One is absolutely sickened, not by crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted; and a community is infinitely more brutalised by the habitual employment of punishment than it is by the occasional occurrence of crime.
A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe. “The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation.”
The present moment is indeed a ‘present’ from the Divine… Life as it is happening now, learn to appreciate it, rejoice in it.
Fasting in the monastic community is considered an ascetic practice, a “dhutanga” practice. Dhutanga means “to shake up” or “invigoration”. The Buddha, as is well known, emphasized moderation, the Middle Way that avoids extremes, in all things. Fasting is an additional method that one can take up, with supervision, for a time.
