My wife told me a sweet story about her grandfather (may Allah be kind to him).
He lived in a rural area in Morocco and was known for spending much of the day walking around the farm with a tasbih (prayer beads) in his had, bringing Allah to mind and attending to the land in between his prayers.
Sometimes he would join the women and children in the living room, enjoying the chit chat. But every now and then one of the women would look up and say, “wait, where did uncle go…?”
Then, with a gasp a sudden realisation would occur to the group.
The conversation had dissolved into gossip and mentioning others’ faults, so like the Jedi Master that I imagine him to have been… he vanished. He would never be around or within earshot when the tone of conversation dropped.
This is a perfect example of how to do the 2nd ‘advanced’ fasting technique that al-Ghazali (ra) talks about in the ‘Book of the secrets of Fasting’: to fast with one’s ears.
Essentially, anything forbidden to say is equally forbidden to listen to. We have less control over what we hear… but more than we often think we do.
We’re choosing to watch the TV debate that is inevitably going to be reduced to a childish argument, or watch the movie filled with vulgar language, or engage with the person that only seems to know how to talk about other people’s faults.
But we can just as easily choose not to. At least not while we’re fasting.
A highly conscious fasting practice implies being in the company of highly conscious, positive people who are always looking for the good in others, and avoid speaking or listening to people who have a different agenda.
Try it out for a couple of days and notice what a difference it makes to your spiritual connection to consciously choose what you let in your auditory environment.
By the way, you want to know what the highest vibe thing you can possibly listen to when you’re fasting is…?
The Quran, beautifully recited.
If you struggle to read it in Arabic, I recommend simply listening to it.
There’s nothing better in this world.
You might even try listening to a beautiful recitation while simultaneously reading the English translation – if you know a bit of Arabic, or use an app, doing this can be quite enlightening. You get the high-vibe healing of the audio and you can glimpse some of the meaning and gain personal insight, with a good translation.
Anyway, if you want to express yourself honestly, be listened to deeply and completely non-judgementally, all in the context of a transformative conversation that’s designed to upgrade your level of consciousness, I have a couple of spaces open for coaching.
To apply for a “Session” with me, the first step is to sign up for the Switch Masterclass and watch it carefully:
