"The goal of fasting is inner unity. This means hearing, but not with the ear; hearing, but not with the

understanding; it is hearing with the spirit, with your whole being. The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another, but the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty, to the ear, or to the mind. Hence, it demands the emptiness

of the faculties, and when the faculties are empty, then your whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind. Fasting of the heart empties the faculties, frees you from limitations

and from preoccupations."

--Fr. Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

"Through fasting, let your mind depend on its own power. When that power manifests, the life force in the body becomes increasingly reinforced with the eternal energy continually flowing into the brain and spine from the cosmic energy around the body, entering through the medulla. Becoming detached from dependence on outer, physical sources of bodily sustenance, the life force sees that it is being supported from within, and wonders how this is so. The mind then says: 'The solids on which the body used to depend are nothing more than gross condensations of energy. You are pure energy, and you are pure consciousness.' Then, whatever command the mind impinges in the consciousness of the life force, it will manifest accordingly."

--Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952)