the beginning of an end - the month of fasting

december 1st. 2013. the beginning of december. the last month of the calendar year 2013. count down to...

in islam, ramadhan, the month of fasting is said to be the holiest month of the year. it is the month when ALLAH revealed the Qur'an as a set of prescriptions for mundane, intellectual, and spiritual living. anyone who has read the holy text or has known members of the faith, know that there is a great deal of discipline, focus, and reflection involved.

when i first began fasting deliberately, beyond and yet intertwined with the prescriptions of religious thought, my relationship to food permanently changed. after several days without any solids, i could no longer view food the same. on day 7, when i finally ate, i prayed over the food.

my prayers led me to the sanctity of the elements involved in creating the food - Air Land Liquid Atmosphere Heat - ALLAH. yet, you couldn't have a tree, without the soil - the water that replenished the soil, the sun that fed the plant, the air that carried the pollen, the gravity of planetary bodies that moved scientifically through the ether. thus, all were interdependent, and hence the 1ness of ALLAH.

fasting draws us closer to the elements, and in turn, the 1ness of Life. it allows us to let go of our shell and our temporary selves in these ephemeral cloaks called bodies that we come to identify with a me. in the process of this great humility, a shedding, not just of flesh, but the weight of being a finite being, is transcended. an ascension happens. this growth is the spiritual process that the poets of islam call the flight of the prophet. it is what some speculate was what aligned jesus with the father and holy ghost. it is what vedantists call non-duality. it happens through a deep and lucid quietude. quietness, rumi reminds us, is the surest sign.

this month i will be fasting, and hope to absolve myself of the ego that continues to cripple my potential, that taints my conversation, dress, and walk, that keeps my tongue and body guided by the lust of the temporal. this month, i hope to shed the toxic wasteland that my body has become, to grow Deeper in my ancient Self, and in turn with my Ammu, Abbu, bhaiyas, cuzins, friends, strangers; with the Essence, the Mother Earth and the Father Sun. all praise is due...