Lenten Fasting: On Pilgrimage to Becoming a Divine Human Being

Mar 20, 2022 12:00PM—2:00PM

Location

ONLINE: Pacific Time

Cost $240

Event Contact Lelan Harris | Email

Categories , , ,

FACILITATED BY LELAN HARRIS: Six Group Conversations from March 6 through April 10

Registration will remain open for this course through Sunday, March 20.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is an advanced course.

Lenten Fasting focuses primarily on the soul and spirit aspects of the fasting disciplines.  It will not include introductory training on the essential and practical body (physiology) foundations of fasting.

The prerequisite for participation in this Lenten Fasting course is either (A) the Wise Cosmos course Extended Fasting for the Healing and Metamorphosis of Body, Soul, and Spirit offered during Advent 2021 (and coming again during Advent 2022); or (B) previous successful achievement of at least one major fasting experience.

WEEKLY GROUP SESSIONS

Registration includes the opportunity to participate in six live online Zoom group sessions, plus permanent access to the video recordings of all sessions.

The live sessions will be offered on each of the six Sundays and/or Mondays of Lent depending upon your time zone.

Each session will be 2 hours in length.

On Sunday, March 6, the live Zoom sessions will be offered from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM Pacific STANDARD Time (UTC -8).

On the Sundays of March 13, 20, 27 and April 3, 10 the live Zoom sessions will be offered from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM Pacific DAYLIGHT Time (UTC -7).

You may participate through any combination of live Zoom sessions and/or by watching the video replays.  Each of the video replays will be made available on WiseCosmos.org within 24 hours, barring unforeseen hindrances.

Registration also includes access to a private Facebook group for broader dialogue and deeper discovery.

COST:  $240

Why fast during Lent?

It is an ancient tradition to prepare for the Easter festival through (1) fasting, (2) deepened meditation and prayer, and (3) the practice of assisting and serving the poor through the generous giving of alms or donating food.  The practice of these disciplines was formalized during the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, with evidence that they go back to apostolic times.

Yet the roots of these three united disciplines go back even further in time.  They were intimately connected in ancient Judaism before the incarnation of Christ.  Fundamentally, the weaving unity of these three disciplines is that the time and money that would otherwise have been utilized for preparing and eating food was invested instead in prayer (time) and gifts to the poor (money).

Lent is uniquely designed to support a particular form of medium-length intermittent fasting practice.

There are 40 days in Lent . . . across a 46-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Maundy Thursday.  The days of Lent are Monday through Saturday.  Sundays are not included in the 40-day count.

Therefore, one possible fasting practice for Lent is to abstain from food Monday through Saturday for a cumulative total of 40 days, interspersed with eating lightly and very nutritiously as part of celebrating each Sunday (Sun-Day).  The Sun represents Christ, who is the Light of the World.

The 40 Lenten fasting days (Mondays through Saturdays) help prepare us for Holy Week, which culminates in Christ washing the feet of the disciples, Passover, and the sacrificial death and burial of Christ.  The 6 Lenten celebration days (Sundays) prepare us for the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday.

This is not the only way to fast during Lent, but it is certainly one of the classic forms.  The bread & water fast (eating only whole multigrain bread) and the Daniel fast (eating only vegetables) are two other classic Lenten forms.