FAST TO BREAK FREE from the tyranny of our nothingness AND TO STRENGTHEN the Divine Image in us

Summary

In this video script, the speaker emphasizes the spiritual significance of fasting, contrasting it with the physical act of eating. They argue that true feasting involves consuming Christ's body and blood, not just food, and that fasting is a means to strengthen the divine image within us, rather than reinforcing our physicality. The speaker also touches on the importance of understanding the purpose of fasting before delving into its rules, drawing parallels with the monastic life and the story of Saint Donnan of Eigg, who faced death with dignity after partaking in the Eucharist.

Takeaways

• 🍲 The true feast is spiritual, not physical; it involves consuming Christ's body and blood, not just eating food.
• 🛡️ Fasting is a way to strengthen the divine image within us, rather than reinforcing our physicality or 'nothingness'.
• ⛵️ The speaker compares the desire for immediate rules of fasting to a child wanting a boat without understanding its operation, emphasizing the importance of understanding the purpose behind actions.
• 🕊️ Spiritual growth through fasting is likened to leaving worldly matters behind and moving closer to the divine image God intended for us.
• 🚶‍♂️ Fasting is described as a way to weaken the roots of nothingness within us and to strengthen our connection with the divine.
• 🍽️ The act of eating is viewed as communion with our physical existence, while fasting is seen as a way to distance ourselves from the physical world.
• 🙏 Understanding the spiritual significance of fasting is crucial before delving into the specific rules, to avoid a superficial approach similar to a New Year's resolution that is quickly abandoned.
• 🏞️ The story of Saint Donnan illustrates the distinction between spiritual nourishment in the church and physical nourishment in the refectory, highlighting the importance of both.
• 💔 There is a critique of a false humility that devalues the body, suggesting that understanding the true worth and purpose of our bodies is essential for a healthy spiritual practice.
• 📚 The speaker promises to address the importance and value of our bodies in a future video, suggesting that a balanced view of the body is necessary for proper fasting practices.
• 🔗 For those eager to learn the rules of fasting, a link is provided in the video description for further reading and to support the monastery.

Q & A

What is the main message of the speaker about the real feast?

The speaker emphasizes that the real feast is not about physical consumption of food but about consuming Christ's body and blood, and reinforcing the divine image within us rather than our physical bodies.

How does the speaker relate fasting to spiritual growth?

The speaker suggests that fasting helps to weaken the roots of nothingness within us and strengthens the divine image, moving us away from worldly matters and towards spiritual enlightenment.

What is the significance of the story about Saint John Chrysostom mentioned by the speaker?

The story of Saint John Chrysostom is used to illustrate the importance of spiritual preparation and understanding before engaging in practices like fasting, much like learning to operate a boat before sailing.

Why does the speaker compare the act of eating to communion with our own nothingness?

The speaker compares eating to communion with nothingness to highlight that food, despite its appeal, is ultimately temporal and does not contribute to our spiritual essence, which is eternal.

What is the speaker's view on the relationship between our bodies and the food we consume?

The speaker views our bodies and the food we consume as being of the same matter, both being forms of nothingness, and suggests that understanding this can help us appreciate the spiritual significance of fasting.

How does the speaker describe the spiritual danger of overindulgence in food?

The speaker describes overindulgence in food as reinforcing our nothingness and strengthening our communion with the temporal world, which can hinder our spiritual growth.

What is the speaker's advice on approaching the rules of fasting?

The speaker advises that understanding the spiritual purpose and necessity of fasting is more important than just following the rules. The rules should be applied after one has internalized the spiritual significance of fasting.

What is the story of Saint Donnan of Eigg and how does it relate to fasting?

The story of Saint Donnan of Eigg illustrates the distinction between spiritual life and physical death. After receiving the Eucharist, Saint Donnan and his monks chose to die in the refectory, symbolizing the transition from spiritual nourishment to physical mortality.

Why does the speaker mention the false humility regarding our bodies?

The speaker mentions false humility to address the misconception that our bodies are worthless, emphasizing instead the divine image within us and the importance of balancing the physical and spiritual aspects of our existence.

What is the speaker's intention for the next video?

The speaker intends to address the false humility about our bodies in the next video, aiming to highlight the value and worth of our physical existence in the context of spiritual growth.

How can viewers find more information about the rules of fasting as discussed by the speaker?

Viewers can find more information about the rules of fasting by clicking on the link provided in the video description, which will take them to a resource where these rules are explained.

Outlines

00:00

🍲 The Spiritual Significance of Fasting

In this paragraph, the speaker emphasizes the true essence of a feast, which is not about physical consumption but the spiritual nourishment through Christ's body and blood. The speaker discusses the purpose of fasting, which is to strengthen the divine image within us rather than reinforcing our physical existence. Fasting is portrayed as a means to leave behind the worldly aspects of our being, weaken the roots of nothingness, and enhance our spiritual connection. The speaker also addresses the audience's curiosity about fasting rules and promises to address them later, using the analogy of a child wanting a boat to illustrate the importance of understanding the purpose before applying the rules.

05:04

🙏 Understanding Fasting as Spiritual Communion

This paragraph delves deeper into the concept of fasting as a spiritual practice, contrasting it with the physical act of eating, which the speaker equates to communion with nothingness. The speaker suggests that overindulgence in food reinforces our ties with the material world and our created nothingness. Drawing from the teachings of the Desert Fathers and the Ladder of Saint John, the speaker highlights the monks' perception of eating as a connection with the death of the world and fasting as a way to leave the world behind. The paragraph concludes with a story about Saint Donnan of Eigg, who chose to face death in the refectory, symbolizing the acceptance of mortality through detachment from divine communion.

10:09

🛡 Balancing the Necessity of Food with Spiritual Humility

The speaker discusses the importance of recognizing the dual nature of our bodies: as essential tools for spiritual growth and as part of the material world. The paragraph contrasts the eternal life granted by partaking in Christ's Body and Blood within the church and the vulnerability to death when indulging in the refectory, symbolizing the consumption of worldly matter. The speaker encourages the audience to appreciate the spiritual significance of fasting and to develop a balanced view of the body's role in spiritual life. The paragraph also hints at a future discussion on the value and worth of our bodies, addressing a common misunderstanding in Western Orthodox Christianity.

15:15

📖 Inviting Engagement with Fasting Rules

In the final paragraph, the speaker invites the audience to engage with the rules of fasting, but only after gaining a deeper understanding of the spiritual principles discussed. The speaker provides a link for the impatient to explore the fasting rules and encourages feedback to tailor future discussions to the audience's needs. The paragraph concludes with a blessing for the audience, expressing hope for divine favor beyond their expectations.

Keywords

💡Fasting

Fasting is the practice of abstaining from food, drink, or both, for a period of time. In the context of the video, fasting is portrayed as a spiritual exercise that goes beyond physical deprivation; it is a means to detach from the material world and strengthen the divine image within us. The speaker uses fasting as a metaphor for leaving behind the 'world in us,' suggesting that through fasting, we can weaken the roots of nothingness and strengthen our spiritual connection.

💡Divine Image

The term 'divine image' refers to the concept that humans are created in the likeness of God, possessing a spiritual nature that transcends the physical. In the video, the speaker emphasizes that the true feast and joy come from reinforcing this divine image within us, rather than indulging in physical pleasures. The divine image is linked to the spiritual growth that can be achieved through practices like fasting.

💡Nothingness

In the video, 'nothingness' is used to describe the absence of spiritual substance or the materialistic aspects of life that do not contribute to spiritual growth. The speaker contrasts 'nothingness' with the divine image, suggesting that indulging in physical desires reinforces our connection to the mundane and detracts from our spiritual essence. The concept is used to highlight the importance of fasting as a means to resist the allure of worldly attachments.

💡Spiritual Achievement

Spiritual achievement, as discussed in the video, is the accomplishment of deepening one's spiritual life and connection with the divine. It is not about physical or material gains but about the strengthening of the divine image within us. The speaker argues that true spiritual achievement comes from fasting and detaching from the world, which allows us to focus on our spiritual growth rather than on physical nourishment.

💡Communion

Communion in this context refers to the act of sharing or participating in something, often used in a religious sense to describe the partaking of the Eucharist. The speaker uses the term to describe the act of consuming Christ's body and blood as a spiritual feast, contrasting it with the physical act of eating. Communion is presented as a way to reinforce the divine image and detach from the nothingness of the material world.

💡Material World

The material world is the physical realm in which we live, characterized by tangible objects and experiences. In the video, the material world is depicted as something to be transcended through spiritual practices like fasting. The speaker suggests that our bodies, the food we eat, and the world itself are all made of the same 'nothingness,' and that by fasting, we can create a distance between ourselves and the material world.

💡Desert

In the script, the 'desert' is used metaphorically to represent a place of spiritual retreat and purification. The speaker likens fasting to a monastic entering the desert, leaving behind the world and its distractions to focus on spiritual growth. The desert symbolizes a place where one can strip away the layers of worldly attachments and focus on strengthening the divine image within.

💡Indulgence

Indulgence in the video is presented as the act of overindulging in food or worldly pleasures, which is seen as reinforcing our connection to nothingness and detracting from spiritual growth. The speaker warns against the dangers of indulgence, suggesting that it can lead to a loss of focus on the divine image and a strengthening of the materialistic aspects of our lives.

💡Saint John Chrysostom

Saint John Chrysostom is a significant figure in the Orthodox Church, known for his eloquent preaching and public speaking, earning him the title 'Chrysostom,' meaning 'golden-mouthed.' The speaker mentions the Feast of Saint John Chrysostom, indicating the religious context of the video and the importance of celebrating the lives of saints as part of spiritual practice.

💡Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage in the video is a journey to a sacred place for religious reasons, often undertaken as an act of devotion or spiritual growth. The speaker mentions traveling to a pilgrimage house, suggesting the importance of physical journeys as part of spiritual practice and the pursuit of deepening one's connection to the divine.

💡Rules of Fasting

The 'rules of fasting' refer to the specific guidelines or practices followed during fasting periods in religious traditions. The speaker discusses the importance of understanding the spiritual significance of fasting before delving into the specific rules, indicating that the rules are less important than the underlying spiritual principles they represent.

Highlights

The real feast is not about eating physical food, but consuming Christ's body and blood to reinforce the divine image within us, rather than our physicality.

Fasting is a spiritual practice that helps us leave behind the worldly aspects within us and weaken the roots of nothingness that have grown within us.

Fasting is not about physical deprivation but strengthening our spiritual connection and the divine image within us.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the spiritual significance of fasting before delving into the rules.

A metaphor is used comparing the desire for rules to a child wanting a boat without understanding its operation, cautioning against applying fasting rules without understanding their purpose.

The speaker warns against the tendency to give up on fasting or any spiritual practice after an initial burst of enthusiasm, similar to New Year's resolutions.

Fasting is viewed as a communion with our own nothingness, a realization that our physical bodies and the food we consume are made of the same matter.

The act of eating is compared to building a wall between us and the divine image of God in which we were created.

The story of Saint John Chrysostom and the monks is shared to illustrate the spiritual significance of fasting and the importance of understanding the purpose behind spiritual practices.

The speaker discusses the false humility that leads to the devaluation of our physical bodies, which is contrary to the understanding that our bodies are a divine creation.

The importance of understanding the spiritual sense of food and fasting is emphasized, drawing parallels to monastic practices of leaving the world behind.

The speaker promises to address the rules of fasting in a future video, after establishing a foundational understanding of the spiritual significance of fasting and the value of our physical bodies.

A cautionary note is given against prematurely applying fasting rules without first grasping their deeper meaning, using the analogy of a child wanting to sail a boat without proper knowledge.

Transcripts

The real feast is not to eat but to consume  Christ's body and blood; the real feast  

is not to reinforce our nothingness but  to reinforce the divine image in us;  

the real joy, the real accomplishment is  not to thicken our bodies and our skins---do  

we really need another layer of skin? Because  we have failed the test of another fast, the  

way Adam and Eve have failed the test of fasting  in Eden and they were given their layers of skin:  

the real achievement, spiritual achievement is  not to thicken our bodies and our skins but to  

thicken, to strengthen the divine image in us.  As we fast, we leave behind the world in us;  

as we fast, we weaken the roots that  nothingness has grown in us; as we fast,  

we strengthen the roots of the divine image in  us. Hello, my dear ones. It's almost midnight and  

I am tired, but tomorrow is going to be a very  difficult day, it's also the Feast of Saint John  

Chrysostom, so we shall celebrate the services  and Divine Liturgy and then we have to travel  

from Kilninian to the pilgrimage house where the  sisters are---it will just be a mad mad day and  

I don't want to be in a rush when I record this  video, so here it is, in the middle of the night  

trying to keep myself warm with a nice sweater  and a cup of warm tea, I have read your comments  

and I've seen that a lot of you are asking about  the rules of fasting, the very simple rules of  

fasting---what to eat, what not to eat, when, how  many times and so on---and I have heard you and  

towards the end of this video I'll tell you how I  will deal with those questions and those comments;  

however, you know how sometimes---you must know,  especially if you have children---sometimes  

in children or teenagers they just see  something and all of a sudden their eyes  

sparkle and they just want it, they want it then  and there and sometimes it's just not advisable  

to give that thing to them, like, like a boat,  if your child sees a boat and he or she decides,  

Oh that's so exciting I want a boat, give  me a boat; no, I don't think it's a sign of  

good parenting to just buy them a boat and wave  them goodbye as they start sailing the ocean,  

unless of course you want to get rid of your  children which probably is understandable during  

the pandemic---but anyway, back on track: the way  to deal with that would be to show them the boat,  

send them somewhere to do a course of sorts  where they learn what the boat is made of,  

how it is built, how to operate the boat, only  then it's advisable to give them the actual  

boat. I feel I'm in pretty much the  same situation now with, with you,  

where all you want to do is get the rules and then  start applying them, but the risk is that---and  

I have seen this many, many times in myself,  so I know this is a real risk---the risk is  

that you are going to behave like---you  know how we behave after new year's eve  

or after new year when everybody decides that  they are going to lose weight or be extremely  

healthy and go to the gym every day and you do  it for a few days or for a week and then you  

kind of just decide that your previous decision  was not very wise or really not realistic---what  

I'm trying to say is that those rules in and by  themselves are not going to serve you in any way,  

what will serve you is to understand what  fasting does and why fasting is necessary,  

what will help you really is to understand  that fasting, fasting from food is to fast from  

communion with our own nothingness,  if you think of your food as  

nothingness---because it is really nothingness,  it is made of nothing, it doesn't matter how  

colourful it is or how tasty it is, it doesn't  matter how posh it is being cooked and so on: it  

still is nothingness---if you understand and you  relate to your food as nothing, feeding nothing,  

nothingness feeding another nothingness, our  bodies matter, feeding our matter, if you perceive  

the act of feeding yourself as a necessary  thing in order to keep your body functional  

and alive but at the same time as an act of  communion with our nothingness, with this  

matter, with this world, then fasting will, will  make sense to you, it will, it will be worth  

fighting for. Now when we decide not to fast or  when we decide to overindulge in food of any kind,  

it is in fact an act of reinforcing  our nothingness, of strengthening  

this communion of ours with the nothingness out  of which we have been created, and that is an  

important thing to understand and to remember  again and again, there are countless stories  

in the Ladder of Saint John, in the Desert  Fathers, in any of the Lives of the Saints,  

if you read carefully there are countless stories  about the way in which they related to food they  

cry while they eat, because they perceive  the act of feeding their bodies as an  

act of communing with the death of this world  and they perceive fasting almost like an act of  

walking into the desert leaving the world behind,  because what is the world, this body of ours. What  

is the difference between the world and this body  of ours? This body and the world and the food we  

are eating are all made of the same matter,  are all the same dust, the same nothingness:  

if you understand, if you begin to understand  food and the process, the act of eating  

as communion with our nothingness and a sort of a  building up a wall between us and the image of God  

in which we have been created, then fasting  all of a sudden begins to make spiritual sense;  

if you begin to see food and the act of abstaining  from food as the same thing that a monastic does  

when he or she leaves the world and joins a  monastery in order to leave the world behind,  

if you see fasting as putting  distance between you and the world,  

then fasting will just grow much stronger roots  in you, and once those roots have grown deep down  

in you, then you can have a look at the rules and  then you can start trying to apply those rules,  

because then you really have a chance to follow  them and to benefit from them, but without this  

understanding just looking at the rules and trying  to apply them you are just like a child who sees  

a toy or a boat and wants to go sailing that  very instant: that never, ever ends up well.  

There is a beautiful, spiritually-speaking  a beautiful story about Saint Donnan of  

Eigg---Eigg is one of the so-called Small Isles  not very far from the Isle of Mull---Saint  

Donnan and I think 50-something,  52 or 53 of his monastics  

were attacked on the island in their  monastery by a group of pirates  

and those pirates did not kill them because they  were in Church, they were celebrating Divine  

Liturgy, there is a story that actually claims  that the attack took place on the eve of Pascha,  

so they waited outside for the Saint and the  entire monastery to finish their service,  

once they finished their service  

and after they communed with Christ's Body and  His Blood, Saint Donnan said to his monastics,  

Brothers, let us now go in the trapeza---in  the refectory, you call it in English---so  

that we can die according to our bodies in the  place where we have lived according to our bodies,  

let our bodies turn back to the dust they are made  of in the place where they have fed themselves,  

the bodies with that nothingness,  because as long as we are in church  

receiving and feeding ourselves with  Christ's Body and His Blood eternal  

life is ours and death cannot touch us. I love  this clear distinction, this perfect discernment  

between the need to feed one's body because one's  body is an absolutely necessary and wonderful tool  

in our spiritual struggles, but at the same  time keeping that understanding balanced  

with the awareness and the humility of being  one, our bodies being one with the food  

that they feed with; as long as we feed  ourselves with Christ's Body and His Blood,  

as long as we are in the church where we have fed  the divine image in us, we cannot die; in order  

for us to die we need to go into the refectory, in  the place where we have fed the nothingness in us.

Someone like that would never question the  importance or the necessity of fasting,  

and it's someone like that that I want to  be and I pray that you will become as well.  

The real feast is not to eat but to consume  Christ's body and blood; the real feast  

is not to reinforce our nothingness but  to reinforce the divine image in us;  

the real joy, the real accomplishment is  not to thicken our bodies and our skins---do  

we really need another layer of skin? Because  we have failed the test of another fast, the  

way Adam and Eve have failed the test of fasting  in Eden and they were given their layers of skin:  

the real achievement, spiritual achievement is  not to thicken our bodies and our skins but to  

thicken, to strengthen the divine image in us.  As we fast, we leave behind the world in us;  

as we fast, we weaken the roots  that nothingness has grown in us;  

as we fast, we strengthen the roots  of the divine image in us. Nobody  

questions the need, the necessity of food; this  is not about saying that one has to never eat,  

this is about balancing the necessity of a  body that needs food in order to function  

and what is in fact strengthening a passion,  strengthening the roots of the matter  

of the nothing of that food and of our flesh in  ourselves. Now a real danger and a real problem  

is that especially in the west, even among  Orthodox Christians, there is a very unhealthy  

understanding of our bodies and the worth of  our bodies. There's this false humility that  

makes us think that our bodies somehow are  worthless, that there's no use of them, as if God  

somehow made a mistake when He created us in, in  a body---and this is something I want to address  

in the next video---after we've discussed  that, after we understand, one, what  

is fasting and that is what we've approached  in this video and, two, the important,  

the essential importance of our bodies, the  beautiful, amazing value, worth of our bodies;  

once we have these two understandings,  these two instruments in our possession,  

then we can discuss about the rules of fasting  as well, but for those of you who are impatient,  

and I'm looking at you as you are clicking that  link I have included, a link in the description  

of this video just underneath the video,  the same description where I also tell you  

how you can support this monastery, if you  are so inclined, and if you are able to do  

so, go ahead, just read those rules and let me  know what, what you think of them, what strikes  

you most, what troubles you most and so on, so  that I can then, when I do engage with the rules,  

I can actually engage with them in a way that is  useful practically to you; but please understand  

that first you need to know how to use a boat  before you go out into the ocean. May God bless  

you, dear ones; may God bless you beyond your  wildest, most beautiful hopes. Amen, amen, amen.