Does fasting hold a very significant place in Buddhist spiritual practice?
I want to emphasize that these comments do not represent the “Buddhist” approach to fasting; certainly within the large, global Buddhist family with all its diversity, there are many, many different attitudes and practices. My comments are based on one Buddhist’s experiences, from the point of view of a monastic with nearly thirty years of practice as a monk, as well as two decades of pastoral service to lay communities both in Asia and in the West. Fasting in the monastic community is considered an ascetic practice, a “dhutanga” practice. (Dhutanga means “to shake up” or “invigoration.”) Dhutangas are a specific list of thirteen practices, four of which pertain to food: eating once a day, eating at one sitting, reducing the amount you eat, on alms-round, eating only the food that you receive at the first seven houses. These practices are adopted by individuals voluntarily, they are not required in the normal course of a Buddhist monastic’s life of practice. The Buddha, as is well know
