25/7/2014 - 1/8/2014
'Saata hai?'
'Haan ji, saata hai.'
I have been so accustomed to those words over the past few weeks that my response to the question has become almost sub-conscious. 'Saata hai' roughly means 'Are you feeling okay?' in Marwadi and the reason people asked me that was because I went on a fast for 8 days - an "Athai" in Jain terms. For the fast, I was to drink only boiled water from sunrise to sunset. No food, no juice, no nothing. I lost eight kilos during the event and also some of my already scarce strength.
Those 8 days were a period of self-reflection, introspection and a lot of sleep. Along with testing my body's endurance, I found that the biggest challenge for me was to gain control of my mind. My mind which kept wandering towards the smell of food from the kitchen, the view of pastries from the bakery next door and to images of exotic dishes shown in cookbooks at home.
The fast also allowed me to think about my life in a way that only an extended fast can make you. From a very primeval perspective, the first and foremost task of any living creature is to nourish itself, to survive. To voluntarily curb that particular, heavily-ingrained instinct felt like a monumental task. But on its accomplishment, I had feelings I didn't anticipate.
I felt free. I felt victorious.
The most important aspect of Jainism is saiiyam, or self-restraint. It is said by restricting the self, the impurities of the soul reduce and the individual is closer to moksha, or eternal salvation. I certainly didn't feel that I was closer to any sort of salvation, but a certain kind of peace did engulf me in the last few days of the fast. I felt vibrant and positive. I seemed to liberate myself from emotions that caused me pain. Honestly, it felt so weird, but it also felt really, really amazing.
So to you, the reader, I challenge you to do this. Restrict yourself from food for a day and tell me if you feel the same way. Perhaps it's all just my over-thinking brain addled with a loss of nutrients that made me experience all this. But perhaps it's not. And that is exciting!
'Saata hai?'
'Haan ji, saata hai.'
I have been so accustomed to those words over the past few weeks that my response to the question has become almost sub-conscious. 'Saata hai' roughly means 'Are you feeling okay?' in Marwadi and the reason people asked me that was because I went on a fast for 8 days - an "Athai" in Jain terms. For the fast, I was to drink only boiled water from sunrise to sunset. No food, no juice, no nothing. I lost eight kilos during the event and also some of my already scarce strength.
Those 8 days were a period of self-reflection, introspection and a lot of sleep. Along with testing my body's endurance, I found that the biggest challenge for me was to gain control of my mind. My mind which kept wandering towards the smell of food from the kitchen, the view of pastries from the bakery next door and to images of exotic dishes shown in cookbooks at home.
The fast also allowed me to think about my life in a way that only an extended fast can make you. From a very primeval perspective, the first and foremost task of any living creature is to nourish itself, to survive. To voluntarily curb that particular, heavily-ingrained instinct felt like a monumental task. But on its accomplishment, I had feelings I didn't anticipate.
I felt free. I felt victorious.
The most important aspect of Jainism is saiiyam, or self-restraint. It is said by restricting the self, the impurities of the soul reduce and the individual is closer to moksha, or eternal salvation. I certainly didn't feel that I was closer to any sort of salvation, but a certain kind of peace did engulf me in the last few days of the fast. I felt vibrant and positive. I seemed to liberate myself from emotions that caused me pain. Honestly, it felt so weird, but it also felt really, really amazing.
So to you, the reader, I challenge you to do this. Restrict yourself from food for a day and tell me if you feel the same way. Perhaps it's all just my over-thinking brain addled with a loss of nutrients that made me experience all this. But perhaps it's not. And that is exciting!
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