Dry Fasting for Self-Knowledge

WOW all I can say is WOW take care of yourself don't over do it

 

Thanks my friend!

 

Insight Log, Hour 94

This afternoon, I realized that I am subject to the pull of food and drink and also sex, only by a kind of biological programming on behalf of the species (which is driven by the species' will to survive at any cost). That programming is a kind of personal but also supra-personal habit, or series of habits. When fasting, I get more space between who I am really, truly, and authentically, and the pull of any such tendencies (which I had recreated into addictions, the power of which became thereby wedded to the power they already had genetically).

The other huge insight that I got today, is that what I usually think is my job, isn't my real job at all.

What I usually think of as my job(s):

Earning/investing money
Doing well in school and learning constantly
Marketing my business
Meeting pretty girls
Getting to a place where I am ready to support a family
Staying physically fit
Having fun and recreational experiences

In the fasted state, I saw that truly, these are my only jobs:

1. Be at peace with myself, God, and everyone else, as much as I possibly can be.
2. Maintain my integrity, which is the only way I know of to achieve number 1.
That's it! If I maintain myself such that I live this commitment, I will absolutely take all of the actions (including the needed self-reflection) I ought to take, in order to achieve any and/or all of what I used to think of as my job. It also streamlines decision making, and somehow the obviously right course seems to continue to present itself to me, in Divine order.

Life becomes clearer, and the struggle more refined and well-defined.

Thanks be to God!

Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden light!

 

Day 5, Hour 104

There is always something beautiful, quietly thrilling, rewarding and even a bit magical about making it past 100 hours on a dry fast. This is at least my third dry fast of this length, maybe my fourth or fifth. I really enjoy the quiet of soul, the awareness of myself, the ability to prayer more clearly, and the sense of heightened integrity and peace which comes with an extended dry fast. More than anything else, my prayer for this dry fast has been that God would teach me to be at peace with myself, to be at peace with my conscience at all times.

I can truly say that this has indeed been the experience I have, as of today.

I am well rested this morning, because I went to bed and slept when I was guided to do so, rather than waiting up past my bedtime (as I have too often done in the past). I have done all of the grocery shopping for breaking the fast (which is planned for less than 24 hours from now), set myself up with plenty of pure, frozen-then-melted water (the best kind to drink when breaking a dry fast), and all of that was both effortless, and difficult at times. (Doing physical things like taking long walks, and carrying heavy bags of groceries when in a dry fasted state feels more like using the mind to move matter, than like ordinary physical activity. There is something mysteriously beautiful about it, and it's really much more spiritual than I generally experience life in the body to be. That suggests to me that life in the body is always much more profound and spiritual than I often realize; it's just that a total fast allows me to more deeply into what is than I otherwise might.)

Also, I have come to see that I don't like to term what I am doing dry fasting. That implies a water shortage, and according to the best scientific understanding I have been able to acquire about this, in fact the body manufactures its own water during this time. This water, which is only made inside of me when I do a total fast for an extended period, is marvelously cleansing, healing, and purifying, even on a spiritual and emotional level! I truly do feel that I am able to start becoming someone else when I am on a total fast, and that someone else does stay with me to a degree it seems, even after I break the fast. Hence, given the marvelous action of the metabolic water made inside my body during such a fast, it seems more honest and appropriate to call this a total fast, as to say "dry fast" would be to negate the powerful role that water plays!

Thanks be to God for sustaining me thus far, and thanks to all of you who read what I write here about my experience. I find that to journal what I am learning - especially while in a totally fasted state - is very useful and encouraging to my spirit.

Today, I am turning over to God any anxiety that I have about this project which I intend to complete today. By God's grace, it is my intention to finish this presentation which is due shortly in a class I am taking. I ask that He complete it, through me! Amen.

Blessings, affection, strength and enlightenment upon anyone reading this today. Feel free to send me a private message if you are inspired to do so.

 

Day Five, Hour 117

Toward the end of five days of total fasting, I always feel like a kind of a walking miracle, but I also feel human, and am able to see my weaknesses and defects much more clearly too.

It will now be less than ten hours until I drink a glass of water, and I know the "kid on Christmas morning" feeling once again! It is an awesome, lovely, blessed, exquisite and moving thing to be able to drink water. What a precious gift our bodies are, and what a huge blessing it is to be able to use our bodies in such a way that we grow spiritually.

I am grateful for the support of all of you here who have read my words and commented, and I am grateful for the prayers of anyone who may have been praying for me, or encouraging me in any way.

Also, I thank you for the opportunities that some of you have given me to be of service in return. That is a blessing beyond measure.

To all of you, goodnight! (It's 9:23 pm Friday for me right now, and it's off to bed quite soon.)

 

One other thing I forgot to write before: I finished a long presentation today, even though it was not due until Sunday. I had a strong desire to finish it while in a totally fasted state, because my mental resources are so clear and sharp during such a time. I was so pleased that I got it finished and turned in today. This way, I can enjoy myself, drink water and eat food this weekend, without having to think about or work on that project at all. It was enjoyable to do, and I learned a lot, but it was also difficult, and I am so thankful to God that He helped me to finish it, and early!

 

I am just about ready to break this fast with my first glass of water in 127 hours!

I have not felt that "kid on Christmas morning" feeling for quite some time. . .and it's wonderful to know that I still have the capacity of a child for joy, delight, wonderment, and anticipation. . .even for a glass of water! (Rather especially for a glass of water, given that I am about to break my total fast. of over five days.)

So much to be grateful for. Thanks be to God.

 

It's a very interesting connection to start noticing. A friend of mine likes to point out that Ghandi said that keeping "the vow" (by which Ghandi meant his vow to be celibate for life) was made very easy by mastering perfect control of the palate (what he ate).

What I notice is that when I use food to comfort myself too much, then I tend to have a temptation to use masturbation to comfort myself. It's almost as if these systems are wired into each other!

Clearly, there is a relationship to be explored here, between what I eat and how I use my sexual energy.

What I have been contemplating of late, is how when I eat lots of food, nature is essentially trying to keep me surviving, even through a potential famine. (Medical research has shown that a very fat person can survive with NO FOOD AT ALL for rather a long time, drinking only water.) And sexually, by tempting me to procreate (or to have thoughts and take actions which are biologically related to the processes of procreation) with every attractive, fertile female I see, nature is once again trying to encourage my survival - not as a person though, but survival in the sense of my genes surviving to another generation.

If we don't wish to be used by nature for her own purposes, we must take conscious control of sex and food, and learn to use these gifts of nature for our purposes. If we don't do this, in my experience, we run the risk of essentially being used and abused by the awesome, beautiful, sexy, compelling, chaotic and wonderful force of nature, in ways which simply don't have our individual growth, happiness, and freedom in view.

 

That's an excellent idea! I haven't started a group before. . .I should learn about that.

 

E

Excellent! I like the way you are eating, and I have personally found such a diet to be one of the very best possible, for overall health and well-being.

To get your self ready for a 3 day water fast should be easy, especially because you've been in ketosis. You're going to go deeper into ketosis during your fast, and you've already got a good head start.

Minerals are perhaps the most important thing to be aware of during a water fast. I would be sure to eat potassium rich foods, before a water fast. (Cucumbers are perfect.) Also, be sure that you salt your food to taste generously, so that your sodium does not dip too low during your fast.

When I water fast, I do it like this: take a pinch of (pink himalayan or Celtic sea salt, or other high quality salt), put it on my tongue, and let it dissolve into my mouth. Then, I follow that with a glass of water. That way, you will be hydrated and much less likely to become depleted of minerals. But for just three days, it's not really a big deal like it would be for an extended water fast.

Happy fasting my friend!

There has been a request (which I feel I ought to heed) that I start a fasting group here on NoFap. That should be coming soon. . .