FASTING Going without to reach peace within

Fasting is gaining adherents in many faiths.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Jesus fasted for 40 days alone in the desert, so the Good Book says. Given that it also says he was no ordinary guy, those passages probably should carry a warning for mere mortals: Don't try this at home.
Here's the problem: Many Americans today are trying what Beliefnet.com columnist Gregg Easterbrook has called "fasting chic."
Believers of every variety are going without food for longer and longer periods and for every conceivable reason: to enhance mental, physical and spiritual discipline, to purge the body and soul of impurities, to become humble, to empathize with the poor, to achieve clarity, to see God.
The late Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, described his spring 1994 sojourn without solid food as "the most important forty days of my life."
"The longer I fasted, the more I sensed the presence of the Lord," Bright, who died last summer, wrote in an essay still posted on the Crusade's Web site: "The Holy Spirit refreshed my soul and spirit, and I experienced the joy of the Lord as seldom before."
But even Bright cautioned against overdoing it. Consult a physician before beginning, drink nonacidic fruit juices and maintain nutritional balance, he recommended.
Fasting is, of course, not a new phenomenon. It is part of nearly every religious tradition going back millennia.
Religious practices
Buddhists and Hindus do it during full moons and special holidays. Hare Krishnas refrain from eating grains and beans two fast days a month, every 11th day after new moon and after full moon. Jews forgo all food and drink for about 25 hours on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and on a summer holiday. Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for a month as part of Ramadan. Mormons over the age of 8 go without two meals on the first Sunday of every month.
Eastern Orthodox Christians are encouraged to stop eating and drinking at midnight Saturday before taking Holy Communion any Sunday. They give up meat, dairy products and fish throughout the season of Lent, 40 days before Easter that commemorates Jesus' time in the desert.
Catholics are expected to give up meat every Friday during Lent, but they have only two required fast days: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, where they eat only one full meal, typically at the end of the day.
Some Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Methodist churches also fast during Lent. Now other Protestant groups are using it as spiritual discipline and political strategy.
Social consciousness
David Derezotes, who teaches classes in spiritual diversity in the University of Utah's school of social work, points to Mahatma Gandhi's extreme example of what can be accomplished.
Gandhi gave up food to seek inspiration on what to do about civil strife, injustice and the British salt tax, Derezotes says. He sacrificed himself for a higher purpose.
"Interest in personal spirituality during the last decades has been important, but it has to lead to increased responsibility to your community," Derezotes says. "The fast that makes sense is when people use it for social consciousness."