#488： Fasting as a Spiritual Discipline
Episode Stats
Summary
The health benefits of fasting from food have gotten a lot of attention the last several years. What s often forgotten in these discussions, however, is that fasting has been practiced for thousands of years not only for the sake of the body, but from the spirit as well. My guest today has written a book, The Sacred Art of Fasting, that explores the different ways fasting is practiced by all the world s major religions and how it can be practiced by individuals today.
Transcript
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brett mckay here and welcome to another edition of the art of manliness podcast the health benefits
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of fasting from food have gotten a lot of attention the last several years what's often
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forgotten in these discussions however is that fasting has been practiced for thousands of years
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not only for the sake of the body but from the spirit as well my guest today has written a book
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the sacred art of fasting that explores the different ways fasting is practiced by all the
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world's major religions and how it can be practiced by individuals today his name is father tom ryan
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he's a priest and author today on the show we discuss the reasons for making fasting a spiritual
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discipline how this discipline is practiced within several different religions and how it can still
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be practiced by someone who isn't religious and how to get started with this universal age-old
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discipline as well after the show's over check out our show notes at aom.is spiritual fasting
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father tom ryan welcome to the show pleasure to be here so you wrote a book called the sacred art of
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fasting before we get into what makes fasting sacred let's talk about the health benefits because that's
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there's a lot of talk people are doing fasting today for health benefits so what are some of the health
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benefits of fasting first of all i agree with you that there are very real benefits to fasting i think
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we need to recognize simply that the body is a microcosm of the earth and just as there's a whole host of
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toxins that are poisoning our earth's ecosystem so it is with our individual physical bodies especially
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challenged in our era in which previously unknown unique synthetic chemicals and so forth are being
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developed and tried out on us in different foods fasting allows the body to rest to detoxify and to
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heal normally in addition to digesting food which is the body's biggest job the body works to eliminate
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waste to fight diseases to ward off sickness it replenishes worn out cells nourishes the blood
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and when it's relieved of its biggest job which is the digestion of food the system can then catch up
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with some of its back work and our body through fasting is cleansing itself and healing the parts
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that are ill and some of the benefits to which people attest are you just feel healthier the health
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improvement claims that one finds in the literature on fasting it covers a wide range like sufferers of
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such assorted ailments as constipation or hay fever or asthma peptic ulcers colitis and so forth they
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witnessed that their symptoms were significantly alleviated or disappeared altogether after a fast
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and they also witnessed to how they felt more tranquil you know how we sometimes turn to eating because
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we're well anxious we don't really need the food but eating distracts us it gives us something to do
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and in conjunction with that by and large people sleep better when they have a regular fasting practice
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nearly half of the u.s population complains of difficulty in getting to sleep staying asleep well
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it's what's going on in our internal organs that often keeps us awake if we're at rest sleep's going
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to flow much more naturally if our body is not well being troubled by overeating or heartburn or bloating
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or indigestion it also helps us free up some time for deeper pursuits certainly fasting or eating rather is
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meant to be one of life's chief joys and when people sit down together it should be an event that closes
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the door on routine opens a new space and time in which the food that's passed from hand to hand
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becomes a symbol of deeper sharing for us around the table so the meal experience is meant to be more
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than just putting food into our bodies but so often it's just that something taken on the run and
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eaten alone there are very real health benefits of fasting so there's been a lot of attention to the
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benefits of fasting to the physical body but what a lot of people i don't know maybe fail to recognize
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or remember is that fasting is actually a spiritual discipline that cuts across religions and it's been
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around for a long time so what do you think how do you have you come to personally understand
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fasting as a powerful spiritual discipline what is it about not eating food that makes makes the
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spiritual discipline that's a good story i had taken a leave i would have to say like most other members
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of my church from fasting and abstinence as regular disciplines of the spiritual life this was back in
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the 1960s and 70s and my first assignment after being ordained as a catholic priest in 1975
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was to catholic student center at ohio state university in columbus there was in my first
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year there a day of fast for world hunger sponsored by the university campus ministry
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provided me with a new experience in fasting i have to say it was the first time i'd ever
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gone a whole day without food there was a prayer vigil that evening at which people gave the money
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that they would have spent on food that day half of it went to a neighborhood soup kitchen for the
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homeless the other half went to the organization bread for the world well something in that experience
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touched my heart and left me with intimations of power and fasting i wanted to explore further
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so i began to keep my eyes open for books about fasting it was a revelation to me that so many
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of the things people said in these books had no necessary or explicit connection to god there was
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obviously a significant side to this practice that i had simply missed and the things i read only
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deepened my interest what was i reading well several reasons that repeatedly surfaced in this literature
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time related to what is most often cited as a motivational factor in fasting namely
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body ecology many people said they fasted simply to give their physical selves a rest
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the holiday the argument just kind of went along the lines of well the body is constantly
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absorbed in the work of digestion food metabolizing it into energy eliminating the waste materials
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and to go without eating from time to time is to reward our bodies with the same kind of vacation
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that we give our minds after we've been working hard reading or writing fasting in short gives the
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body a chance to renew itself it's a time in which the body burns its rubbish it's kind of like a house
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cleaning day the list of motivating factors that i was reading about were quite long and impressive
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you know just cite a few of them one was you feel better physically and mentally in other words you
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save some money on food in other words give the whole system a rest and of course clean out the body
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sleep better and so forth well those reasons of course were the one cited in the books on the health shelf
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of the bookstore and in the other literature the pamphlets in the church bookstores or in the rack
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at the back of the church it was all about god and usually in a lenten framework there was a major
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disconnect in the two kinds of literature that i was surveying material from the health food store gave
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you the body ecology approach and the one from the church the spirituality approach what i didn't find
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were books or articles that help people integrate both the physical and the spiritual benefits of
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fasting it doesn't have to be either or i told myself it can and should be both because we're not just bodies
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and we're not just spirits we're embodied spirits you might say in spirited flesh so what's good for me
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physically is good for me what's good for me spiritually is good for me there's only one me to which it all
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comes back and confining a means of spiritual growth to the six weeks of lent made no sense to me either
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i thought well if this is a valuable practice for those six weeks then it should have something of
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value in it to recommend it for the other 46 weeks of the year as well shouldn't it as a spiritual life
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practice it did not make sense to simply box it up and write lent on that box so i decided to explore
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these questions further by preparing and promoting a lenten bible study series called the adventure of
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fasting people i think were kind of drawn even by the title because they certainly hadn't considered
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this an adventure but we began with this survey of all the passages and fasting in the bible and
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then we talked a good deal about its human roots and the virtues of moderation and temperance
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we strove in short to articulate a holistic approach one dealing with the human person as an embodied
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spirit on the one hand we wanted to discover the value of fasting as an act of faith hope and love
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a religious act directed toward god we saw in the tradition how people fasted to focus the heart
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turn to it as a behavior that clears away the thousand little things that clutter the mind
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and we saw it as an action that renews contact with god kind of like removing the rust and corrosion from
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the car batteries say to enable the current to flow more freely and another on the other hand we also
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wanted to recognize the physiological dimension of it if there is a lot of clutter and excess that could
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be removed from our bodies would benefit and unable to find a holistic resource on the subject that dealt with
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fasting as a seamless unity i wrote my own entitled it fasting rediscovered a guide to health and wholeness
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for your body spirit i emerged from that series of discussions with a fresh appreciation for fasting
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as a way of communicating with god and as a way of caring for our inspirited body shortly thereafter i
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started fasting a day a week it was the beginning of a journey that continues to the present one in which my
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own practice has been enriched and challenged by what i've learned from fasting in other religions
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well i'd like to get into some of the details about how other religions practice fasting but you've
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mentioned a lot of the health benefits of fasting but you also argue there's a spiritual dimension like
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what are the spiritual benefits of fasting that you've found like broadly speaking always when we
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voluntarily go without food it's because something else is more important to us it might be an early
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departure slim waistline or feeling physical well-being when it's done as a religious act say in the
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christian tradition at the heart of it is simply this god you're number one for me you're more important
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in life itself which food symbolizes for me and the fast brings home to me in a real and concrete way
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that god is the essential source of all life and well-being focus away from food to god is deliberate
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yes these other goods are important yes i need them but all the needs in my life if traced down to their
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deepest core are rooted in my single greatest need which is for fulfillment from the hand of my creator
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so from time to time i you know can forget just which needs are the most important and my priorities
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become confused and fasting cuts through the drift and ambiguity kind of like a meat cleaver
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coming down on a butcher's table it's a concrete decisive act that says you lord are this you're the
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still point in my turning world and please don't ever let me forget it so for you i will upset my routine
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today of three meals because you're the god i worship not my work or my routine which becomes all too
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important for me sometimes for you i'll give up meeting my colleagues and friends for lunch today
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because even though i need them and like them the love and acceptance i need from them is only a
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reflection of the love and acceptance i need from you for you i'll live with these hunger pangs today
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and let them speak to me in my deepest hungers our hearts are restless lord until they rest in you
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some of the values i think that the major religions express in fasting as a spiritual practice is
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that fasting is abstention from food and drink for a designated period of time is intimately connected
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with religious observance and the religions that practice fasting encompass the vast majority of people
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on the planet you know buddhist christians hindus jews muslims native americans and so forth
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you might justifiably conclude that any spiritual practice embraced so universally has to have
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something going for it wouldn't you when you look at fasting in the different religious traditions of the
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world there's a wider field of values that emerges not only physical and mental purification are there
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but other values too such as self-restraint social solidarity penance attunement to god and it
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doesn't take long to see that certain values underlying the practice emerge as commonly
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in the religious experience of humankind fasting has always been a prelude and a means to a deeper
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spiritual life failure to control the amount we eat and drink disturbs the inner order of our
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embodied spirit so fasting is a choice to abstain from food at certain times in order to put our attention
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on something more important to us than ourselves or our sensory appetites as a religious act fasting
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increases our sensitivity to that divine mystery always and everywhere present to us it's a passageway
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into the world of spirit inviting us to bring back a wisdom necessary for living a fulfilled life
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it's an invitation to awareness the call to compassion for the needy cry of distress and even a song
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of joy it's a discipline of self-restraint a ritual of purification sanctuary for offerings of atonement
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it is a wellspring or the spiritually dry a compass for the spiritually lost and inner nourishment for the
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spiritually hungry remarkable isn't it to note how in every culture and religion and history
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fasting has been an instinctive and essential language in our communication with the divine
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it is and let's let's get into how the various world religions practice fasting and what it means to them
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so let's start with judaisms that's what you start off in your book the sacred art of fasting
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what role does fasting play within judaism well for jews one of their key reference points is moses fast
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of 40 days and 40 nights talked about in the book of exodus and how moses fast established a unique
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connection between fasting in the presence of god and from this event sprouts the mosaic law and the need
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for purity in the presence of the lord and the torah lists a number of reasons for fasting namely means
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of purification means of showing self-humiliation symbol of mourning after death repentance for sins
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the symbolism of fasting in the torah has many faces but all were done with a specific purpose
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no act of fasting was done with the intent of merely denying the body itself but rather as an
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expression to god of true intent and in terms of how that translates into concrete practice well fasting
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is obligatory for all jewish adults and there are two major public fast days about five minor public fast
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fast days and of course private days of fasting the two major public fast days yam kippur or the day of
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atonement and tisha bav yam kippur calls for no eating drinking washing anointing with oil wearing of sandals
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no work no sexual intercourse it's a 25 hour fast beginning at sunset the evening before yam kippur
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and ending one hour after sunset on the day of yam kippur fasting on yam kippur is a repentance for the
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wrongs jews have committed against god in the past year so if a jew has sinned against another person
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the jew must seek reconciliation righting the wrong before the start of yam kippur and as for tisha bav
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there are the same requirements as for yam kippur namely that the fast commemorates in this case the
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destruction of the temple of jerusalem and there are also five other minor fasts in jewish practice
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commemorating some national tragedy these are times of purification repentance reconnection with god
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the fast lasts from dawn until sunset and no one is permitted to eat breakfast if one arises before
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sunrise to do so but one one is permitted rather to eat breakfast yeah if you arise before sunrise to do
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so well what are some of these minor fasts uh one is called the fast of gedalia which commemorates the
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killing of the jewish governor of judah and then there's the fast of tevet which commemorates the
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beginning of the siege of jerusalem which is also memorial day for jews who died in the holocaust
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a third is the fast of esther which commemorates the three days that esther fasted before approaching
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king ahasuerus on behalf of the jewish people and a fourth is the fast of the young of the firstborn
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this commemorates the fact that jewish firstborn males were saved from the plague in egypt
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and that fast is observed by firstborn jewish males on the morning before passover
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and the fifth one is a fast of tamers which commemorates the day when the walls of jerusalem
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were breached and then in addition to these two major and five minor fast days there are private
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fasts such as a bride and groom fast the day before the wedding the fast ends when they share a cup of
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wine under the wedding canopy the purpose is to review and renew their lives that gives us a feel for
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for fasting in judaism fasts are sometimes observed on the anniversary the death of a close relative
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but overall the motivation is that fasting facilitates the process of teshuva which is returned to god
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we're going to take a quick break for your words from our sponsors
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and now back to the show and are they besides abstaining from food and drink are there is
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there anything else they need to do besides and also intending the fast to be like a spiritual fast
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are they supposed to do anything else pray give alms things like that yes those certainly do find expression
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in jewish practice as well and i think uh that sinking of say the personal practice of fasting with
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some kind of donation to others is very very much strongly expressed in islam particularly
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for muslims fasting is one of the five pillars of islam and one of the highest forms of islamic worship
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and the quran prescribes fasting that you may learn what they call taqwa and taqwa is translated as
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self-restraint piety or allah consciousness taqwa is derived from a word meaning protective shield
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and those who achieve taqwa will gain the good of this life and the hereafter fasting is a means
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for people to protect themselves against evil and wicked motives it protects the person from succumbing
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to evil and it protects society by preparing people to work for the general good a person who achieves taqwa
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is in a state of constant awareness of god he or she thinks about how to please god by doing good
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and guarding against evil so fasting for muslims as well as for jews is a means of
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learning self-control developing sympathy for the less fortunate and thankfulness for all of god's
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bounty the primary motivation is to please god and the secondary motivation is to fight your own whims your
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own desires and to solidify the community to try to feel the pains of the hungry and the intention
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again here can be made during the night before going to sleep or made when one gets up before dawn
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and as dawn breaks the first of five daily prayers that muslims practice are offered and throughout
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the day muslims remind themselves that they are fasting for the sole purpose of pleasing god and seeking
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god's mercy fast is broken as soon as the sun sets with no delay and having a few dates with water is
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traditional and in terms of motivation say fasting is between the individual and allah in denying one's
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desires during the fast and because allah watches the faster is forgiven his or her sins as long as
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their fasting is done out of true belief so a muslim who fasts attains allah's watch over him or her
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which keeps them away from evil but there's a strong social dimension to the fast among muslims individual
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and personal spiritual development is not the purpose of fasting in their holy month of ramadan
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spirituality is communal there's no going off to a mountaintop or forest retreat to desert monastery to
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develop a personal relationship with god alone the fasting is to happen in the streets in the homes and
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places of business and this communal spirituality and solidarity are expressed through a social network
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in which resources are made available to help those who are left without protection
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or support in society resources are made available for those who lose their means of livelihood or are
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incapacitated those who can't earn enough to meet their needs this heightened sensitivity to the plight of
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unfortunates in the community is very much a direct result of fasting in the muslim tradition when a faster
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feels hungry well she's more mindful of those who are always hungry the social dimension of ramadan is
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manifest at each sunset each day it's a common practice for muslims to break the fast with dates
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after the custom of the prophet muhammad and that's followed by a sunset prayer since everyone who eats the
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evening meal at the same time people are always gathered in each other's homes to share the meal after the
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30 days of fasting at the end of the month of ramadan the month is observed with a whole day of celebration
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called eid al-fiti and on this day muslims from around the village town or city gather in one place to
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offer a prayer of thanks it's traditional to wear new clothes visit friends and relatives exchange gifts
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eat delicious dishes specially prepared for the occasion outside ramadan there are other times recommended
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for voluntary fasting following the traditions of the prophet among them on mondays and thursdays of every
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week a few days in each of the two months heralding the coming of ramadan and on the sixth day following
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the festival of eid al-fiti while it's understood that the only obligatory fast is that of ramadan
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regular fasting throughout the year is encouraged to help maintain the allah consciousness
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achieved in ramadan you also talk about buddhism has a tradition of fasting as a spiritual discipline
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what role does it play there well buddhism i pause because i think before becoming enlightened the buddha
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was known as siddhartha gautama and he had a minimal familiarity with his personal story on our part
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rather a minimal familiarity with his personal story i think is necessary to understand how
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fasting is perceived within buddhism siddhartha gautama who lived in about or across the sixth and
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fifth century before the common era was the son of a king who ruled the lands at the foot of the himalayas
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along what is today the border between india and nepal he left home at about age 29 gave up his
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personally life became a wandering ascetic seeking the answer to the questions of why people get sick
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grow old die in short he sought a satisfactory answer to why people suffer so he set off to study
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with different masters and after learning what they had to teach him he still did not believe that he had
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found the way to liberation and when he encountered five mendicants along the way one day he was inspired
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once again to take up the ascetic life and practiced difficult austerities among which were fasting for
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six years he dedicated himself to this path taking only the barest minimum of food and drink physically
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weakened and emaciated he decided in the end that this was not the way to liberation and he remembered
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an earlier experience in his life when he had sat under a rose apple tree and attained firmness of mind
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through meditation and he reflected that this was the true way then he must return to it path of
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meditation so to follow this path he realized would require physical and mental strength and that he
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must eat and drink for nourishment so yes given the experience and conclusions of the buddha about the
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extremes of asceticism one would expect to find the value of moderation firmly ensconced in buddha's
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spiritual practice and such is the case there is an appreciation for the contribution that
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fasting can make as a method of purification and as a method for practicing self-control but care is taken
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to avoid extremes all the main branches of buddhism practice some periods of fasting usually
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full moon days and other holidays fasting is a method for practicing self-control for buddhists a method of
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purification and depending on the tradition fasting usually means abstaining from solid food with some
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liquids allowed buddhist monks traditionally have no solid food after the noonday hour some monks fast
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as a method of freeing the mind others fast to aid yogic feats like generating inner heat such would be with
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the tibetan buddhist so there is a difference of practice there among buddhists and it is
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one moderately engaged with let's talk about christianity because that's you know you you're
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a catholic priest so that's where you're coming from and i thought you pointed out in the book
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that in the new testament christ doesn't talk much about fasting he he fasted that's how he started his
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ministry 40 days like moses but then after that didn't really talk much too much about it mentioned
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a few times but despite him not talking too much about it it's become a spiritual discipline within
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christendom so for christian what's the purpose of of fasting i would say as you note on the face of it
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jesus as well as uh one of his main followers the apostle paul refrained from making it a requirement of
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their followers and jesus explained that seeming paradox in his response to a question about why
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his disciples didn't fast like those of john the baptist and his response was well the wedding guests
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cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them can they but he said the days will come when the
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bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast and fasting will then be a recognition of
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something new that is already set in motion though not yet completed namely the reign of god in our
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midst and during this time is faithful in mystical union with their lord wait with quiet joy and busy
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hands and vigilant preparation and deep longing for his return and the fulfillment of his reign that i think
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is one of the primary three major themes in the history and practice of christian fasting namely
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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
00:42:10.740
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00:42:16.740
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00:42:20.820
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