What Is Fasting ?

What is Fasting ? giving up one thing during the month of fasting, a person becomes capable of giving up all other undesirable things throughout the rest of the year. A person is a social being. He lives in a world surrounded by many kinds of men and women. In the course of these social interactions, unpleasant situations arise. These situations provoke anger and reactive behaviour in a person. It is to guide a person on what to do—and what not to do—in such situations that fasting has been made obligatory. The lesson of fasting is that in such moments, a person should choose the path of self-restraint. Whenever anger rises in his heart or he feels provoked, he should suppress those emotions. He should be someone who controls his feelings—not someone who expresses them without thought. Similarly, a person has many kinds of emotions—such as greed, desire, jealousy, pride, arrogance, selfishness, and so on. These emotions are not bad in themselves. In fact, they are the very emotions that bring energy and movement to a person’s life. If these emotions are used within lawful limits, they are beneficial. But if a person begins to act on them freely without any concern for limits, they become a source of harm. Fasting is a form of training that teaches a person to keep these emotions within proper limits. He should make sure to use these emotions within appropriate bounds. He