Today we mark the middle of Ramadan. As we all go through the new schedule of eating and sleeping of Ramadan, we slow down and become more mindful. The purpose of fasting is not to just be hungry and thirsty but to fast our thoughts, as my Sufi teacher says. It is to control negative thinking and increase positive actions and behavior. It is to increase giving and to provide more care and comfort to loved ones and strangers alike.
I used to avoid going near food places or cooking, but now I see it as a test of my resolve to exert self-control. I have noticed that the act of restraint or self-control actually feels good, as if I have conquered an automatic need or behavior, such as having coffee mid-morning. My mid-morning coffee is a ritual, and when I break that ritual it feels empowering, as it reminds us that we are not just the sum of our needs and wants. We can transcend these to develop spiritually. As my teacher says, we are transformed when we break our automatic behaviors.
Instead of rattling on about our likes and dislikes, we bury deep inside to the universal consciousness and our Creator. We expand our gratitude and acceptance of things as they are, a constant chaotic motion of success and failure, conflict and peace, gains and losses, arrivals and departures. Everything is transient, and we feel it more deeply. Everything will perish, and that awareness is more acute.
That is especially helpful to remember hear as we hear the horrible news of yet another Israeli attack during the holy month on the holy Al Aqsa mosque, teargassing worshippers and handcuffing them. All will change, all will end and justice and peace will prevail.
Wishing all my Muslim friends a peaceful second half of Ramadan!
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