Feasting & fasting
On one of my expeditions to the Himalayas, I met a tapasvi. There was a mystical calmness about him. We had a long conversation after which I thought of leaving something for his expenses. I slipped my hand beneath the asan on which he was sitting to leave some money. As I did so, something pricked me. I lifted the cloth to find iron nails below…
One of the five niyams in Ashthang Yoga is tapa, that is, to heat the body by giving it pain. It is very basic purification, a means to cancel out your negative karma, a tool to aid progress and evolution. The interesting thing about pain is that it has a threshold limit. When you put yourself through any pain, beyond a point, you stop feeling the pain.
Pleasure, on the other hand, has no limit. It grows exponentially. There are the basic pleasures of bhuloka, and then of the higher lokas — bhuva, svaha, maha, jana, tapa and satya.
Food is one such basic pleasure. Throughout our lives we keep looking for finer foods and are still not satiated. However, if one goes on indulging in the same sensual pleasures again and again, we get stuck in the bhuloka and there is no going forward. To access higher pleasures, it is important to conquer the basic pleasures. This is done by putting oneself through pain.
Fasting or upavaas is one such way. Upavaas has a much greater connotation than what it is generally understood as — holding back from eating certain foods. At the Dhyan Ashram, sadhaks observe upavaas in its authentic sense, that is, giving up pleasure to observe austerities during sadhna. This is done by calibrating, eating food for energy, not sensual pleasure, following a niyam (way) of the sadhna your guru has given you — a mantra, dhyan or a tantric practice where senses are kept under strict control and the focus is on your Ishta Deva to whom all your thoughts and actions are devoted during those days. Charity and service are an intrinsic part of such sadhnas.
In the last nine days of Navratras, which ends today, we saw many people abstaining from eating their routine diets only to feast on alternative savories in the name of fast, and then binging at the first opportunity as their Navratri fast ended. Fasting or any such technique will bear fruits only if carried out with a sense of detachment, for the purpose of evolution. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to observe fasts in tandem with yogic practices such as the Sanatan Kriya under the sanidhya (presence) of a guru.
During the Navratras, fasts are observed for purification as well, both etheric as well as physical. Navratri comes twice a year and marks transition in seasons, from winter to summer and from summer to winter.
According to Ayurveda, during this time, one should consume nourishing foods and in minimal quantities to rid the body of the toxins collected during the rains.
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