19.180 then we talked a good deal about its human roots and the virtues of moderation and temperance

00:09:24.500 we strove in short to articulate a holistic approach one dealing with the human person as an embodied

00:09:32.720 spirit on the one hand we wanted to discover the value of fasting as an act of faith hope and love

00:09:39.800 a religious act directed toward god we saw in the tradition how people fasted to focus the heart

00:09:47.900 turn to it as a behavior that clears away the thousand little things that clutter the mind

00:09:53.200 and we saw it as an action that renews contact with god kind of like removing the rust and corrosion from

00:10:00.800 the car batteries say to enable the current to flow more freely and another on the other hand we also

00:10:08.020 wanted to recognize the physiological dimension of it if there is a lot of clutter and excess that could

00:10:13.640 be removed from our bodies would benefit and unable to find a holistic resource on the subject that dealt with

00:10:19.540 fasting as a seamless unity i wrote my own entitled it fasting rediscovered a guide to health and wholeness

00:10:26.640 for your body spirit i emerged from that series of discussions with a fresh appreciation for fasting

00:10:32.680 as a way of communicating with god and as a way of caring for our inspirited body shortly thereafter i

00:10:41.500 started fasting a day a week it was the beginning of a journey that continues to the present one in which my

00:10:47.720 own practice has been enriched and challenged by what i've learned from fasting in other religions

00:10:52.820 well i'd like to get into some of the details about how other religions practice fasting but you've

00:10:58.900 mentioned a lot of the health benefits of fasting but you also argue there's a spiritual dimension like

00:11:03.940 what are the spiritual benefits of fasting that you've found like broadly speaking always when we

00:11:10.980 voluntarily go without food it's because something else is more important to us it might be an early

00:11:18.000 departure slim waistline or feeling physical well-being when it's done as a religious act say in the

00:11:25.940 christian tradition at the heart of it is simply this god you're number one for me you're more important

00:11:33.620 in life itself which food symbolizes for me and the fast brings home to me in a real and concrete way

00:11:39.780 that god is the essential source of all life and well-being focus away from food to god is deliberate

00:11:48.360 yes these other goods are important yes i need them but all the needs in my life if traced down to their

00:11:54.140 deepest core are rooted in my single greatest need which is for fulfillment from the hand of my creator

00:12:00.520 so from time to time i you know can forget just which needs are the most important and my priorities

00:12:06.900 become confused and fasting cuts through the drift and ambiguity kind of like a meat cleaver

00:12:12.100 coming down on a butcher's table it's a concrete decisive act that says you lord are this you're the

00:12:18.460 still point in my turning world and please don't ever let me forget it so for you i will upset my routine

00:12:24.860 today of three meals because you're the god i worship not my work or my routine which becomes all too

00:12:31.040 important for me sometimes for you i'll give up meeting my colleagues and friends for lunch today

00:12:36.100 because even though i need them and like them the love and acceptance i need from them is only a

00:12:42.500 reflection of the love and acceptance i need from you for you i'll live with these hunger pangs today

00:12:48.900 and let them speak to me in my deepest hungers our hearts are restless lord until they rest in you

00:12:55.000 some of the values i think that the major religions express in fasting as a spiritual practice is

00:13:04.220 that fasting is abstention from food and drink for a designated period of time is intimately connected

00:13:11.500 with religious observance and the religions that practice fasting encompass the vast majority of people

00:13:17.860 on the planet you know buddhist christians hindus jews muslims native americans and so forth

00:13:25.000 you might justifiably conclude that any spiritual practice embraced so universally has to have

00:13:31.780 something going for it wouldn't you when you look at fasting in the different religious traditions of the

00:13:36.920 world there's a wider field of values that emerges not only physical and mental purification are there

00:13:44.260 but other values too such as self-restraint social solidarity penance attunement to god and it

00:13:53.340 doesn't take long to see that certain values underlying the practice emerge as commonly

00:13:58.380 acknowledged and shared amongst the religions

00:14:01.260 in the religious experience of humankind fasting has always been a prelude and a means to a deeper

00:14:09.400 spiritual life failure to control the amount we eat and drink disturbs the inner order of our

00:14:16.120 embodied spirit so fasting is a choice to abstain from food at certain times in order to put our attention

00:14:22.700 on something more important to us than ourselves or our sensory appetites as a religious act fasting

00:14:31.740 increases our sensitivity to that divine mystery always and everywhere present to us it's a passageway

00:14:39.340 into the world of spirit inviting us to bring back a wisdom necessary for living a fulfilled life

00:14:46.860 it's an invitation to awareness the call to compassion for the needy cry of distress and even a song

00:14:55.900 of joy it's a discipline of self-restraint a ritual of purification sanctuary for offerings of atonement

00:15:04.380 it is a wellspring or the spiritually dry a compass for the spiritually lost and inner nourishment for the

00:15:13.380 spiritually hungry remarkable isn't it to note how in every culture and religion and history

00:15:19.700 fasting has been an instinctive and essential language in our communication with the divine

00:15:26.100 it is and let's let's get into how the various world religions practice fasting and what it means to them

00:15:34.160 so let's start with judaisms that's what you start off in your book the sacred art of fasting

00:15:38.740 what role does fasting play within judaism well for jews one of their key reference points is moses fast

00:15:46.740 of 40 days and 40 nights talked about in the book of exodus and how moses fast established a unique

00:15:55.300 connection between fasting in the presence of god and from this event sprouts the mosaic law and the need

00:16:02.900 for purity in the presence of the lord and the torah lists a number of reasons for fasting namely means

00:16:11.060 of purification means of showing self-humiliation symbol of mourning after death repentance for sins

00:16:19.780 the symbolism of fasting in the torah has many faces but all were done with a specific purpose

00:16:27.060 no act of fasting was done with the intent of merely denying the body itself but rather as an

00:16:34.260 expression to god of true intent and in terms of how that translates into concrete practice well fasting

00:16:41.940 is obligatory for all jewish adults and there are two major public fast days about five minor public fast

00:16:50.660 fast days and of course private days of fasting the two major public fast days yam kippur or the day of

00:16:59.780 atonement and tisha bav yam kippur calls for no eating drinking washing anointing with oil wearing of sandals

00:17:12.500 no work no sexual intercourse it's a 25 hour fast beginning at sunset the evening before yam kippur

00:17:20.340 and ending one hour after sunset on the day of yam kippur fasting on yam kippur is a repentance for the

00:17:26.900 wrongs jews have committed against god in the past year so if a jew has sinned against another person 0.95

00:17:35.140 the jew must seek reconciliation righting the wrong before the start of yam kippur and as for tisha bav

00:17:43.780 there are the same requirements as for yam kippur namely that the fast commemorates in this case the

00:17:50.900 destruction of the temple of jerusalem and there are also five other minor fasts in jewish practice

00:17:58.660 commemorating some national tragedy these are times of purification repentance reconnection with god

00:18:07.380 the fast lasts from dawn until sunset and no one is permitted to eat breakfast if one arises before

00:18:16.980 sunrise to do so but one one is permitted rather to eat breakfast yeah if you arise before sunrise to do

00:18:24.980 so well what are some of these minor fasts uh one is called the fast of gedalia which commemorates the

00:18:32.100 killing of the jewish governor of judah and then there's the fast of tevet which commemorates the

00:18:38.100 beginning of the siege of jerusalem which is also memorial day for jews who died in the holocaust

00:18:44.020 a third is the fast of esther which commemorates the three days that esther fasted before approaching

00:18:51.460 king ahasuerus on behalf of the jewish people and a fourth is the fast of the young of the firstborn 0.84

00:18:59.220 this commemorates the fact that jewish firstborn males were saved from the plague in egypt

00:19:05.140 and that fast is observed by firstborn jewish males on the morning before passover

00:19:10.740 and the fifth one is a fast of tamers which commemorates the day when the walls of jerusalem

00:19:17.060 were breached and then in addition to these two major and five minor fast days there are private

00:19:23.460 fasts such as a bride and groom fast the day before the wedding the fast ends when they share a cup of

00:19:30.820 wine under the wedding canopy the purpose is to review and renew their lives that gives us a feel for

00:19:39.060 for fasting in judaism fasts are sometimes observed on the anniversary the death of a close relative

00:19:49.060 but overall the motivation is that fasting facilitates the process of teshuva which is returned to god

00:19:57.060 we're going to take a quick break for your words from our sponsors

00:19:59.140 and now back to the show and are they besides abstaining from food and drink are there is

00:20:05.940 there anything else they need to do besides and also intending the fast to be like a spiritual fast

00:20:10.820 are they supposed to do anything else pray give alms things like that yes those certainly do find expression

00:20:18.820 in jewish practice as well and i think uh that sinking of say the personal practice of fasting with

00:20:32.660 some kind of donation to others is very very much strongly expressed in islam particularly

00:20:42.820 for muslims fasting is one of the five pillars of islam and one of the highest forms of islamic worship

00:20:50.340 and the quran prescribes fasting that you may learn what they call taqwa and taqwa is translated as

00:20:59.860 self-restraint piety or allah consciousness taqwa is derived from a word meaning protective shield

00:21:09.380 and those who achieve taqwa will gain the good of this life and the hereafter fasting is a means

00:21:16.260 for people to protect themselves against evil and wicked motives it protects the person from succumbing

00:21:23.300 to evil and it protects society by preparing people to work for the general good a person who achieves taqwa

00:21:30.500 is in a state of constant awareness of god he or she thinks about how to please god by doing good

00:21:36.340 and guarding against evil so fasting for muslims as well as for jews is a means of

00:21:43.380 learning self-control developing sympathy for the less fortunate and thankfulness for all of god's

00:21:48.980 bounty the primary motivation is to please god and the secondary motivation is to fight your own whims your

00:21:58.180 own desires and to solidify the community to try to feel the pains of the hungry and the intention

00:22:06.740 again here can be made during the night before going to sleep or made when one gets up before dawn

00:22:13.700 and as dawn breaks the first of five daily prayers that muslims practice are offered and throughout

00:22:20.500 the day muslims remind themselves that they are fasting for the sole purpose of pleasing god and seeking 1.00

00:22:26.980 god's mercy fast is broken as soon as the sun sets with no delay and having a few dates with water is

00:22:34.900 traditional and in terms of motivation say fasting is between the individual and allah in denying one's

00:22:42.900 desires during the fast and because allah watches the faster is forgiven his or her sins as long as

00:22:50.420 their fasting is done out of true belief so a muslim who fasts attains allah's watch over him or her 1.00

00:22:58.340 which keeps them away from evil but there's a strong social dimension to the fast among muslims individual

00:23:07.140 and personal spiritual development is not the purpose of fasting in their holy month of ramadan

00:23:14.260 spirituality is communal there's no going off to a mountaintop or forest retreat to desert monastery to

00:23:21.060 develop a personal relationship with god alone the fasting is to happen in the streets in the homes and

00:23:28.980 places of business and this communal spirituality and solidarity are expressed through a social network

00:23:35.700 in which resources are made available to help those who are left without protection

00:23:40.820 or support in society resources are made available for those who lose their means of livelihood or are

00:23:46.660 incapacitated those who can't earn enough to meet their needs this heightened sensitivity to the plight of

00:23:54.660 unfortunates in the community is very much a direct result of fasting in the muslim tradition when a faster 0.99

00:24:03.700 feels hungry well she's more mindful of those who are always hungry the social dimension of ramadan is

00:24:11.140 manifest at each sunset each day it's a common practice for muslims to break the fast with dates 1.00

00:24:18.980 after the custom of the prophet muhammad and that's followed by a sunset prayer since everyone who eats the 0.99

00:24:26.820 evening meal at the same time people are always gathered in each other's homes to share the meal after the

00:24:35.620 30 days of fasting at the end of the month of ramadan the month is observed with a whole day of celebration

00:24:42.820 called eid al-fiti and on this day muslims from around the village town or city gather in one place to

00:24:51.060 offer a prayer of thanks it's traditional to wear new clothes visit friends and relatives exchange gifts

00:24:58.020 eat delicious dishes specially prepared for the occasion outside ramadan there are other times recommended

00:25:05.220 for voluntary fasting following the traditions of the prophet among them on mondays and thursdays of every

00:25:11.540 week a few days in each of the two months heralding the coming of ramadan and on the sixth day following

00:25:19.780 the festival of eid al-fiti while it's understood that the only obligatory fast is that of ramadan

00:25:27.620 regular fasting throughout the year is encouraged to help maintain the allah consciousness 0.99

00:25:34.100 achieved in ramadan you also talk about buddhism has a tradition of fasting as a spiritual discipline

00:25:41.860 what role does it play there well buddhism i pause because i think before becoming enlightened the buddha

00:25:51.060 was known as siddhartha gautama and he had a minimal familiarity with his personal story on our part

00:25:58.740 rather a minimal familiarity with his personal story i think is necessary to understand how

00:26:04.180 fasting is perceived within buddhism siddhartha gautama who lived in about or across the sixth and

00:26:11.780 fifth century before the common era was the son of a king who ruled the lands at the foot of the himalayas

00:26:17.540 along what is today the border between india and nepal he left home at about age 29 gave up his

00:26:24.020 personally life became a wandering ascetic seeking the answer to the questions of why people get sick

00:26:29.860 grow old die in short he sought a satisfactory answer to why people suffer so he set off to study

00:26:37.220 with different masters and after learning what they had to teach him he still did not believe that he had

00:26:42.580 found the way to liberation and when he encountered five mendicants along the way one day he was inspired 1.00

00:26:48.340 once again to take up the ascetic life and practiced difficult austerities among which were fasting for

00:26:57.460 six years he dedicated himself to this path taking only the barest minimum of food and drink physically

00:27:03.940 weakened and emaciated he decided in the end that this was not the way to liberation and he remembered

00:27:09.460 an earlier experience in his life when he had sat under a rose apple tree and attained firmness of mind

00:27:16.420 through meditation and he reflected that this was the true way then he must return to it path of

00:27:22.500 meditation so to follow this path he realized would require physical and mental strength and that he

00:27:28.820 must eat and drink for nourishment so yes given the experience and conclusions of the buddha about the

00:27:34.820 extremes of asceticism one would expect to find the value of moderation firmly ensconced in buddha's

00:27:41.300 spiritual practice and such is the case there is an appreciation for the contribution that

00:27:47.380 fasting can make as a method of purification and as a method for practicing self-control but care is taken

00:27:55.460 to avoid extremes all the main branches of buddhism practice some periods of fasting usually

00:28:03.380 full moon days and other holidays fasting is a method for practicing self-control for buddhists a method of

00:28:10.980 purification and depending on the tradition fasting usually means abstaining from solid food with some

00:28:17.300 liquids allowed buddhist monks traditionally have no solid food after the noonday hour some monks fast

00:28:24.180 as a method of freeing the mind others fast to aid yogic feats like generating inner heat such would be with

00:28:32.260 the tibetan buddhist so there is a difference of practice there among buddhists and it is

00:28:42.340 one moderately engaged with let's talk about christianity because that's you know you you're

00:28:48.100 a catholic priest so that's where you're coming from and i thought you pointed out in the book

00:28:52.980 that in the new testament christ doesn't talk much about fasting he he fasted that's how he started his

00:28:59.780 ministry 40 days like moses but then after that didn't really talk much too much about it mentioned

00:29:05.940 a few times but despite him not talking too much about it it's become a spiritual discipline within

00:29:11.220 christendom so for christian what's the purpose of of fasting i would say as you note on the face of it

00:29:19.140 jesus as well as uh one of his main followers the apostle paul refrained from making it a requirement of

00:29:26.340 their followers and jesus explained that seeming paradox in his response to a question about why

00:29:32.260 his disciples didn't fast like those of john the baptist and his response was well the wedding guests

00:29:39.620 cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them can they but he said the days will come when the

00:29:44.980 bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast and fasting will then be a recognition of

00:29:50.900 something new that is already set in motion though not yet completed namely the reign of god in our

00:29:56.420 midst and during this time is faithful in mystical union with their lord wait with quiet joy and busy

00:30:03.540 hands and vigilant preparation and deep longing for his return and the fulfillment of his reign that i think

00:30:11.460 is one of the primary three major themes in the history and practice of christian fasting namely

00:30:18.420 mystical union and longing for fulfillment another major theme in christian practice we might call

00:30:27.140 liberation through discipline and here we enter the penitential motif which is probably what people

00:30:33.140 associate most strongly with christian fasting penitence is always oriented toward freedom and liberation

00:30:40.500 though this has not always been clearly grasped in christian faith penitence is not about expiating sin

00:30:47.860 for that acquittal has already been granted we tend to think that god will love us if we change but

00:30:53.620 god loves us so that we can change and penitential practice and discipline enable us to appropriate and

00:31:02.340 make real in our life the freedom given through grace they help us readjust our priorities remind us where

00:31:08.740 a real treasure lies the entire tradition of monasticism of christianity for example bears witness

00:31:15.220 to this the preaching of the church fathers is clear that whatever saving is realized through one's

00:31:21.380 fasting belongs to the poor and gregory the great preached the one who doesn't give to the poor what

00:31:27.940 he saved but keeps it for later to satisfy his own appetite does not fast for god so augustine another of

00:31:37.540 the great early teachers for him fasting of any kind if it's to elevate the soul has to fly on two wings

00:31:45.780 prayer and works of mercy fasting if we were to reclaim the best elements of the tradition i would say that

00:31:54.660 the church in every age has to interpret these old truths and new fresh forms and in our age the climate of

00:31:59.940 spirituality is holistic incarnational and practices are embraced due to their liberating life-giving

00:32:07.540 potential rather than being aimed at punishing the body you're compensating for guilt it's not just for

00:32:13.140 lent but it's for christian life so if prayer fasting works of charity and justice form the core of christian

00:32:19.620 life and are inextricably linked how can any one of them be quarantined to just one season of the

00:32:26.340 liturgical year they're all essential elements of christian living throughout the year and of course

00:32:34.500 in christian practice it accords priority to that day in the week when jesus revealed god's immeasurable

00:32:40.260 love for us namely friday the day in which he died on the cross valuable point of reference here is the

00:32:49.140 pattern in the early christian centuries fasting was generally understood as abstinence of all food until

00:32:56.260 evening or just one meal a day from after supper the evening before up until supper the next day

00:33:07.300 and it also has found meaningful expression preparation for receiving the eucharist

00:33:11.940 foregoing whatever meal precedes sunday worship creates a psychic as well as spirit physical face

00:33:18.100 space space space within and when something or someone greater is coming our way we're generally willing

00:33:25.060 to put the eating on hold and that's the whole point there but as i've noted its approach is holistic

00:33:33.140 i'm not just a body and a soul two things but i'm an inspirited flesh one reality so it's a flexible

00:33:40.660 instrument of the spiritual life that can be worked with creatively and it often has traces of quiet joy

00:33:47.940 within it even i think it's only when fasting is experienced as a body language of spiritual

00:33:52.660 communication namely mystical union with the risen one and longing for future fulfillment then we can

00:34:01.300 understand why fasting is characterized by even the quiet joy it literally is an embodied prayer

00:34:08.660 do you think fasting could be a spiritual practice for someone who isn't a theist or maybe isn't

00:34:14.900 religious can it still be a spiritual practice for individuals like that yes indeed as we've noted there

00:34:22.340 are real holistic factors involved in the practice as augustine noted that early christian teacher

00:34:33.380 certainly you've deprived your body but to whom did you give that which you deprived yourself

00:34:37.460 fast then in such a way that when another has eaten in your place you may rejoice in the meal

00:34:43.780 you've not taken the challenge is to hold the personal and the social dimensions together

00:34:50.260 and anyone can do that we can become so fascinated by and enamored of the sheer physiological process and

00:34:57.220 benefits of fasting that it might erase everything else from our minds and ends up being just something

00:35:03.620 we do for our own personal health but practicing fasting for personal cleansing alone drains the

00:35:09.140 transcendent dimension out of it so we want to keep in mind the distinctive nature of fasting as a

00:35:14.660 religious act and as something done for others as well as for oneself i think what makes fasting an art is

00:35:22.660 holding the outer form and the inner intention together in harmonious balance and what makes it a sacred art as

00:35:30.580 as i try to stress in my more recent book on fasting what makes it a sacred art is it's motivating

00:35:36.900 self-love and other love so it sounds like for someone who's not religious doing it fast and intending

00:35:43.940 it to be for someone else that could just be as simple as donating the money that you would have spent on

00:35:49.300 food to charity or something like that exactly so think outside of yourself well let's let's say someone's

00:35:56.100 listening to this and they want to get started with fasting as a spiritual discipline like what's the

00:36:00.660 best way to start should they just go right to a 24-hour fast or do you recommend people start slowly

00:36:06.020 what's your advice on that i think the best way to begin in fasting is to ease into it start by giving

00:36:13.140 up just one meal but do it with purpose and intention frame it with prayer then in the following week

00:36:19.620 drop two meals and you know if your religious tradition allows the option of taking liquids take

00:36:26.820 them what to drink water and juice fast are the two primary forms of fast practiced water only fast tend to

00:36:34.980 provide more of an intense fasting experience and if one has never fasted before juice and water fast

00:36:42.980 will be easier and the best way to begin perhaps it enables you to maintain your custom daily energy

00:36:49.140 level while continuing to work and exercise if you choose to do so a juice fast will help the body

00:36:55.460 to detoxify and heal though to a lesser extent on the other hand it will also keep the desire for

00:37:01.300 food more alive through the taste of the juice whereas in water fasting the desire for food passes

00:37:06.420 more quickly both are good but they're different in longer fast those differences become more important

00:37:11.860 than they are in a one-day fast but overall i'd say water juices herbal teas quiet the self so that it

00:37:20.580 can hear and be more attentive to the divine and focus more on that inner presence drinks like black

00:37:26.980 coffee herbal teas soft drinks stimulate the central nervous system at a time when we're trying to give

00:37:33.140 the self a rest space and time for focusing and more internal realities what if you can't fast from food for

00:37:39.780 some reason can you still practice fasting as a spiritual discipline fasting can relate to more

00:37:44.500 than just food and drink if your health or your age or your life circumstances or those of any you

00:37:51.700 know you're not permitted fasting in the traditional sense then make one or more of these ways of fasting

00:37:59.300 part of your life on a regular basis toward the same end what do i mean by alternative forms of fasting

00:38:06.980 well you can fast with your eyes a little less tv online staring at the computer screen a little more

00:38:15.860 introspection and reflection on your life through keeping a journal or you might fast with your ears

00:38:24.020 listening more to your inner heart and spirit than to television or the radio ipod

00:38:29.940 and you might listen to and let yourself be challenged by the words expressed in the scriptures

00:38:38.420 you read that day you can also fast with your hands just back off from the things that agitate you

00:38:44.820 take time to sit and reflect to rest and observe make time in your schedule to just put empty hands together

00:38:52.180 in prayer and you can even fast with your feet become more tuned to the modern compulsion to be always on

00:39:00.580 the go resist that impulse maybe offer yourself a daily quiet half hour of reading that nourishes your spirit learn

00:39:11.300 quiet sitting and meditation and yes one can also fast from something like anger resentment bitterness

00:39:20.020 get to the bottom of why you're angry or resentful what's the hidden demand underneath

00:39:26.740 and do the hard work of talking it through with the other or expressing clearly what it is you're asking

00:39:32.420 for pray for the grace of forgiving those who've hurt you we can also fast from judging others unhooked from

00:39:40.100 conversations in which others are being disparaged or contribute something positive to balance the negative

00:39:46.020 things that are being said and before making any judgments just recall that god looks compassionately

00:39:53.060 on our faults so there are lots of possibilities here are there not there are there are and it sounds

00:40:00.580 like the thing that separates fasting from just abstaining from food and like fasting as a spiritual

00:40:05.460 practice is the intent you have to intend it to be a spiritual practice for it to be a spiritual practice

00:40:10.740 that's right and we don't want to be the ones who in our generation lose contact with the medium the

00:40:18.340 message the practice of this rich and strong spiritual tradition that surfaces in all the religions of the world

00:40:28.020 when you find a spiritual practice surfacing in just about every world religion you know you're on to

00:40:37.220 something very true something very deep and universal in human experience so if it's something that you

00:40:47.300 haven't ever tried or have stopped doing why not especially for example if you're a christian take the

00:40:56.740 opportunity of this lenten season to re-engage with a life-giving practice known as fasting well father

00:41:06.420 tom is there some place people can go to learn more about your work yes i have a website where one can

00:41:11.860 learn more about the work that i do as the director of the paulist father's north american office for

00:41:19.220 ecumenical and interfaith relations and that website address is www.tomryancsp.org

00:41:32.420 well fantastic we'll put that in our show notes well father tom ryan thanks so much for your time

00:41:36.340 it's been a pleasure thank you very much brett my guest today was father tom ryan he's the author of

00:41:41.060 the book the sacred art of fasting it's available on amazon.com you can also find out more information

00:41:45.700 about his work at tomryancsp.org also check out our show notes at aom.is spiritual fasting where you

00:41:52.500 can find links to resources we can delve deeper into this topic

00:42:07.300 well that wraps up another edition of the a1 podcast check out our website

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The Art of Manliness - March 06, 2019

#488： Fasting as a Spiritual Discipline

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