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1. FASTING IN HISTORY Fasting is not something new either to human beings or to animals. Human as well as animal will fast when they are in the times of stress or illness, even at the slightest uneasiness. The early great philosophers and thinkers, such as Hippocrates (460 BC – 370 BC), Plato (428 BC-348 BC), Socrates (470 BC – 399 BC), Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), and Galen (131 CE – 201 CE) used fasting for health and therapy, and praised the benefit of fasting. Paracelsus (1493-1541), one of the fathers of Western Medicine said, "Fasting is the greatest remedy--the physician within." Fasting in the early religious and spiritual communities was a part of ceremonies and rites. Traditionally it was associated with a period of quiescence, namely, being at rest, where most of physical activities were suspended, and probably symbolically associated with birth. In ancient times people traditionally fasted at the vernal (spring) equinox (namely, time of the year at which the sun crosses the equator and when day and night are of equal length), around 20 March, as well as at the autumnal (fall) equinox, around 22 September. These fasts were believed to increase fertility of the land and the human body for reproduction. Among American Indians they fasted to avert disasters, such as flood, drought, war, earthquake, etc, and as penance for their sin. Fasting has been a religious practice since the beginning of recorded history. Its purpose is to purify the soul and to prepare for receiving atonement of sins. It is still being practiced by Roman and Orthodox Catholics, some Protestant sects (such as Episcopalians and Lutherans), Tibetan Buddhists, American Indians, Jews, and Muslims. Today it is practiced for various spiritual benefits, such as purification of the soul, spiritual vision, mourning, penance or sacrifice, as well as to break the habit of gluttony (eating too much). In 1920 the Indian Yogi and Guru Paramahansa Yogananda (5 January 1893 – 7 March 1952) who founded a worldwide spiritual organization called Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) based at Mount Washington, California, Los Angeles, said: "Fasting is a natural