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Food, Fasting and Spiritual Development · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  It is tempting for a spiritual seeker to undertake some form of
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  extreme fasting. The practice of fasting has been
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  used since time immemorial all around the world to increase the
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  vital force by reducing the drag of the physical body and its
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  operations around acquiring, preparing, eating and digesting
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  food. Additionally, extreme fasting
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  has been reported to help the seeker achieve various altered
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  states of awareness in what has been called a vision quest.
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  In certain traditions, fasting has also been used as a
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  mechanism to interfere with the vital desire or craving for food
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  or specific tastes. And it has been used by many
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  traditions as a means of fixing the attention on the spiritual
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  process and having the seeker learn how to rely on the Divine
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  for his sustenance by whatever comes into the begging bowl that
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  day during the time prescribed by the path for seeking
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  nourishment for the body. At the same time, there are
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  limitations to the use of fasting and the imbalances it
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  can create in the physical body, which, after all, is
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  foundational for the life on earth and should be properly
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  attended to in order to provide a solid support for the
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  spiritual development. It should be noted that the
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  Titiria Upanishad makes numerous references to the role that food
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  plays in the spiritual practitioner.
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  Sadhna quote. Verily, all sorts and races of
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  creatures that have their refuge upon earth are begotten from
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  food. Thereafter they live also by
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  food, and tis to food again, that they return at the end and
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  last. For food is the eldest of
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  created things, and therefore they name it the green stuff of
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  the universe. Verily, they who worship the
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  Eternal as food attain the mastery of food to the
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  uttermost. For food all creatures are born,
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  and being born they increase by food.
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  And thou shalt not blame food, for that is thy commandment unto
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  labor. Thou shalt not reject food, for
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  that too is the vow of thy labor.
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  Thou shalt increase and amass food, for that too is thy
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  commandment unto labor. End Quote.
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  Translated by Sri Aurobindo the Upanishads.
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  Excerpted from Brahmanandavali and Briguvali.
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  There are numerous further references that make it clear
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  that food is both the physical substance and at various levels
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  of the being, the life energy, the other vibrational energies
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  that sustain and support our overall being in all its parts.
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  There may be benefits to short term fasting on occasion.
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  Recent nutritional science shows that refraining from eating for
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  a certain number of hours in a day can be a positive benefit to
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  the body. This is not the same as long
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  term or extreme fasting, which tends eventually to weaken the
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  body, reduce its substance and strength for most individuals.
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  It is of course possible that certain individuals have found a
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  way to nourish the body without intake of much food.
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  Yet that does not answer the general situation.
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  Paramount's Yogananda in his Autobiography of Yogi reports
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  meeting such an individual. Until and unless an individual
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  can make a transition to a method that supports and
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  strengthens the physical body without the need of physical
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  food intake, the seeker should work to find a suitable balance
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  that avoids the extremes and provides the body what it needs
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  without awakening greed for food, desire or craving.
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  Sri or open to observes quote. The idea of giving up food is a
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  wrong inspiration. You can go on with a small
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  quantity of food, but not without food altogether, except
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  for a comparatively short time. Remember what the Gita says.
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  Quote. Yoga is not for one who eats in
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  excess, nor for one who abstains from eating all together.
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  End Quote Vital energy is one thing of that one can draw a
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  great amount without food, and often it increases with fasting,
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  but physical substance without which life loses its support is
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  of a different order. End Quote Reference Sri
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  Aurobindo Bases of Yoga Chapter 4 Desire food sex page 67.