Nirjalopavasa: A Great WAY to start anew

Important note: Each human being possesses a unique physiology. Under certain conditions, such as kidney disease or some other diseases like stomach ills, nirjalopavasa (fasting without water) can be dangerous and have adverse effects. Consult your seniors or doctors about it.

I dedicate this article to my dear brother Satvabrahman. He instructed me in spiritual life since the day I met him. I learned all from him. I'm so glad to know him.

Fasting or nirjalopavasa. Which term represents better the core of this practice?

Lets delve into the roots of these two words. Firstly, what is the meaning of the word "nirjalopavasa"? "Nirjala" means "without water" and "Upavasa" means "living near God". In the other side, the word "fasting" has it's roots in the Old English verb "fæstan", and means "Abstaining from food".

 Even though while practicing nirjalopavasa we abstain from food and liquids, that's not all there is about it, nirjalopavasa is something that goes beyond physical tapas. It is crucially a psychic-spiritual endeavour where the aspirant decides awarely to not eat any solid nor drink any liquid. In its symbolism resides a blissful treasure, a hidden jewel. Think about it, on the fasting day the aspirant proof himself to be above material world, he lives out of the soul, he needs no physical food to maintain his physical existence while doing it, he lives merely out of the Divine Source. The practice of nirjalopavasa reminds us that a human existence is not only nourished by physical aliments but by spiritual ones as well. And what is this so-called spiritual food? It is our connection with God. Nirjalopavasa strengthens the bridge that connects our tiny souls with the Giant Soul, with Paramatman.

Bearing in mind the before-mentioned we can say, that, sounds insulting to reduce the high standard of the practice of nirjalopavasa by merely calling it as "fasting". The approach is totally different. In fasting we abstain from food, that is, physical (and psychic tapas to some extent), but there is not an iota of spiritual penance practice in it. In nirjalopavasa we raise above mundane existence, we connect with our highest nature.

Note: meanwhile we all know that nirjalopavasa has positive effects on our three layers such as physical, psychical and spiritual, this article advocates to raise an awareness about the spiritual benefits of practicing it.

When is it the best time to practice nirjalopavasa? Moon can drive you mad

Well, that is a big question, and it deserves a big answer. It should be practiced on very specific days. Okay, we know that by strict deep yogic knowledge that It should be practiced 4 times per month if health allows it. But... how to select the days that it should be practiced on? Here comes the magic! Before going any further let me tell you that yogic scriptures also says that the moon has a tremendous impact in the human psyche. Human body is more or less 70% water, and we all know that moon controls water and gases as a magician control his cards. And... humans are not the exception! Moon makes the liquids and gases of the human body moves upwards and, in that way, highly affects the different cakras (nerve centers) of our body. Yogis discovered that if we do nirjalopavasa on specific lunar calendar days we can avoid the negative effect of the moon in our cakras. These specific lunar calendar days are: full moon, new moon, eleven days after full moon and eleven days after new moon (more or less). By doing fasting on these days we cover all bases: firstly, we purificate our bodies, mind and spirit. Secondly, we dodge the negative effects of the moon! What a whole package, isn't it?

Important note: cakras store all the propensities of the human mind. Moon affects us by making different kinds of pressure with liquids and gases over our nerve centres, in this way, negative propensities such as uncontrolled lust, argumentativeness, sadness, anguish or etc. can pop up in your mind. Stand above it, with the help of nirjalopavasa.

Deepful benefits...

The perks of practicing nirjalopavasa are of a deep nature. To start enumerating them, it cleanses our brain, mind, body, our organs, blood, nerves, everything. As life cannot grows in a poisonous environment, love for God cannot grows out of a neglected and contaminated body. Just to clarify it, even though you can be leading a satvika diet your body still generates waste inside yourself, that's why you go to bathroom everyday, nevertheless, some of this waste remains in our body, and nirjalopavasa cleanses it out completely. At the mental level it will make you feel as a new being, a reborn one... as a new person, starting all over again, in a purer way. If you are trapped in harmful ways of living, nirjalopavasa will help you to enhance positivity and gain some strength to stand up and walk again the road that you know it leads to unlimited happiness. At the spiritual level, it will connect yourself with your Highest Nature, with your Creator... The only reason behind our tapah (sacrifice) should be (as much as possible) to strengthen our relationship with that Supreme Being that resides in each human heart. Nirjalopavasa will give you an incredible will power. Yogic knowledge guide us about it is the actions who establish the superiority of someone.. There is an old saying in yogic scriptures which says "tongue is the mother of all indriyas, and he who control the tongue control easily all the indriyas". In our age, food has lose it's real purpose, to maintain our physical existence. Now people eats for the sake of pleasure, getting themselves in deep health troubles, nirjalopavasa will raise you above the common folk, it will convert yourself into a super human being. It will help you to in your way to convert yourself into a pure being that it has trascended this quinquelemental world, concentrating himself, all above, in the nucleus of his soul.

My personal experience & some motivation for your personal journey

It's been almost 6 years practicing 4 fasting days per month (sometimes 5 times). The scriptures says that we should make our nature out of dharma. Dharma is composed of many different practices that purify ourselves at different levels. After all these years, nirjalopavasa has become a part of me and now I cannot live without it. I am always looking at the lunar calendar waiting for the day to come, and sometimes happens that my body starts to feel the day of nirjalopavasa is coming independently of looking at the lunar calendar or not, I have become more sensitive to the moon influence. I really like the feeling of being completely free from cooking and eating on those days. I like the natural feeling of self-reflection that emerges from this practice. I used to have many skin diseases and go to the hospitals each week, I almost die from a skin infection in 2019. Since I started the yogic way of living, that includes nirjalopavasa, I never visited a hospital again.

This practice gives our body a lot of rest. Think about it in this way: a year has 48 nirjalopavasa days. That is 48 days without eating! unbelievable. And the cherry at the top is the fact that in (approximately) 7.6 years of your human existence doing this practice will equal to 1 year, completely, without eating. How much rest to your body!!!


In His service,

Your brother, a simple human like you