Mental Fasting

Ramadan is nearing. Traditionally, the fasting during this month is perceived in terms of eating and spirituality. Not negating these interpretations, I think we need to do a mental fasting, as well, in order to develop a better understanding of where we are, how we came here and where we are headed.

In scientific studies, fasting is proven to enhance "garbage cleaning and recycling" in the cells. Even cancerous cell elimination becomes more efficient with fasting. Extreme hunger towards the evening triggers mechanisms in the brain similar to the fight-or-flight, but for a longer duration, so that new connections are established between the brain cells, improving perception.

If we project this biological concept to mental realms, we see a confirmation of what has been taught in the ancient philosophies. Staying away from the daily chores and from the stream of irrelevant news, you can clean from your memory what is not necessary and better see what is necessary.  Knowing that memory is not a particular compartment of the brain but rather a network of cells distributed all around the brain, you can realize that the mental cleaning can eliminate extra burdens from your brain in general. Remember, "neurons that wire together fire together, and neurons that fire together wire together". So, blocking some of these due to information surge automatically disrupts the performance of other functions undertaken by them.

Then let's think about the ocean of information that is deluging our brains: local news, national news, international news, politics, sports, arts, work, family, new products, children, social media, online videos, etc. If you think about these, you will quickly see that these can be categorized according to the famous "urgent/non-urgent and essential/non-essential" criteria. Some of them need daily follow-up, whereas some other need weekly or even monthly. Their really tangible impacts on our lives are also over a wide span. But treating them all as urgent and essential lessens our ability to fulfill the requirements of the really urgent and essentials. In this regard, making a categorization and acting accordingly, furthermore, reducing the size of our "non-urgent + non-essential" box, we can revitalize our memory and other brain functions.

Let's take this concept one step further. Your brain is the communication device between you and your Creator. Yes, in the common culture, due to its intangible nature, communication with God is allocated to "the heart", but Quran clearly tells that this notion is actually a function of the brain (thinking heart, e.g. 7/179, 47/24), which agrees with the modern findings about the brain. So, just like your occupation with the social media, business affairs, current events, etc. interfere with your relationship with your family and others around you, the same things interfere with your communication with your Creator, too.

From scientific studies, we know that such choking level of submerging in the immediate things around you take a toll on your ability to be patient, to see the big picture, to memorize and to learn. The way to alleviate these side effects, your brain needs to be relieved of useless burdens, i.e. mental fasting. By the same token, you can sharpen your ears towards what your Lord is telling you through mental fasting. By stopping the information bombardment in the daily life, you can silence the non-essentials. Then you can open your ears towards your Lord and hear what used to get lost in the noise. With this fresh hearing ability, you can read nature and the universe, they can become friends with you or teachers for you, as they are signs/verses of God. With your enhanced hearing and perception, you can also read and understand the Quran anew. Having acquired the power of the Quran, you can time-travel, and establish a unique connection with the last messenger of God, as if you were living in his time.