Fasting is generally understood as the willing abstinence of food for a period of time and the reasons ranges from religious, health, medical to political. BAITIANGONG fasting is dry fasting for a 24-hour period that normally starts from 7:00pm to 7:00pm of the following day. We fast without food and water during this period. The purpose of BAITIANGONG fasting is mainly spiritual, as fasting will allow BAITIANGONG followers to accumulate positive merits as will be explained below. At the successful completion of fasting, we are allows to donate a certain amount of money to a fasting fund too. In the month October, some BAITIANGONG followers will fast for 72 hours continuously.
24-hour Fasting
The dates for the 24-hour fasting coincides with the 1st and 15th of the Chinese lunar calendar. On these two days, our sun, moon and Earth are in an approximate alignment. Although the popular belief that the combined gravitational pull of the moon and the sun is said to be able to affect our emotion as an adult body weight is mainly water, this argument is still inconclusive. However, most people agreed that on these two days, people are easily irritable. Xian Sheng had deliberated on the myth, the negative effects of the dark moon and various other issues and proposed that we fast on those two days as we are consciously aware of our emotions when we fast and better at controlling and stabilising it.
Generally, everyone can fast for a day without any problems. Children can even fast if they are willing to, but preferably above the age of 10 years old. Those who are sick, taking medication, have just undergone surgery, pregnant or in confinement should seek their doctor’s advice before attempting to fast. We fast after dinner at 7:00 pm as this was the practice of Xian Sheng and most of us adopted it. While the time to start fasting does not have to be at 7:00pm, it is highly encouraged so that everyone that fasted can open fast together at 7:00pm the following day and collectively pray together. It is preferable to break fast by consuming lukewarm water and slowly eating vegetables or fruits instead of immediately swallowing a heavy meal so as not to overburden your digestive system. Foods that are known to be irritating to the system like coffee, alcohol, oily food or spicy food should be avoided during the breaking fast process.
72-hour fasting in the month of October
October is the spiritual month for BAITIANGONG Universal Spiritual Movement as Xian Sheng received the Prayer to pray to the CREATOR on 4th October 1976. Within this month, BAITIANGONG brothers and sisters are encouraged to fast for 72 hours continuously. When GOD first created human, GOD’s consciousness was very close to human’s consciousness to guide human. Human lived a holy life and knelt down when praying to the CREATOR. However as human became more independent and capable over time, GOD’s consciousness slowly departed farther and farther away from human’s consciousness.
The main reason we fast for 72 hours is that we do not want GOD’s consciousness to depart too far away from human’s consciousness. Sadly, as human gained independence and capability, they lost the consciousness of GOD’s existence. Human has forgotten that they once knelt down to pray to GOD. They have forgotten to love GOD by praying to GOD with their mind, body and soul. They have forgotten that there is only one GOD and the multiple gods with human personality or polytheism was made by human. Human are committing more sins by listening to their evil consciousness than their good consciousness. The newspapers, online medias and televisions all over the world are full of news how human cheats, lies, corrupts, steals, rape, bombs or murder their fellow humans. We fast for 72 hours to let GOD know that we are still here on Earth and we want GOD’s consciousness to be closer to us again. If GOD’s consciousness is closer to human, human will follow their good consciousness more and there will be less evil in our world.
The other reason why we fast for 72 hours in the spiritual month is that we want GOD to know that we still remember and know GOD created human, and that there are still human on Earth that fast for 72 hours in this present time. The reason is that after GOD created human, human did not know how to eat and drink for the first 72 hours. It was after the third day that human tasted water and learned to drink when rainwater rolled down into his mouth. Subsequently human learned to eat after smelling cooked meat from animals caught in a forest fire. We re-enact this 72 hours event to let GOD know that we still remember it.
Benefits of fasting
- The most obvious benefit of fasting for a BAITIANGONG follower is the spiritual merits that we can obtain by successfully fasting for 24 hours and donating RM3 to a fasting fund. Presently, the amount to donate has been raised to RM5 as we are no longer able to purchase a minimalistic meal for a day with RM3.
- Our blood sustains our good consciousness. Our blood circulatory system acts as a highway to transport nutrients, oxygen, fuel and other molecules in the blood to every cell in our body. When we fast and consciously practice the 3rd Spiritual Guidelines to Think Good, See Good, Hear Good, Speak Good and Do Good, our blood will be saturated with our good consciousness and subsequently transport our good consciousness to every single cell in our body. As every cell in our body has a mind of its own, the good consciousness will influence our cells to function better and we will be healthier too. Xian Sheng said that our blood can convey our good consciousness from praying to the CREATOR to another person when we donate blood to them. That is why we pray that a good person will get the realisation to pray to the CREATOR, a sick person will get well soon and a bad person will turn good after they get our blood through blood transfusion.
- Practising Think Good, See Good and Hear Good will also help us Speak Good and Do Good, control our emotion and temper tantrums, be on our best behaviour while abstaining from undesirable habits like smoking, speak foul language or cursing others, lying, gossiping, bad manners and etc. As we practice to fast more often, we could eventually change our undesirable habits to becoming a BAITIANGONG follower that literally pray to the CREATOR with our body, as in mind, body and soul.
- Fasting allows us to feel the suffering of those who are not as fortunate as us. When we see people and children starving on television in poverty stricken countries, we are unable to connect with their suffering, as we do not feel what they felt. When we are fasting, the hunger pangs and the great thirst we experience will make us feel more compassionate to their plight and could instil in us a desire to rise up and take action against world hunger. At the very least, we would learn not to waste food from cooking too much or overly ordering food from eateries.
- Building up our resistance to withstand forgoing food and water in event of emergencies. During fasting, Xian Sheng encourages us to perform our normal daily function as usual, instead of lying on bed and counting down to when we can eat and drink again. When we are faced with emergencies like natural catastrophes such as earthquake, floods or etc. those fasted would be able to fare better and help those around them ensuring their own survival as well as others.
- Realise the suffering of roaming souls. Roaming souls are deceased people who forfeit their own life by committing suicide, desiring revenge upon their enemies with their death or those practising occults and worshipping the devil. Their additional punishment would be long periods of suffering on the plane of Earth before they are able to go to hell to suffer for the sins they may have also committed. We feel so relieved when we break fast after a 24-hour or 72-hour fasting, but roaming souls are unable to touch any foods as their suffering is the agony of being denied relief. This is an important realisation to anyone who thinks that committing suicide is a way out of his or her problems. As parents, we should remind our children the sufferings that a roaming soul endures so that they will not consider suicide when the going gets tough, especially with the high rates of teen suicides.
- Sharing BAITIANGONG with family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Xian Sheng taught us to read the BAITIANGONG anniversaries books when we fast to increase our knowledge in BAITIANGONG so that we are able to share them. When we fast at our work place, our colleagues and acquaintances may ask us why we fast and we would have an opportunity to share BAITIANGONG knowledge with them. When we go out with friends on social functions, we would also have the opportunity to share BAITIANGONG knowledge with them. Saving another person’s soul is the best way to gain the highest spiritual merits of all. BAITIANGONG brothers and sisters can also congregate for spiritual discussions when they fast, especially during the 72 hours fasting to increase their spiritual knowledge and understanding as well as motivating each other.
- Fasting helps us to elevate our position in heaven as Xian Sheng specifically told us that the difference between a follower that fast consistently and a follower that fast sparingly is as great as the distance between two stars in the galaxy. Many people think of heaven as a single dimension where there are limitless levels for the souls that passed their examination in life. The reality is that there are limitless dimensions of heavens as limitless as the merits a person could accumulate in life. Therefore, the great distance between the stars demonstrates the importance of fasting to help us gain easy merits in life.
- There is an abundance of Internet articles regarding the health and medical benefits of dry fasting. Below are extracts from their respective website.
- The website tonywideman.com states that dry fasting is a powerful tool used to fight premature ageing, disease and promotes prolonging life and is the reason why animals and human beings lose their appetite when sick. In a dry fast, the body eliminates toxins in different ways than normal. Instead of removing toxins from urine, bowels, kidneys, liver and skin, the body turns each into a high power incinerator. The toxins are burned up inside of each and every cell. The body is able to self-regenerate and self-rejuvenate directed by stem cells. The number of stem cells the body possesses decrease as we age. A newborn baby has one stem cell per 10,000 cells, that ratio in a 50-year old drop to 1 per 500,000 cells. When dry fasting, even more, stem cells are released into the blood than usual, a fact that has been proven scientifically. During dry fasting, the body begins a cleansing process that rids itself of old and sick cells. This creates vacated space in tissues for new stem cells. Stem cells are released into the blood in higher volume, occupying this vacated “space” and promoting regeneration and rejuvenation processes. The regular practice of dry fasting can extend life, youth, and vitality by 15 – 25 years.
- Dr Michael Mosley – author of The Fast Diet books – says studies of intermittent fasting show that not only do people see improvements in blood pressure and their cholesterol levels, but also in their insulin sensitivity.
- Medical News Today reported on a study conducted by Dr Valter Longo and colleagues from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles that found longer periods of fasting – 2-4 days – may even “reboot” the immune system, clearing out old immune cells and regenerating new ones – a process they say could protect against cell damage caused by factors such as aging and chemotherapy.
- Dr Razeen Mahroof of the University of Oxford in the UK, explains that the use of fat for energy can help preserve muscle and reduce cholesterol levels. Since the body is unable to get its energy from food during fasting, it dips into glucose that is stored in the liver and muscles. This begins around 8 hours after the last meal is consumed. “A detoxification process also occurs, because any toxins stored in the body’s fat are dissolved and removed from the body,” he adds, noting that after a few days of fasting, higher levels of endorphins – “feel-good” hormones – are produced in the blood, which can have a positive impact on mental well-being.
Benefits of BAITIANGONG fasting on a global scale
- Political – People who hold authoritative positions in the government especially Ministers are obliged to perform their duties to ensure that citizens benefit from the country’s resources. Xian Sheng stated that the title of Minister earned them certain privileges and benefits, but also carries with it the sins when citizens suffer or dies under their care if they neglect to perform their duties. If politicians practice fasting sincerely and are able to benefit from what is stated above, they will govern fairly by incorporating good spiritual values into their decision-making.
- Economical – Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) estimated that 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted. One-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption is thrown away or lost, as well as the natural resources used for its production. This is a considerable loss considering that our natural resources are scarce, but the human population continually grows at an alarming rate. The Time Newsfeed published an article where scientists warned the world leaders that Earth will run out of food by 2050. Imagine if billions of people practise fasting according to the BAITIANGONG way of fasting and donate the minimum amount of money to charitable organisations, world hunger could be eradicated, the natural resources can be preserved from over production, and Earth would never run out of food.
- Social – After we have fasted for 24 hours, we are entitled to donate RM5.00 to a Fasting Fund to contribute to any charitable organisation during our Anniversary Dinner Celebration. We can donate a maximum of RM5.00 for every 24-hour we fasted. As RM5.00 is the minimum amount in Malaysia that a person can use to buy a meal for the day, everyone regardless of his or her financial capability can afford to donate. This promotes social equality where everyone is equal when it comes to donating to this fund.
- Cultural – Many people have the habit of cooking or ordering more food than they can consume that contributes to the food wastage FAO reported. Sometimes, they want to impress others by ordering all the expensive food on the menu that will likely be wasted. When they practise fasting, they would learn to stop food wastage by being more conscientious when cooking or ordering food and change the culture of wasting food.
- Spiritual – As explained under 72 hours fasting, when we fast for 72 hours, we will be doing our part to show GOD that we remember GOD created human and that GOD’s consciousness was closer to human’s consciousness enabling them to live a holy life in the early days. If sufficient people fast for 72 hours, GOD may grant our wish for GOD’s consciousness to be closer again and human would not be so evil. The Divine Law of Nature is GOD’s consciousness. If GOD’s consciousness was closer to human, the Divine Law of Nature will help human to resist their evil consciousness. People around the world would benefit from GOD’s consciousness closer to us as life would be better when people stop listening to their evil consciousness by rejecting negative traits like greed, lust, envy, hate and etc. Politicians would be more focus on making good decisions to improve the livelihood of their citizens and cooperate in world affairs to create a better world. Businesses would be focus on delivering quality products and services to improve the quality of life. The social ills that are common to a lopsided economy would be alleviated as jobs, education and quality of living is improved.
What are the reasons we should break our fast?
Our 3rd Spiritual Guidelines guides us to Think Good, See Good, Hear Good, Speak Good and Do Good. During fasting, we are reminded more that ever to observe them. However, there may be times when we unintentionally lose emotional control and curse other drivers for overtaking our car recklessly or unable to control our anger and scold others using vulgar language. We should consider breaking our fast and select another day to fast again. Fasting also trains us to refrain from undesirable habits like lying, cheating, bribery or involve in corruption, gambling, buying lottery and also to abstain from sexual urges like indulging in sexual intercourse just for one day. However, if we are unable to abstain from doing them during fasting, we should just consider breaking our fast and try fasting again on another day.
Obligatory fasting
One of the most difficult choices a person can voluntarily do is to fast without food and water for 24 hours. Imagine if someone asks you what you would do for your belief and your answer is that you willingly fast 24 hours without food and water, you would have undoubtedly demonstrated your commitment. Therefore Xian Sheng made it obligatory to fast for at least one day in the Spiritual month of October. If we are unwilling to fast for even one day out of 365 days, we would have to ask ourselves the reason why we are even praying to the CREATOR in the first place.
However, the 24-hour fasting for other months on the 1st and 15th of the Chinese Lunar calendar is not obligatory. Adults are only obliged to fast for one day or 24-hour in the month of October. However, if we voluntarily fast in the other months, we will have plenty of opportunity for us to Do Good and gain positive merits. Fasting is actually a gift from Xian Sheng to us as we could easily accumulate positive merits to balance up the negative actions in our daily lives.
Xian Sheng’s Quotation
“Fasting is for the soul, while knowledge is for the mind and food is for the body.”
FAQ
1. Is it true that BAITIANGONG fasting is the longest when compared to other religions?
The duration of BAITIANGONG fasting is 24 hours. If we fast at the recommended two days in a month and three days in the month of October, the total number of days that a BAITIANGONG follower can fast is 27 days or 648 hours in a year. Do the math yourself in terms of hours.
2. What should you do when you are fasting?
When you are fasting, it is best to read BAITIANGONG Anniversary book in order to increase your spiritual knowledge. When we fast, we should give a thought as to why GOD wanted to create human being. This is very important. When we are fasting, we should also think and continuously think about the good things as everything that GOD created is good. We should not think about the bad things.
3. Why should we think about the good things when we fast?
Your blood do not have to perform any regular task when you are fasting. Therefore, when you continuously think about the good things, the good consciousness will transmit into your physical part of human body as well as into your blood, hence your blood would also become good. Subsequently, when you donate your blood, the good consciousness in your blood will be transmitted to the person that receive our blood. Fasting is not merely for the soul.
4. What are the benefits of fasting?
Physical Benefit: It will burn the body fat and therefore, your blood and blood vessels would remain healthy.
Psychological benefit: As the blood is a living object, it carries the good and bad consciousness. So, when you fast regularly and Think Good, your blood will also become good. Even when the blood is donated to a bad person, your blood will still remain to be good. For instance, if you have donated your blood to a bad person who happens to be a thief, the blood will flow to his brain and it will give him an awakening. The awakening could make him realise that being a thief is wrong. Donating your blood could possibly help the thief to change. In the fasting month of October, when you and the rest of the people collectively fast without food and water and kneel down and pray together, you should also take this opportunity to make any request from GOD.
5. What is the role of blood when you are fasting?
The function of blood is to carry food and distribute it. If the blood is not required to carry and distribute any food, it will carry and distribute the good consciousness to all parts of your body. If you fast and donate your blood, a thief who receives the good consciousness in your blood may be able to change himself to become a good person. Therefore, a bad person will eventually become a good person.
6. In this spiritual month of October, can you fast more than 5 times?
For those people who wanted to increase their positive points so that their sins are lessen, they can fast more than 5 times. When they fast more days, they can pray more often and they can also donate more money. Whatever it is, the most important is to adhere to the minimal of 24 hours obligatory fasting.
7. If a person is lying, how do you change him?
When you are fasting, you have to ask yourself the purpose of fasting. You have to ask yourself whether you have done anything wrong. If that is so, you need to fast to ask GOD for forgiveness, but you must change after the fasting is over. The word is ‘Change’. If after the fasting and you have not change, it will be useless and purposeless. After you change yourself, you also need to change other people. You need to change the others in order to get more people to pray to the CREATOR. You have to preach in order to see these changes. Fasting has many objectives if we take advantage of it.
8. What is the importance of Fasting?
If you are fasting and praying to the CREATOR, you must not think of anything except the existence of the CREATOR. You should pray to the CREATOR just like how you pray every day and night. You can also make special request when praying. You can also pray to the CREATOR for BAITIANGONG followers to be more knowledgeable. At the same time, you should pray the CREATOR for the growth of the BAITIANGONG Movement. It is important to make special request from GOD when you are fasting.
9. Would you commit sins for having sexual relationship when you are fasting?
You would not commit any sin if you have sexual relationship when you are fasting. However, your fasting would be wasted. If you desire for sexual relationship, then please do not fast. You do not sin, but you have not gain your spiritual points. You choose to fast because you want to increase your spiritual points.
When you are fasting, you should distinguish between Human’s love to GOD and Human’s love to another human. For those who desire to have sex during fasting, it shows that your love to human is more than your love to GOD. When you fast, it is the food for the soul. Therefore, you should not desire to have sex and should forgo what human desires and give your love to GOD.
10. What do you think and what do you do when you are fasting?
Whatever it is, when you are fasting, you must only think of one thing. You need to think about the existence of GOD and that you really appreciate GOD for HIS creation. You have to think about something that is beautiful. Although sex is something which is beautiful, it is a different kind of beauty because it is full of temptation to human. You must think of something beautiful that does not tempt human. You want something which is beautiful and harmony. You have to think about GOD’s creation for human. Then, you have to think of thanking GOD. When you are fasting, you have to think about seeing the stars, the moon and you really have to think about it. When you fast and you kneel down, you pray and request from GOD. It is another matter whether or not your request is being granted.
11. How do we get closer to GOD?
When you fast, you are closer to GOD, so it is important to let GOD know that you are still alive here. When GOD first created human, GOD is closer to human. Until such time when human has it own initiative and ability, GOD gradually leave us. Fasting is to let GOD know that human still exist in this world. Human started off without the knowledge to eat food and drink water, but when they started to eat and drink, human became natural. Today, BAITIANGONG followers fast to remind and request GOD not to leave us too far away. The 72-hour fast is to let you know that you are the closest to GOD.
12. Why should we fast for 72 hours without food and water in month of October?
In the spiritual month of October, we have to be closely associated with GOD. It is to let GOD know that we know that when GOD created human in the beginning, for the first 72 hours, human do not know about the need for food and water. This is to let GOD know that we, the human that do not eat for 72 hours still exist here in this era. Actually, GOD knows of our existence, but for all the intent and purpose, it is for us to request for GOD’s consciousness not to depart too far away from human. If GOD’s consciousness is close to human, human would not be so evil. The Divine Law of Nature is part of GOD’s consciousness; and if a person wants to do evil, the Divine Law of Nature will automatically give that person the consciousness not to do evil and suddenly, that person would not do the evil deed.
Therefore, we fasted for 72 hours without food and water in order for GOD to reminisce about the beginning of GOD’s creation. What was the beginning of GOD’s creation? When GOD first created human, human did not know how to eat until 72 hours later when rain dripped into the human’s mouth and human learn to drink, and eventually learn how to eat too. Until to-date, human eat anything edible such as meats, vegetables and etc.