Guest guest Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Fasting for Navaratri One year I decided to make a sankalpa to do the complete 9 day fast for Navaratri. For me, this meant to only take fluids and a couple of crackers in the morning with my medications. (Swamijji does a complete fast. Not even water.) I had just started a new job for a company which had its offices above a deli. This meant that every hour or so during the day I would smell the fragrances of the food as they removed it from the ovens. Much to my surprise, these wonderful fragrances did not make me hungry or desirous of food. Instead, my mind would just say "oh, that smells like some very good lasagna," labeling it and letting it go. After a day or two of fasting, I noticed that I was no longer thinking about food. My usual habit was to think about food a lot; imagining meals that I might cook for dinner, thinking about which stores I would go to to get the ingredients, wondering how long it would take me to prepare the meal. Instead, in addition to focusing on my work, it was as though my mind had entered a "food-free" zone which was also a "thought-free" zone. I had never experienced this kind of freedom before. Instead of rushing from work to the closest stores to purchase my "dream" food, I was able to go directly home to my temple and immerse myself in sadhana. Suddenly a whole new realm of sadhana opened up. Instead of a rushed hour or two in the evening, I was able to 6 to 7 hours in the evening and another 2 hours before work in the morning. And the whole quality of my sadhana changed. Instead of trying to fit my sadhana into spaces in my lifestyle, sadhana became my lifestyle and work and sleep had to fit in wherever they could. I felt great joy in chanting and meditating. On the last day of Navaratri when we were chanting the Sundar Kand, I started to feel a little weak; the first weakness in the whole 9 days. When we finished arati, I lay down on the daybed in the back of the temple. Durga came up and smiled and asked me if I was OK. I told her that I was a little weak because I was still on the fast. She looked amazed and said "it¹s a miracle. Go tell Mother." I went to Mother and told her that I had kept the fast and what a wonderful experience it was. She said "it is your Faith. That is why you could do it." Then she asked me to write about my experience. I did write about it, but I didn¹t keep the copy. This is just from memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 ardis i really like hearing your stories. this one shows us that turn in the road, where sadhana becomes the center of life, not its adornment. and it is good to see, you did write about it, and someone did read it ... and even though it was later, maa's suggestion bore fruit. steve , Ardis Jackson <anandamama@e...> wrote: > > > Fasting for Navaratri > > One year I decided to make a sankalpa to do the complete 9 day fast for > Navaratri. For me, this meant to only take fluids and a couple of crackers > in the morning with my medications. (Swamijji does a complete fast. Not even > water.) > > I had just started a new job for a company which had its offices above a > deli. This meant that every hour or so during the day I would smell the > fragrances of the food as they removed it from the ovens. > > Much to my surprise, these wonderful fragrances did not make me hungry or > desirous of food. Instead, my mind would just say "oh, that smells like > some very good lasagna," labeling it and letting it go. > > After a day or two of fasting, I noticed that I was no longer thinking about > food. My usual habit was to think about food a lot; imagining meals that I > might cook for dinner, thinking about which stores I would go to to get the > ingredients, wondering how long it would take me to prepare the meal. > > Instead, in addition to focusing on my work, it was as though my mind had > entered a "food-free" zone which was also a "thought-free" zone. I had > never experienced this kind of freedom before. > > Instead of rushing from work to the closest stores to purchase my "dream" > food, I was able to go directly home to my temple and immerse myself in > sadhana. Suddenly a whole new realm of sadhana opened up. Instead of a > rushed hour or two in the evening, I was able to 6 to 7 hours in the evening > and another 2 hours before work in the morning. And the whole quality of my > sadhana changed. Instead of trying to fit my sadhana into spaces in my > lifestyle, sadhana became my lifestyle and work and sleep had to fit in > wherever they could. I felt great joy in chanting and meditating. > > On the last day of Navaratri when we were chanting the Sundar Kand, I > started to feel a little weak; the first weakness in the whole 9 days. When > we finished arati, I lay down on the daybed in the back of the temple. > Durga came up and smiled and asked me if I was OK. I told her that I was a > little weak because I was still on the fast. She looked amazed and said > "it¹s a miracle. Go tell Mother." > > I went to Mother and told her that I had kept the fast and what a wonderful > experience it was. > > She said "it is your Faith. That is why you could do it." Then she asked > me to write about my experience. I did write about it, but I didn¹t keep > the copy. This is just from memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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