AUGUST 30: DAY OF FASTING & REMEMBRANCE

With the Olympics over, and China's human rights violations escalating in Tibet as the IOC stood placidly by, the Tibetan Solidarity Committee has called for a 12-hour fast to begin on the morning of August 30.  Recently, His Holiness agreed to participate in the fast, as Buddhist centers and other human rights groups around around the world have signed on to this significant action against human rights violations. 

While fasting is an ancient spiritual practice, we often forget the motivation that lies behind it.  Traditionally, fasting has been undertaken to develop mindfulness, a quality central to all religions, but one especially revered by Buddhists.  Regarding fasting, Thich Nhat Hahn has written that

society makes it difficult for us to be awake.  I am sure that you know this, but you keep forgetting:  Forty thousand children in the Third World die every day of hunger, forty thousand of them.  We know, but we keep forgetting because the society in which we live makes us forgetful.  That is why we need some exercise for mindfulness, for awareness.  A number of Buddhists practice this--they refrain from eating a few times a week in order to be in communion with the Third World.

The recommendation for Saturday is to fast according to your own capacities and abilities.  Some will take neither food nor water, some will take only juice, some will only avoid meat, but all who undertake the fast are asked to remember those who have suffered from human rights abuses at the hands of oppressive governments.

Fasting is an important step in our recognition of human deprivation because it extends that recognition beyond the conceptual level--we all "know" there is human suffering--and into the physical level, bringing our bodies into dialogue with the stultifying facts concerning human violence that crowd our minds.  Our response, then, is more roundly human, and our mindfulness sharpened just a bit.

The recommendation for August 30 is to recite as many times as possible the “Prayers for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Guru Prayers, Dhen-pai Nga-dra, Dhen-stik Mon-lam (Prayer of Truth), Prayer of 21 Taras, Six-syllable Mani” mantra and invocation prayers of deities Palden Lhamo and Nechung.

In addition to these recommendations--which come from the Tibetan Solidarity Committee--I would suggest that all of us read the Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism.  Formulated by Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hahn, they remind us of the social implications of non-violence, and how these principles refine the lives of those who adopt them.

August 30, then, is an opportunity for all of us to exercise our practice just a bit, and maybe even expand its boundaries for a few hours, as we make a concerted effort to situate our own lives within the larger community of suffering and oppression.

Accordingly, for those of you in the Fayetteville area, we will meet at Geshe la's house at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning when Geshe la and Mepham will lead us in prayers very briefly, as we make a special commitment to avoid the ten non-virtues for the 12-hour period (or here for another discussion of the 10 non-virtues).  We will then go about our day accordingly, attempting to maintain mindfulness and awareness regarding the suffering of both Tibetans and Chinese.  At 8:00 p.m., we will break our fast with thankfulness and gratitude for the many blessings we have received, dedicating them all to the prosperity and enlightenment of all sentient beings.

If you cannot be at Geshe la's house, you can pledge to avoid these non-virtues by yourself, in front of your altar or any place that is quiet and sacred to you.  Throughout the day, recall your commitment and chant Om Mane Peme Hum as many times as you can, always thinking of the spirit of Chenrezig that lives within all sentient beings.