Saturday, March 1, 2008

Annual Baha'i Fast cleanses, challenges mind and body

From March 2 to 20, Baha’is worldwide will rise before dawn to eat breakfast, pray and then abstain from eating or drinking until sunset in observation of the annual 19-day Fast.

Like Lent in Christianity and Ramadan in Islam, the Bahá'í Fast is essentially a period of meditation and prayer when the individual (ages 15-70) reflects on his or her own spiritual progress and makes an effort to detach from material desires. As one Baha’i stated, "During the fast, we make an effort to become more thoughtful about the purpose of our lives.”

The Faith exempts from fasting those who are ill, traveling, pregnant, nursing, menstruating or engaged in heavy labor.

Shoghi Effendi, described the fast in this way: "It is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul."

2 comments:

Marco Oliveira said...

I wish you a spiritual uplifting fast.
Baha’i greetings from Lisbon.
:-)

Eman and Yasser said...

Many Thanks Marco,
We also wish you a joyful and spiritual fast.