FASTING ON THE MONTH OF RAMADAN: Exercise for the Will

In "Matrix Revolutions" Neo visits the Oracle for the 3rd time and is told by her that the purpose of "The
Architect" (ie, 'builder of containers') is to BALANCE THE EQUATION. When Neo asks her what her
purpose is she replies "TO UNBALANCE IT!"
It is a commonly-believed fallacy that exercise in and of itself improves our physical condition. The truth
is lifting weights does NOT make our muscles bigger. Running does NOT improve our endurance. The
truth is strenuous exercise BREAKS DOWN the body. The truth is exercise is a systematic, controlled
manner of DESTROYING the body to PREPARE IT TO BE REMADE into the likeness of our choosing.
It is RECOVERY (proper food and sleep) that actually rebuilds the body to accommodate the stress of
exercise, according to the specifications set by the exercise and our intended objectives. Absolutely
necessary to achieving our goals and accessing the benefits of the endeavor is developing a LOVE FOR
THE PROCESS, and avoiding a LUST FOR THE END RESULT. The barrier that comfort/stability in our
present state becomes is our own carnal nature/ego fighting to protect its rule over your slumbering True
Self and its influence over your body. Here we find a wonderfully applicable parallel in the Biblical teaching
on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus; our old body must disintegrate (death), and while the dead
body rests (burial) the elixir, the essential building blocks for the body from our food is fully
assimilated/applied to the remnants of the old body, made malleable and workable from the exercise to
rebuild the body into a NEW body that is more resistant to the stressors of the exercise.
Such is the same with fasting, for fasting is for the mind as physical exercise is for the body.
Oversimplifying, fasting is active exercise of our WILL, and in strengthening it, using it to bring the body
in tune to the now-strengthened will. Fasting first acts as a means of breaking the ties that bind our mind to
murky ethers of the carnal nature; pushing past the barriers that the ego provides to keep us comfortable
and complacent (ie, STAGNANT AND RETARDED). It breaks down the solid egoistic notion that the
mind exists to serve the carnal self, and then remolds it and trains it to suit its proper purpose; to accurately
deliver messages to the True Self from the realm of experiences. We must drag ourselves, kicking and
screaming, to the bodily realization that the mind does not exist in the physical world, but influences it
directly through our bodies. Think on this: the brain needs oxygen; the mind does not, which calls to mind
the character Morpheus asking Neo while inside the Matrix training program do you think thats air

youre breathing? The mind is not confined to the body therefore it is not dependent ON the body. Instead
of confining the will to the sluggish vibration of mass mediocrity, the practice of fasting invites us to
increase the strength of our will and thereby raise the flesh from a horizontal state of sluggishness to the
perpendicular of Vitality.
Ramadan Mubarak!