The Kind of Happy Fasting

I may be classified as a fasting enthusiast. Since 2000, I have even been fasting diligently for 100 consecutive days, every year, aside from the 30-day Ramadan fast. Fasting does not have to be linked to a particular religion; fasting is a practice that exists in almost all religions and traditions. In the Kejawen (Javanese customs and beliefs) tradition, fasting has become a habit that is believed to make the practitioner spiritually enlightened.

That’s what happened to me when I fasted 100 days. Whenever I feel myself falling apart like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, I will fast to put the pieces back together. That’s why I feel right with Bapak’s suggestion that Subud members should fast, because fasting is a part that completes one’s Latihan Kejiwaan. Apart from its spiritual benefits, fasting also has benefits for physical health.

Some time in 2009, I was introduced to a physician who had devoted himself to a method called auto-therapy, an approach to healing illnesses that are carried out by our own body, which is generated by a series of physical movements and breathing exercises. He shared what he found in the course of his research on auto-therapy, i.e. the health benefits of fasting. Fasting plays an important role in a process in our body called “autolysis”. He told me the following:

“Usually, during fasting, we will feel weak at 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Be grateful, because that means a process that is very beneficial for our body will begin. The process is called autolysis. Autolysis is the process of removing dead or damaged cells in our body.

Imagine, if we are not fasting, our digestive organs almost never stop working. Every time we eat, it takes approximately eight hours for our digestive organs to work.

If at 7:00 in the morning we eat breakfast, then at 3:00 p.m. the organ finishes its job. But, at 12:00 p.m. we have lunch. The organ should have its job done at 8:00 p.m. but we eat again at 7:00 in the evening. Not to mention snacking or eating instant noodles or steak at 11:00 p.m.

If our body could talk, maybe it would say, ‘Boss, I’ll resign, okay.’

Now, when we are fasting, we eat Suhoor at 4:00 a.m.; our digestive organs work until 12:00 noon. From 12.00 noon to 6:00 in the evening, our organs are unemployed, no hard work to carry out. That’s six hours! Not bad.

Like us who like to clean up, tidy up, throw away unused things. Well, it's the same! Our organs, when there is no work, will do the cleaning of the body. This is autolysis.”

This is why fasting is healthy; it can even treat many diseases. Stomach ulcer, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and even cancer. The more often we fast, the cleaner our body will be, and the healthier we will be. So we should be happy that we are obliged to fast by religion.

Happy fasting, peeps. Hopefully we fall in love with fasting. Stay healthy. Ameen.©2021

 

Pondok Cabe, Tangerang Selatan, 18 April 2021