FOUR POINTS must
preface this discussion. One, sacred teachings are, and always
have been, separate from human commercial interactions (despite the fact
that you and I have chosen to meet here on Earth's World Wide Web,
the presumptive heart of our emerging Knowledge Society's commercial world).
Two, fasting is obviously contraindicated for some. Three, there are
many pathways to one's spiritual unfoldment, of which fasting is merely
one which all great religions have used, historically, albeit an incremental aspect.
And four, presently on our Earth, this long-term, global religious war resulting from
extreme fundamentalism on both sides, has ignited a conflict that is just beginning
between good religion and bad religion, that will last a generation, and that is pushing
fundamentalists closer to the use of weapons of mass destruction, with
time running out.
As His Holiness the Dalai Lama noted in
Bangalor, India, in December of 2004: "Humanity has made religion a source of conflict.
In order to serve humanity, which is our common responsibility, we should have closer
relationships based on mutual understanding. All religious thoughts carry the same
message with different philosophical approaches, yet even if we believe ourselves
religious, at very critical times, we allow power and money to take precedence. The
time has come to concentrate on spiritual studies, feeling inner values like compassion
and warm-heartedness. I call these secular ethics."
At this critical juncture in human evolution, those
who truly are interested in scientific, therapeutic fasting's superb
spiritual benefits--from all major religious creeds and
philosophies--have been asking me for 35 years about these
potential benefits, as well as about spiritual teachers who have
fasted. Thus, as one who, like both Pope John XXIII and His Holiness
the XIVth Dalai Lama, believes that individuals have to be seen
first as human beings, and only then as members
of religious groups, my answers here are respectfully provided for you
and all our sisters and brothers, in hopes you can make a more
intelligent decision about whether or not you wish to use scientific
fasting to increase your own faith, as well as to accomplish great
things in the lives of others.
As Fr. Thomas Ryan, a catholic priest and certified Kripalu yoga teacher who
coordinates ecumenical and inter-religious relations for the Paulist community in the U.S. and Canada,
has written: "Fasting as a religious act increases our sensitivity to that mystery always and everywhere
present to us. . . .It is an invitation to awareness, a call to compassion for the needy, a cry of distress,
and a song of joy. It is a discipline of self-restraint, a ritual of purification, and a sanctuary for
offerings of atonement. It is a wellspring for the spiritually dry, a compass for the spiritually
lost, and inner nourishment for the spiritually hungry."
Just to demonstrate how deeply the reading of FCI's website can effect
some among the tens of thousands of your sisters and brothers, globally, reading it each month of every
year, the following, representative comments perfectly capture today's endemic spiritual angst or
existential anxiety, resulting from 'saying' what we spiritually believe in, while 'acting' in ways
clearly detrimental to our connection to the God of our belief. What follows is from an American everywoman,
39, having just signed on to do FCI's 66-day Total Detoxification Program, speaking honestly and eloquently from her
heart:
"I have a long history of abuse, both as a victim in childhood, and also as a
recipient in adulthood, of my own making. I have been clean and sober for over 2.5 yrs., but have never
detoxed all the drugs and alcohol out of my system. I am a successful business owner and proud mother of
two wonderful children, but still suffer from bouts of bulimia and vicious sugar and caffeine addictions.
I have been on prescription anti-depressants for over 6 yrs., and have chronically used prescription diet
drugs to maintain a 'healthy' size 4. Nobody knows of my 'inner demons' that I battle on a daily basis.
For all intents and purposes, most think that I 'have it all together,' but maintaining the facade is a
full-time job that is driving me insane.
"I had gotten as close as I could in my relationship with God, but there seemed
to be a barrier of sorts that I couldn't pass and didn't know why. . .until I came across your website,
and then it all fell into place. The Spirit of God cannot fully function in the temple I have been building.
He drops in occasionally for 'visits,' but He doesn't want to live there; it's too diseased with lies, abuse,
anger, toxic chemicals, and just plain old 'junk.' So, this fast has many purposes for me.
"I want to detoxify my body, liver, kidneys and heart from years of chemical and
alcohol abuse; heal my body's scar tissue from years of forced vomiting after binge eating; heal my heart
from painful childhood memories; cleanse my bowls and GI system, so I can function in optimal health; lose
5-to-10 lbs. of unwanted fat stores; rid myself of any dependence on prescription, mind-/mood-altering
substances; develop a new appreciation for feeding and nourishing my body; teach myself how to 'tune in'
to a higher spiritual plane of existence, and live, love, laugh, breathe, pray, etc., all to my fullest
potential!!!!!
"I am currently 5' 3" and weigh 129 lbs. I'm looking forward to starting
the 5-day transitioning in phase soon. Thank you for all the wisdom you share in your letters from others
and yourself. Warmest regards, [name withheld by FCI for her privacy]."
THE 'MASTER KEY'
TO SPIRITUAL
UNFOLDMENT
|
The German Professor Arnold Ehret, one
of the West's foremost proponents of rational fasting for physical,
mental and spiritual rejuvenation, termed fasting the "master
key" to mental and spiritual unfoldment and evolution, especially
during these degenerate times. As fasting's spiritual benefits are its
greatest gift--those which make life truly worth living--you
may wish to get a glass of your favorite juice, tune out the rest of
the world for a few minutes, relax into an alert-yet-comfortable
position behind your screen, and know that allowing your mind to
now expand as your intuitive wisdom arises has the effect of making
it more difficult for your illusory ego, or the negative aspect, to kick
in with self-defeating messages about why you're bound to fail at
fasting, at life, or why the rest of our 6.6 billion kindred souls will
likewise never rise to their intended sister- and brotherhood, and so
on. All human hearts are welcome here, whatever their
color, creed, condition or philosophy, because everyone is
just like you and me--wanting happiness, and disliking suffering. In
other words, seeking joy and freedom from suffering is the birthright
of all living beings (not just us humans).
'Spiritual' has many connotations, but all of us who have done
prolonged, scientific, skillful fasting know our mind is
clearer, sharper and more efficient--a greater clarity of
consciousness. By using this fasting-enhanced clarity, our journey
into the human interior can reward us with many essential
correctives to the extreme materialism of our external culture and
its dominant sciences. Also, just as our own inner-mind becomes
clearer, our own extrasensory instinct becomes keener. Thus, we
find ourselves more in tune with the gentle voice of Nature and its
Natural Laws. And so, the increase in energy prolonged
fasting confers is our own reward for getting back in touch
with these so-called Laws of Nature.
Five-hundred years before Jesus
Christ, the first words Shakyamuni Buddha taught (accepted by
Buddhists as infallible Truth. . . for the welfare and happiness of the
world) were these: "We are what we think. All that we are arises
with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. Speak or
act with an impure mind, and trouble will follow you as the wheel
follows the ox that draws the carriage." Today, more than any
previous time in human history, the same holds true for the human
body. Realizing that the vast majority of our human suffering is
caused by wrong, unnatural eating, combined with the failure to
periodically remove accumulated toxins, intelligent fasters become
nine times as conscious about what they put into their bodies,
post-fast, for solid reasons: they enjoy what it feels like
being closer to optimum health, happiness and healing power, plus they've worked
hard to clean their temple. (Professor Ehret, whose longest fast was
49 days, estimated that: "The average person has as much as 10
pounds of uneliminated feces in their bowels, continuously poisoning
her/his bloodstream and the entire system.")
Siddhartha Gautama, at 36, fasted 49
days under that now-famous tree in Bodhgaya, India, achieving
Enlightenment, or the Awakened state, during the process. 'Buddha'
is Sanskrit for 'Awake'--a state free from all obstructions to
knowledge and to disturbing emotions. . .a state in which one's mind
is fully evolved, capable of seeing the nature of things as they truly
are, as well as perceiving all that exists, past, present and future. As
Academy Award winning director Bernardo Bertolucci
scripturally portrayed in his excellent film, Little
Buddha, Prince Siddhartha--like the Chinese founder of
Taoism before Him, Lao Tzu (604? B.C.-?), plus the Christian Messiah
who would follow--was born by 'miraculous' birth (from Queen Maya
Gautama's side, without causing her pain or injury), standing
immediately in full awareness, walking seven steps in surveying the
four cardinal directions (symbolizing what would become, 36 years
later, the Buddha's first teaching on the Four Noble
Truths), and proclaiming: "For Enlightenment, I was born, and for
the good of all that lives."
ENLIGHTENMENT, OR
ONENESS
WITH THE KINGDOM
WITHIN
|
Thus, the achievement of Enlightenment by this one all
Buddhists call "Lord," was a teaching of what is possible for
all sentient beings--Oneness with this Universal Creative
Force which Buddhist and Jains call 'Omniscient Mind'; Christians and
Jews, 'God'; Muslims, 'Allah'; Hindus, 'Brahma'; native Americans, 'Great
Spirit', etc. . . .all equally valid metaphors for this
mysterious, formless, genderless, supreme and eternal essence of
the Universe--of which we're all equal parts--unlimited by
anyone's merely human concepts. . .what Dr. Einstein
acknowledged in concluding: "Everyone who is seriously interested in
the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a Spirit is manifest in
the law of the Universe."
Christ, about whom our current Bible reveals nothing concerning His most formative
years--13 to 30, when He emerged from God knows where, asked John to
baptize Him, fasted 40 days, and then began His ministry by
proclaiming: "The Father and I are One!"--inferred that we can be,
also, by seeking the "Kingdom within" (all beings,
equally). Interestingly, the Buddhist
Canon, which is at least 16 times as voluminous as the
Christian Bible (as Shakyamuni Buddha taught for 45
years; Christ, for only three), lists all 1,000 Buddhas who'll appear in
this particular "world age," including the years of their births, plus
the names of the family to which each will be born. Shakyamuni, the
fourth, was preceded by Kashyapa Buddha, just as He'll be followed
by Maitreya Buddha, due in 2460 years.
Just as Christian Scriptures teach
that Christ miraculously reappeared three days after His apparent
death on the cross, inviting a doubting Thomas to check out His nail
wounds, Buddhist Scriptures teach that Shakyamuni Buddha, whose
mother died shortly after His birth, left His body for three
months, ascending to Heaven (Tushita in Sanskrit) where He
paid her His respect and gratitude by teaching there, before returning
to Earth to teach for nearly half a century. Lord Buddha,
whose message of love, compassion, equality and nonviolence was
for all sentient beings, without exception, also similarly
performed many miraculous activities throughout the 45 years of His
own teachings, particularly at Shravasti, where He spent each rainy
season in retreat for some 25 years. Eventually, at 81, He
announced the date of His mahaparinirvana (Sanskrit for the passing
away of a Buddha, into Heaven--Tushita, where the future Buddha,
Maitreya, is presently residing).
Those with the open-minded intellectual
curiosity and cognitive energy to investigate just what Christ
MAY have been up to during the 17 most formative years of
his life so inexplicably missing from our current Bible, may
wish to use this mightiest research tool ever invented to school
yourself, perhaps beginning by Googling "Christ's Lost Years," or
checking out Amazon.com for "The Lost Years of Jesus," where you'll
be introduced to Nicolas Notovitch's The Unknown Life of Christ;
Elizabeth Clare Prophet's The Lost Years of Jesus: Documentary
Evidence of Jesus's 17-Year Journey To The East; Charles F. Potter's
Lost Years of Jesus Revealed; Shirley West's The Lost Years of
Jesus (Spirit of Truth); John P. Brown's The Lost Years of Jesus, and
Alex Jack's A Visit to the Land of the Gods: Searching For the Modern
Philosopher's Stone, Tracing Jesus's Lost Years In the East, and Exploring
the Common Roots of the Jews and the Japanese.
You don't have to be a card-carrying
Christian theologian to at least read the efforts of those
who've spent far more time and energy than you researching
this 17-year black hole in our Bible. For example, in Elizabeth
Claire Prophet's The Lost Years of Jesus, she presents original
translations of ancient documents, together with the testimony of four
eyewitnesses who examined those secret scrolls revealing that
Jesus spent 17 years in the Orient two millennia ago, where He was known
and loved throughout the East as Saint Issa. She also covers the international
controversy which arose when these ancient manuscripts were first discovered
in 1887 in Tibet, and how so-called experts "proved" they did not exist, only
to have them rediscovered in the 20th century by Professor Nicholas Roerich,
Mme. Elisabeth Caspari, and originally-skeptical Swami Abhedananda.
These
chronicles, oral traditions and legends of what Jesus
reportedly did and said in India, Nepal, Ladakh and Tibet, prior to his
Palestinian mission, are fascinating and well documented. Included are the
personal accounts of those who actually trekked the Himalayas to bring us
firsthand accounts of historic events long documented, concerning those
17 most formative and dynamic years of Christ's life. . .far more
interesting, for example, than focusing merely on the final 12 HOURS of
Christ's life, as Mel Gibson chose to do in his film, "The Passion of the
Christ." Wouldn't it be nice if Mel would use the $600 million he enriched
himself with on that blood-soaked docudrama he created--unfortunately
choosing not to focus on ANY of Christ's totally positive Teachings for
humanity--and make a documentary film on the actual EVIDENCE that's been
found in Asia regarding those enigmatic 17 YEARS. . .for Christ's sake?!
There will always be self-anointed
Christians, unfortunately, demanding that no one be allowed to even consider what might
have happened during those 17 lost years of Christ's life, but the Catholic Church,
which controlled our Bible over most of the past 2000 years, already proved
the absurdity of that approach several centuries ago (1616) when it claimed that the Italian
physicist and astronomer Galileo had breached the conditions laid down by the Inquisition,
in holding that the Sun is the center of our universe and that the Earth, in fact, revolves
around it. Claiming Galileo's beliefs were absurd in philosophy, erroneous in
theology, and formally a heresy, he was examined by the Inquisition, forced to recant, and sentenced to life
imprisonment and religious penances. God help us from such closed and wicked minds
pretending to speak in Christ's name, in any century! For if they are not
the Antichrist, corrupting truth while masquerading in His name, such beings will do until
the real thing comes along?
FASTING
HELPS US SEE
WE'RE ALL ONE FAMILY
|
We humans are notorious quibblers,
especially about our religious concepts and beliefs, which,
when analyzed, have far more in common than those few
aspects which have so often divided us. Interestingly, however,
prolonged fasting seems to help overcome our human
differences, making fasters more like these great religious
reformers so many admire. . .more "universal" or "all-inclusive," which
are Webster's definitions of "catholic." For example, anyone
who has taken the time to place the Ten Precepts of
Buddhism alongside the Ten Commandments of
Christianity has at least a small insight into why one of the
20th Century's two greatest Christian theologians (along with Paul Tillich)--the
Columbia-and Cambridge-educated Trappist monk,
scholar, and translator, Fr. Thomas Merton, following nearly three
monastic decades of studying both religions, brilliantly
concluded with stunning candor in the final days of his noble life:
"There are absolutely no contradictions between Christianity and
Buddhism; therefore, I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I
know how."
The Catholic aspect of the Christian-Buddhist dialogue began after
Vatican II, when Pope John XXIII proclaimed for the first time in
the history of the Church that truth is to be found in other religions.
After this, Christian monks and nuns were invited to develop mutual
comprehension between Christians and people of other faiths. That
took Father Merton to Asia, where he died in l968 during one such
gathering, shortly after his good heart had beautifully expressed the
Pope's insight: "My dear brothers and sisters, we are
already one, but we imagine that we are not. And what we
have to now recover is our original unity. What we have to
be is what we are."
Likewise, this same wisdom-energy would later take His Holiness
the Dalai Lama to Merton's Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky,
USA, July 22 to 27, l996, for a monastic, interreligious dialogue.
There, His Holiness reiterated that the very differences between
religions are very good, for each religion serves the unique needs of
a group of people. But, He added, at the same time, it's important
that the people of different faiths should recognize our common
ground, and from this place, mutually serve humanity:
"The world is growing smaller and smaller, and thus, humanity has
become one big family; we are heavily dependent on one
another." He also expressed how impressed He was with all of the
work that Christians have done in the fields of education and health,
and He has urged the Buddhist monastics to follow suit, by spending
half of their time in work that directly benefits
humanity.
Another faster, Thich Nhat Hanh, is a contemporary Vietnamese
Zen master whom Merton called a "brother" he felt closer to than
many of his own faith and country. Hanh, nominated for the Nobel
Peace Prize by still another Christian faster, Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., has authored 25 books as a blessed peacemaker between
religions, including Living Buddha, Living Christ, in
which he concludes: "When you are a truly happy Christian, you are
also a Buddhist, and vica versa." (For example, exactly as the
Ten Precepts implore Buddhists to refrain from
destroying life, sexual misconduct, taking what is not given, false
speech, and covetousness, the Ten
Commandments implore Christians: You shalt not murder,
commit adultry, steal, bear false witness, or
covet.)
HOW MANY AMONG US ACTUALLY ACCEPT
CHRIST'S
CHALLENGE TO US ALL?
|
Christ's challenge to us all--"Whoever
would be the greatest among you, let her or him be the
servant of all!"--has been taken completely to
heart by many over the past 2000 years. Two among those are
fellow Nobel Peace laureates of Dr. King, as well as veteran
fasters. Mother Teresa, rather than checking religious IDs at her
door, simply lived Christ's unprejudiced, egalitarian example
by selflessly dedicating herself to serving the poorest of the poor in
Calcutta (almost exclusively Hindu and Muslim Indians). His Holiness
the Dalai Lama has published what University of California at
Berkeley religious historian Dr. Houston Smith calls "arguably the
best book to date on interreligious dialogue." Inside The
Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of
Jesus, the Dalai Lama offers His own Buddhist perspective
of the Sermon on the Mount, of the Beatitudes, of the parable of the
mustard seed, of the Resurrection, and other selections, providing a
new model of enlightened dialogue, respecting both the parallels and
the differences between Christianity and Buddhism. [The Good Heart
is from Wisdom Publications USA, 800-272-4050, http://www.wisdompubs.org,
or info@wisdompubs.org. To read some of the Dalai Lama's (or other
Tibetan Wise Ones') shorter teachings, pull up http://www.lamayeshe.com,
and open the "Other Teachers" pull-down menu. This Lama Yeshe Wisdom
Archive also publishes FREE wisdom books--yours for
the price of shipping, or a donation; same URL--open the "LYWA Publications"
pull-down menu.]
To demonstrate the type of compassionate magnanimity FCI
continuously sees in Christians among its global clientele who've
fasted as long or longer than Christ did, the following is from a
Fairfield, IA, graduate student, 29, an African-born Christian on fasting
day 46 of his 56-day Total Detox. Program:
"Dear Dennis: The Essene Gospel letter was quite awesome,
especially for me, being one inclined to Christianity. Please feel free
to send any similarly interesting letters if you have them. It is quite a
pity that so many in the Church--with all the good intentions to follow
God, be holy, and in fact dedicate their entire lives to God---have to
suffer less than optimal health because a piece of their own Master's
teaching is missing (hidden or suppressed from their doctrine,
despite the 74 remaining Biblical references to fasting). With
our world view as Africans and Christians, we Africans know that our
greatest good is communal harmony, and through doing FCI's fasting Program,
I have become painfully aware that if all those inclined to Christianity
would actually follow Christ's example and fast, their improved health
might inspire them to focus on the real issues the Church should focus
on--bringing their loving kindness, compassion and the Good News to the
poor.
"As Nobel Peace laureate
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said: 'We have made our differences a cause for
conflict. All human beings are fundamentally good. That is why you and
I thrill not in the presence of the highly-aggressive or the rich or
the macho, but in the presence of Mother Teresa, someone so small you
could put her in your back pocket and forget about her. However, what
Mother Teresa meant when she once said she was '60 percent Attila the Hun,'
is that compassion is not just feeling with someone, but is
seeking to change their situation. Frequently, people think
compassion and love are merely sentiment. No! They are very demanding.
If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action!'
"As noted in Isaiah 61:1-5, for those
trying to actually emulate Christ's example, rather than merely memorize
his words: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day
of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn, to give unto
them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness, the planting
of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old
wastes; they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair
the waste cities, the desolation of many generations. And strangers shall
stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen
and your vinedressers.'
"Dennis, I'm finally beginning
to see and appreciate the extent of your/FCI's decades of work in globally
addressing 'suffering,' seeing all these 'problems'
in the world for which many merely pray to God, but for which we've had
perfect solutions for millennia. For me, today is my 46th and final
fasting day, although I'll wait till my night enema to see if I'll extend or
not. It's been pretty clean these last days, but I don't want to
decide in advance (a step at a time). Everything is going very well.
The other day, I woke up with pain in my intestine and, of course, that
made doing my morning enema more urgent. Everything was clear, except for one
pea-sized pellet and a deceased, floating critter which horrified me,
even though I've also learnt to celebrate their evictions. It was a
flat-worm sort of thing, only a 4-to-5-inch segment and quite
disintegrated. It must have checked out of the planet a while ago,
but only came out on that day. I suspect that was the cause of my
intestinal pain, as that was gone, afterward.
"This is another reason why FCI's
Program is exceptionally unique, because it really gets rid of these
intestinal parasites, physically starving and evicting them out of the
human body. Having grown up in Africa, I can appreciate this more
than most, believe me. It makes me cringe to think of what happens when
people take allopathic, anthelminthic/antiparasite medication, but
because of lack of proper elimination or bad elimination--which is the case
with so many people on terrible diets--these dead parasites remain
in the body for months!!! Thanks, Dennis, for being the custodian of
the real Good News! Bye for now, (confidential)."
FCI's response: "From, (confidential), the
beginning of Christianity, prolonged fasting was practiced by all the
great Christian saints, with Christ teaching: 'Renew yourselves
and fast, for I tell you truly, except you fast, you shall never be freed from
the power of Satan, and from all diseases that come from Satan' (from His
Essene Gospel of Peace teaching, very similar to His 'this kind goeth not
out but by prayer and fasting' teaching in Matthew 17:21). Once
we've actually done the prolonged fasting Christ and all great
Christian teachers did and implored us to--not to mention every
other great spiritual teacher our species' has produced--we're ushered
into an entirely new level of compassionate possibilities, limited only
by our imagination.
"In my own life, for example,
beyond being blessed over the past 35 years to help end unnecessary suffering with FCI clients
representing 220 nations--from all religious and philosophical beliefs--I was
also blessed, back in the early '80s when the U.S. and S.U. were each
building three nuclear weapons every day, marching humanity toward species
annihilation, to chair a global polylogue among more than 4,000 of our
world's most celebrated leaders and thinkers, asking them all four
questions about what was then threatening all life on Earth,
as the untimate issue of all time. Again, I was blessed to join with
far more compassionate beings than I'd ever dreamed possible,
eventually publishing the responses of 120, in the U.S. and abroad, in
a book we all felt helped turn our species away from it's
suicidal impluse toward mutually-assured destruction (M.A.D.). [Note:
The book's cover can be seen near the bottom of FCI's home
page--Fasting.com--next to the photo of me with my longtime friend and teacher the
Dalai Lama, just above the letters from President Clinton regarding my
continuing effort to help stop China's 55-year genocide attempt
in neighboring Tibet, during which 1.2 million have been killed or
starved to death.]
"The
book, entitled "Voices of Survival In the Nuclear Age," as had
been my dream in putting over $100,000 of my children's education fund
and a good part of four years of my life into this project--inspired by
my children and, by extrapolation, our world's--was read at the highest
levels of power in every nuclearized nation, simply because of the positions
of its contributors. Among those addressing my questions there were: Pope
John Paul II and the XIVth Dalai Lama; then-Presidents George H. Bush,
India's Indira Gandhi and East Germany's Erich Honecker; 17 Nobel laureates,
including 7 Nobel physicists; the fathers of both the S.U and U.S. H-bombs
(Sakharov, Garwin and Teller); many of the world's top psychiatrists and
psychologists, plus representatives from most major fields, including
Dr. Carl Sagan's contribution of the book's Introduction. As always, we
do what we're able, wherever we find ourselves, and I've been more
blessed than most in that regard, in my great good fortune."
MANY FASTERS NOW FOLLOW
CHRIST'S AND BUDDHA'S
EXAMPLES
|
Likewise, fasting has built impressive
pedigrees in most other religions and cultures. Ancient Egyptians,
Syrians and Mongolians believed fasting preserved their health and
prolonged both youthfulness and life, itself. Mayans employed
elaborate fasting rituals, just as Native Americans have always
fasted while on vision quests, and often before hunts--even the 18
million tragically slaughtered by European Christians wanting their
land, ironically fleeing religious persecution in their own nations. From
the beginning of Christianity, prolonged fasting was practiced by the
Old Testament saints, Ahab, Anna, Esther, Hannah,
Ezra, John the Baptist, the Apostles, and the New
Testament church. Christ, Daniel, David, Elijah and Moses all
did 40-day fasts. To repeat, Christ taught: "Renew yourselves and fast,
for I tell you truly, except you fast, you shall never be freed from the
power of Satan, and from all diseases that come from Satan."
The above quote, however, is not from the New
Testament, which was not written until 40 years after His
passing, or part of the ferocious debate over Jesus around the year
A.D. 140, which resulted in the division of the Biblical
Canon into the Old and New
Testaments, both of which Christians believe to be
God-breathed and infallible. Rather, its source is in the first of what
modern, theological archeologists consider the greatest Scriptural
finds since--the Essene Gospels and
Scrolls, the latter hidden nearly 2000 years before
being found in cave crevices and clay jars near the Dead Sea, in
1947. (The earliest teachers of Jesus were Essenes--members of an
ancient Jewish sect of ascetics and mystics which existed from the
2nd century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D.) Written in Hebrew and
Aramaic--the language spoken by Jesus and His disciples--this latter,
rapidly deteriorating discovery, presently belonging to the Israeli
Antiquity Society, is now being systematically photographed with
infrared technology, scanned, and finally digitized for enlargement
and electronic enhancement. Using ultraviolet imaging techniques, all
these priceless Scriptures and fragments are now being
formed into a CD archive in a global databank, which religious
scholars can eventually tap into for real-time discussions over this
very same Internet we're all blessed to
enjoy.
Extended fasting was also practiced
by Martin Luther, 1483-1546, Ger. theologian, translator and leader
of the Protestant Reformation in Germany; John Knox, 1505?-72,
Scot. Protestant clergyman and religious reformer; John Calvin,
1509-64 (born Jean Caulvin or Cauvin or Chauvin), Fr. Protestant
reformer; John Wesley, 1703-91, Eng. clergyman, evangelist and
founder of Methodism, and countless others. Francis of Assisi, (born
Giovanni Bernardone, 1181?-1226), Ital. preacher and founder of
Catholicism's Franciscan Order, reportedly did 40-day
"epiphany" fasts every year prior to Lent (a practice more and
more among our world's 2 billion Christians, of every
persuasion, annually follow on FCI's scientific, professionally supervised
50-day Program, following Christ's 40-day example between the 46
days from Ash Wednesday to Easter
Sunday, recognizing they need five transition days on each end
of that to skillfully enter and intelligently break their fast). Likewise,
others among Earth's 360 million Buddhists do similar Programs,
inspired by Siddhartha's 49-day example, culminating on the
celebration of the birth, enlightenment and parinirvana of Lord
Buddha (all of which took place on the same day of the
year)--Saka Dawa.
In 1996, Dr. Bill Bright, who founded Campus Crusade for
Christ in l951 at the University of California at Los
Angeles, was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion (which Mother
Teresa won in 1973; Dr. Billy Graham, l982). Two years earlier, at
72, Bright had done his first 40-day fast. In accepting the $l million
prize, he promised to use it--in its entirety--in promoting the
combined power of fasting and prayer among Christians,
nondenominationally, explaining: "I strongly believe that America and
much of the world will experience
a great spiritual awakening. During my 40-day fast, I was impressed
to pray that God will call at least 2 million Christians to fast-and-pray
for 40 days, for the coming great revival."
Presently, in Western cultures
everywhere enshrined with 'Golden Arches' and 'Pizza Temples,' the
vast majority of all active Christians--including
1,058,069,000 Catholics; 391,143,000 Protestants; 174,184,000
Orthodox; 78,038,000 Anglicans, and 199,701,000 'other'
Christians--still disregard Christ's fasting teachings and
example, as well as those of Moses the Lawgiver, David the King,
Elijah the Prophet, Esther the Queen, Daniel the Seer, Anna the
Prophetess, Paul the Apostle, and myriad others. This,
despite the fact that
there is more teaching in the New Testament on
fasting than on either repentance or confession. Jesus, in fact,
taught more on fasting than on baptism and the Lord's
Supper!
NEVER DO PROLONGED FASTING
WITHOUT SUPERVISION,
INITIALLY
|
Unfortunately, despite the instructive examples of Christ
and so many great Christians throughout the Bible, the vast
majority who today call themselves Christians pay no more than lip
service to the 74 Old and New
Testament references and teachings on fasting--not
intended, of course, for achieving selfish interests, temporal
pursuits, or impressing others with one's spirituality, but rather for
what most Christian FCI clients, worldwide, refer to first in
stating their fasting goals: "I just want to become a better Christian.
. .achieve a personal awakening. . .get my heart and mind right with
God. . .seek a closer walk with my Lord!"--humbling themselves
before their God, overcoming temptations, seeking God's face,
discerning God's will, increasing their spiritual growth, identifying
genuine love, conquering moral impurity, and repenting of sin. . .all in
the spirit of Two Chronicles 7:14. All realize that one, single
fast is not a spiritual cure-all, which is why FCI teaches
those who wisely feel more comfortable doing prolonged
fasting under skilled, veteran, professional supervision, initially, how
to scientifically employ this magnificently-healing, spiritually-enhancing
discipline--which has very different physiological,
psychological, and spiritual experiences arising for every
individual following Christ's example in undertaking it, because no two
body-mind-spirit complexes are the same--for life!
Again, FCI takes seriously its
responsibility to warn all prospective clients that of the 90
fasting books in print in the U.S., alone, every single one warns
against anyone doing a prolonged fast without skilled
supervision, initially. For a good explanation of this, Fr. Martin Wolter,
a Franciscan Catholic priest who did his initial prolonged fast with FCI
at age 71--just a year earlier than Dr. Bright did his very first 40-day
fast--put it in these words afterwards: "I had previously fasted,
according to church rules and for religious reasons, but never had I
undertaken a scientifically designed program with supervision.
Now, I understand how and why to fast sensibly,
for whatever reasons. My body lost 15 pounds permanently, and my
mind and spirit gained immeasurably!"
Nearly 14 million religious Jews
similarly fast during their Day of Atonement (Yom
Kippur, in Hebrew), as well as on other 'virtuous' days. Nearly
900,000,000 religious Hindus, just as Gandhi did, fast on the
Ekadashi Day, as well as on Janmashtami and on similar
holidays, and some fast daily during the entire month of
Shravan. Likewise, 1.3 billion religious Muslims (only 20% of
whom are Arabs) fast part of each day--sunrise to sunset--during
the month of Ramadan. The Koran, universally
accepted by Muslims to be God-breathed (Allah in Arabic) and
infallible, was revealed to Mohammed by the Angel Gabriel in the
month of Ramadan, nearly 1400 years ago. . .c. 610
A.D.
Unknown to most, Gandhi was once a heavy eater, encountering
many difficulties in trying to control both passion, as well as taste.
Initially undertaking fasting as a means of self-restraint, he quickly
realized its far greater benefits from detoxification,
heightened clarity of consciousness, and spiritual enhancement, all of
which increased his ability to lead India's successful, nonviolent
movement for both justice and freedom from Colonial England.
Following a 1930 fast he described as "21 days of uninterrupted
prayer," during which he felt "an indescribable peace within," he
concluded: "There is no prayer without fasting!" Obviously
using overstatement to emphasize his respect for the same
combined power of fasting and prayer Dr. Bill Bright and
all spiritual fasters have discovered, Gandhi, in similar
fashion, used fasting to transform his thinking on food, itself (as do
most all FCI clients, worldwide):
"Experience has
taught me that it was wrong to have dwelt upon the relish of food.
One should eat not in order to please the palate, but just to keep
the body going. When each organ of sense subserves the body and,
through the body, the soul, its special relish disappears, and then
alone does it begin to function in the way Nature intended it to
do."
The Bhagavad Gita, a text Hindus believe to be
God-breathed (Brahma in Hindi) and infallible, explains this
progression and where it eventually leads: "For one who is fasting
the senses outwardly, the sense-objects disappear, leaving the
yearning behind; but when one has seen the Highest, even the
yearning disappears."
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