FASTING - What is for ?




In all the religions there are significant importance of fasting. Everyone from ancient time suggested human to fast for certain days in a year. Modern day also there are so many different type of fasting exists like intermittent fasting, 3 days fasting , water fasting , N number of days fasting etc. Recently there was a event that happened at my personal life that trigger my thought is 'what is this fasting'? Is it only fasting from food ? or fasting from thoughts , fasting over bad words , fasting over negativity , fasting over greed , fasting over lust, fasting over jealousy, i  can go on... there are so many different kind of feelings that drive us crazy sometimes. 

I usually fast on Monday not a very strict fast but i dont eat carbohydrate during daytime and eat sattvic meal at night. I observed that most of the time i end my day either grumbling or complaining, why so ? That's when i am realizing that when the instruction of fast is provided its also fast from lots of negative or not positive thoughts that loiter in our mind day in and out. Sometime i wonder if the human civilization existed sometime earlier and ended as well, because all these feelings or findings that make me awestruck is also observed by thousands of years before. Some of the fast are very rigorous  like fasting in hottest day of summer without water during day time, fast for 9 days in sequence . Most of the religions across the world is talking about the fasting and cleansing the body and mind. I wonder over the period of time the body cleansing took more importance over the mind :-) . 

I can’t conclude on what is the advisable behavior during fasting. Specially now a days everyone leads so crazy busy schedule. But I think I get a feeling of what are the things I should avoid…food for thought. Attaining mental calmness is final goal , which is an age old struggle. I am hopeful that one day i will get there. 

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