Fasting in the monastic community is considered an ascetic practice, a “dhutanga” practice. Dhutanga means “to shake up” or “invigoration”. The Buddha, as is well known, emphasized moderation, the Middle Way that avoids extremes, in all things. Fasting is an additional method that one can take up, with supervision, for a time.
If you wish to be free, know you are the Self, the witness of all these, the heart of awareness. Set your body aside; sit in your own awareness. You will be at once happy, forever still, forever free.
The guru cannot awaken you; all that he can do is to point out what is. The guru can give you words; he can give you an explanation, the symbols of the mind, but the symbol is not the real, and if you are caught in the symbol, you will never find the way.
Even after all this time the sun never says to the Earth, “You owe me.” Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky.
Begin with yourself. There is no time to waste. It is your duty to do your part to bring God’s kingdom on earth.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
