Abstention

This talk is a distilled presentation on the meanings of abstention and restrictions as a process for awakening to truth and higher consciousness with special focus on the Islamic path. It is an accompaniment to another discourse in this series titled ‘Fasting as means to Improving Conduct.’ The Speaker reflects on the core issues centered around the dynamics of abstraction from the senses and the material world as a means of enhancing sensitivity of mind, body and ultimately as a purification of the heart. The layers of fasting are explored as per the prophetic injunctions as the basis required for recognizing and turning away from the impermanent in order to recognize and experience the presence and perfection of the real. The relation between restrictions and worship is presented with further explications on the nature of the path as means of aligning with the various fundamental laws and patterns of life, with special focus regarding abstention and expansion and the courtesies of moving along this arc experientially as per the Qur’anic indications and key prophetic traditions as means to experience, worship and live by the essence.