Fasting and Discipline
Comparing fasting in the Bible with moral discipline (持戒, śīla) in Buddhist sutras. Exploring the meaning of spiritual growth through bodily restraint and the practice of precepts.
The Purpose of Abstinence
Bible
Ὅταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταὶ σκυθρωποί· ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὅπως φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες
“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face.”
Sutra
諸惡莫作，衆善奉行，自淨其意，是諸佛教
“Commit no evil, do every good, and purify your own mind — this is the teaching of all Buddhas.”
True Fasting
Bible
הֲלוֹא זֶה צוֹם אֶבְחָרֵהוּ פַּתֵּחַ חַרְצֻבּוֹת רֶשַׁע הַתֵּר אֲגֻדּוֹת מוֹטָה וְשַׁלַּח רְצוּצִים חָפְשִׁים וְכָל־מוֹטָה תְּנַתֵּקוּ
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?”
Sutra
若佛子，以慈心故，行放生業。一切男子是我父，一切女人是我母
“O sons of the Buddha, out of compassion, practice the work of releasing living beings. All men are my father; all women are my mother.”
Disciplining Body and Mind
Bible
ἀλλὰ ὑπωπιάζω μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγῶ, μή πως ἄλλοις κηρύξας αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένωμαι
“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
Sutra
攝心為戒，因戒生定，因定發慧，是則名為三無漏學
“Gathering the mind is precept (śīla); from precept arises concentration (samādhi); from concentration wisdom (prajñā) emerges — this is called the Three Flawless Trainings.”