Submitted by Sylvia des Tombe
When I was teaching at the Anglo-American School of Moscow, in my capacity as a teacher of English as a Second Language, I sent the information below to the teachers about the Ramadan fast, as we had many students from Malaysia and other countries, some of whom observed it.
Since it is summer in California, the fasting hours are very long indeed. Some people, like my daughter, Rosabelle, and her husband, Arvin, when they have observed the fast, have modified it: they don’t wake for the early morning meal at 3 or 3:30, and break their fasts at 6:00 pm. Since my daughter teaches sports among other things, she drinks water during the day. Different Subud members adapt the fast in different ways.
Of course there is no obligation to fast in Subud, and many of us fast some years and not others. However, it is a wonderful time if you can do it (see the poem by Rumi, below, after the article) and there are many benefits.
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The Muslim Month of Ramadan
This year the fasting month of Ramadan in the Muslim calendar starts on the evening of the 17th of June and ends on the afternoon of the 17th of July. Here is some information about the fast, from Javanese [Indonesian] sources:
Fasting has been observed since the time of the prophet Abraham because it is believed that the influence of the “lower forces” is less during that month. For this reason, fasting in Ramadan is considered to be very important for the development of the inner self. This is how the fast is ideally carried out:
The day or evening before the fast starts, people must clean themselves by taking a bath and washing their hair, and it is also recommended to have one’s hair cut and cut one’s nails. Then one should consciously make the decision/state the intention to fast for the whole month in the right spirit.
Fasting includes the following restraints or abstentions:
- Do not use your ears to listen to gossip, quarrels or bad words;
- Do not use your mouth to say anything wrong or unkind;
- Do not use your emotions to reach the emotions (passions) of others;
- Do not use your eyes in a way that is not good or nice;
- Do not use the heart or mind to imagine or think about unhappy things, fantasies or unrealities;
- Do not eat or drink or smoke between dawn and sunset each day.
Ideally, couples refrain from having sexual relations during the whole month, or, if they cannot do that, at least during the hours of the fast.
In Indonesia, the fast goes on for thirty days (women who are menstruating do not observe the fast on those days but make them up after the normal fasting days are over; the same is true for anyone who is traveling or is ill). During the first ten days of the fast, it is believed that the passions are put in an inactive state. During the second ten days, one becomes aware of increasing freedom of one’s attitude and actions from the influences of the “lower forces.” Finally, during the last ten days, if one has done the fast properly, on the evenings before the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th and 29th days of fasting, “nights of power” may occur in which a person can receive a kind of grace and actually be able to change their inner state for the better.
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Ramadan
O moon-faced Beloved, the month of Ramadan has arrived.
Cover the table and open the path of praise.
O fickle busybody, it’s time to change your ways.
Can you see the one who’s selling the halvah; how long will it be the halvah you desire?
Just a glimpse of the halvah-maker has made you so sweet even honey says,
“I’ll put myself beneath your feet, like soil; I’ll worship at your shrine.”
Your chick frets within the egg with all your eating and choking.
Break out of your shell that your wings may grow. Let yourself fly.
The lips of the Master are parched from calling the Beloved.
The sound of your call resounds through the horn of your empty belly.
Let nothing be inside of you. Be empty: give your lips to the lips of the reed.
When like a reed you fill with His breath, then you’ll taste sweetness.
Sweetness is hidden in the Breath that fills the reed.
Be like Mary—by that sweet breath a child grew within her.
“The poem “Ramadan” by Mevlâna Jalâluddin Rumi, translated by Nevit Ergin with Camille Helminski, is a wonderful window on Ramadan. You can find it in the book The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations edited by Kabir Helminski, published by Shambala Classics, Boston 2000.”