Upa
Samskrta has twenty recognized prefixes. Upa is one of them, and it means proximity.
Melbourne
Fasting / Upavāsa
These dates come from the mission tithi calculator for Melbourne. The marked day is the date the tithi lasts longer. The calendar moves on with the month, through 2052.
Samskrta
To live near the Lord
Fastings are called upavāsa in Samskrta. The English word fasting does not carry the proper sense of these days. Going without food is anashana. Ana means not, and ashana means eating. Ekadashi, Amavasya, and Purnima are days of upavāsa.
Vasa
To live. To reside.
Upavasa
The two parts together mean to live near the Lord.
On these days, spiritual aspirants are to live mentally near the Lord. On all other days they remain balanced between objective adjustment and subjective approach. On upavāsa they stay in closer proximity to the Lord than to mundane duties. That is why these days are known as upavāsa.
Procedure for fasting
Voluntary fasting on these days is called upavāsa: to remain near Iishvara, with the mind absorbed in the thought of Iishvara. Those who have received initiation into Ananda Marga Iishvara Pranidhana must fast on every Ekadashi, the eleventh day after the new moon or the full moon. That fast is compulsory. Sannyasis and renunciates must also fast on every Purnima and every Amavasya.
-
1
No food is eaten from sunrise until the next sunrise.
-
2
On a fast day, water is not taken.
-
3
If the prescribed day cannot be kept, the fast moves to the day before or the day after.
-
4
During illness the fast is not required. Written permission is obtained from the Dharma Pracara Secretary of the Samgha.
Near the moon
On and around the new moon and the full moon, the gaseous and aqueous factors in the body can rise into the head and chest and feel uncomfortable. Leaving food aside draws those factors down from the higher parts of the body to the lower parts.
For sadhana
Food is changed into its final essence, shukra. Shukra feeds the brain, and from it come the ectoplasmic particles of the unit mind. A fast kept in this way keeps extra shukra from stirring the lower vrttis, and leads the mind toward the higher vrttis. Poisonous waste the body does not need is cleared and expelled. Energy spared from digestion is free for other work, so a fast day is an excellent time for sadhana.
Reverend Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji