Fasting on bread and water

[Sunanda]

Radhe Radhe dear fellows !

 

I was wondering if anyone of you tried this technique of fasting on bread and water, like they do in the Catholic church.

 

I know we GV followers are used to nirjala-fast or fast on just fruits or juices but...

 

I was wondering if this kind of fast is purifying for the body and if you can lose weight with this. Because fasting on fruits for several days is difficult and i think it would be easier with bread.

 

Any experience to share, any alternative to propose (herbal tea and bread, rice only...) ??

 

Thank you in advance.

Sunanda

[Avinash]

I keep complete fast (i.e. without any food and water) on all ekadashis.

Did it purify my body? Don't think so. I am sure that my body is still impure. More fundamentally, what exactly is meant by purified body?

 

I have read that on ekadashis, you should not sleep. Sorry . That I am not able to follow. I can keep fast so long food is concerned. But I do sleep.

[Sunanda]

 

I keep complete fast (i.e. without any food and water) on all ekadashis.

Did it purify my body? Don't think so. I am sure that my body is still impure. More fundamentally, what exactly is meant by purified body?

 

I have read that on ekadashis, you should not sleep. Sorry . That I am not able to follow. I can keep fast so long food is concerned. But I do sleep.

 

Thank you but you don't answer my question...

[Guest guest]

 

I keep complete fast (i.e. without any food and water) on all ekadashis.

Did it purify my body? Don't think so. I am sure that my body is still impure. More fundamentally, what exactly is meant by purified body?

 

I have read that on ekadashis, you should not sleep. Sorry . That I am not able to follow. I can keep fast so long food is concerned. But I do sleep.

 

Amazing that you can keep complete fast. Is it possible to do that first time, or did you progress gradually to that level? Can you give me some tips on how to observe complete fast?

 

Also, it's said we must fast from previous night and end it the day after ekadashi. Is there a specific time we must start the fast, and a particular time we must end it? Is that given in the calender? More details appreciated.

 

BTW, elders say ekadashi and other vrtas, yagas, in fact, all activities are done to win His grace. Everything else, including purifying the body, is secondary.

[brajeshwara das]

The ekadashi preparations at my local temples are too delicious to pass by, plus there is the service of honoring prasadam to consider. As I understand it we should also try and do extra service on ekadashi, so that means lots of prasadam

[Avinash]

I started complete fast from beginning itself and did not progress gradually. Though, for others, progressing gradually may be better.

I do not think that we must fast from previous night. As I have read in caledndars, the ekadashi's timing is from sun-rise to sun-rise. One night before ekadashi I eat something and the morning after ekadashi I eat. In between I do not take any food and water. Including night-time, it becomes more than 24 hours of continues fast.

 

First few times I did face some problems. Saliva used to start forming in my mouth a couple of hours before the sun rise of dwadashi. And in the night of ekadashi (starting from around 11 PM), I used to feel a kind of sensation in my palms as if some wave is flowing through my hands. With time these problems have almost vanished. To solve the problem of saliva formation, I sleep very little the night before ekadashi. Because of this I feel sleepy till the sun rise of dwadashi. Since I am comfortably sleeping I do not face problem. Of course, practice also helped. Some people say that you should lie awake on ekadashi day. I am not sure how important it is. If it is important for you, then of course, you need good sleep night before ekadashi.

 

I also found from my experience that drinking water reduces the problem of saliva formation. Of course, I do not drink water on ekadashi day. But I had the habit of drinking very little water on other days also. In 24 hours, I rarely used to take only 2 or 3 glasses of water. Now I take more water (though of course not on ekadashi).

The problem of the sensations in my hands got reduced with practice. Now it happens very little. When it happens I just rub my palms.

 

One more tip I found from experience was not to be sitting idle on ekadashi day. First few times when I started keeping fast, I was under impression that I should take rest because I was without food and water. But I found that I was facing lots of problem because of that. I used to feel very unwell. Therefore, on ekadashi day also, I keep myself quite busy.

 

I have found in some people that they eat a lot as soon as the time to end fast comes. But I want to say that it will create problems for your health. Let us assume that you have the habit of taking brekfast at 8 AM and the time to end fast is at 6:45 AM itself. After 6:45 drink some water. But take breakfast at 8 AM itself. And eat only as much as you usually eat. This is the rule that I follow.

[Guest guest]

different people have different dispositions. do not try to attempt a full fast if you cannot. i know vaishnavas who eat as much on ekadasi as they would on any other day except for avoiding grain and dairy

 

It is more important to treat ekadasi as a day devoted to Krishna and remember him all day.

 

Hare Krishna

[brajeshwara das]

 

different people have different dispositions. do not try to attempt a full fast if you cannot. i know vaishnavas who eat as much on ekadasi as they would on any other day except for avoiding grain and dairy

 

It is more important to treat ekadasi as a day devoted to Krishna and remember him all day.

 

Hare Krishna

 

We have curd subjis on Ekadasi at my temple. I never heard Ekadasi was no dairy.

[Guest guest]

Hi Avinash,

 

Thanks for your detailed answers. But is the time (to start and end fast) usually given in teh calender? Or, do we simply choose any time?

 

Out of curiosity, how's your spiritual life since you started observing this practice? Has your Bhakti, Jnana, and Vairagya increased? Do you see improvements in these matters over a period of time? For instance, let's say you were attached to certain things detrimental to spiritual practice a year ago, have they ceased to have an effect after regular ekadashi observance. The same applies to knowledge about the Lord's glories, increased devotion and so on.

 

If it isn't too personal, hope you can give us an account of your spiritual evolution wrt ekadashi practice.

[Avinash]

The time to start and end fast is given in calendar. For ending fast, two time instants are given i.e. you should end fast between these two. For example, it may be given in the calendar that you should end fast between 6 AM and 9:45 AM of the day of dwadashi (the day after ekadashi). As I have noticed the start of this time-interval (6 AM in this example) is the time of sun-rise. You should check ekadashi timing for your local area. So, we should not choose any time. Time is given in calendar. In the story of king Ambarish and Maharshi Durvasa, it is written that Durvasa came to meet Ambarish on the day on which Amabrish had to break fast (i.e. he had kept fast the previous day). Durvasa left saying that he would come after some time. Ambarish did not want to eat anything because he first wanted to give suitable hospitality to Durvasa. But the time to end fast (9:45 AM in my example) was nearing. On the advice of his counsellors, king Ambarish broke the fast by sipping a little water.

 

You have asked about my spiritual life. I don't think that my experience will be inspiring. As I can tell by reading the posts of others, I can say that majority of the others in these forums are far more staunch devotees than I am. But, since you asked let me answer.

 

So far bhakti and jnana are concerned, these did increase. I can guess a reason for this. It is said that on the day of ekadashi, you should spend time thinking of God. When I started keeping ekadashi fasting, then I wondered, "If I can keep complete fast, which is often considered very difficult, then why can't I folow the other rules of ekadashi. So, let me meditate on God's name and also spend some time in reading scriptures."

 

I will guarantee that Vairagya will increase with the passage of time if you keep fasting. There may be some kind of attachment, which may seem completely unrelated to fasting from food and water. But even that kind of attachment will reduce because of fasting. This is because fasting takes lots of resolve. Still, if you keep fast, then you will face very little to no difficulty in getting rid of the other kinds of attachments. I can say this from my experience. Now I have become such a person that I can comfortably live in various kinds of situations. If you give me cushion, I will sleep on that. If you ask me to sleep on floor, I will do that also. When I say I will do that also, it does not mean that I will feel problems but I will not say it to you. I will really not feel any problem. I have noticed this also from my experience.

[raga]

Anything made of wheat isn't exactly your ideal fasting item, especially if it features white flour.

 

Try havisya. An equal mix of rice and mung-dal boiled without spices. If that's too austere, add a bit of rock salt and black pepper at the end. I hear it's also excellent for purifying the body. A friend of mine followed a fast with this and this alone (with castor oil) for a month with tremendous results.

 

That isn't however obviously for ekadasi fasting. As for ekadasis, with practice most people will be able to do a nirjala (waterless) fast on ekadasis. Nirjala-vrata is a very powerful practice. Those unable to do that should drink something. Very few people in reality can't get over a day without eating solid food. We are only conditioned by the mind with our past habits.

 

Hari-bhakti-vilasa excludes the children, the sickly and those over 80 years of age from the full Ekadasi fast. Then, all you guys in your 30's, get a grip and start fasting!