Yesterday was Nirjala Ekadasi as I mentioned earlier. It is a full fast day. No water, no food. This can be quite rough, especially when you have to do physical work or get out of the house/monastery. I was lucky in that regard as I had enough computer work to do. At the same time, the purpose of the day is not too think about food or water, but to engage oneself in spiritual service more than usual. This means chanting more rounds or reading devotional literature for instance.
Not everyone was in good shape this morning. For some the fast had been quite hard as they had been thirsty and couldn’t sleep last night. I don’t know what I did, but the fast was rather easy this year. It could have had something to do with my bad digestion lately.
We continued reading from the Gita which spoke about acts of sacrifice coincidentally. When done with no fruitive desire, it is in the mode of goodness. A fast itself is not holy or spiritual. It is the consciousness behind it that matters. Outwardly we may do so many things that are considered material, but as long as we keep our perspective centered, there won’t be any loss.
Only 6 days left…
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Jun 28th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Man Nirjala Ekadasi is getting easier now ! the secret is to drink a lot the evening before and then you can go easier.
I’m trying to master fasts now, I only drank the day after, and ate the 3rd morning. It is very good to purify one’s body like that.
Much LOVE
Jun 29th, 2007 at 6:08 am
Yes I drank a lot of water the day before and that surely helped me a lot. So you did quite a big fast there! Food fasts are good for the body indeed, no water is pretty hard on the body though.