TAOISM | The Fasting of the Heart

You hear not with the ears, but with the mind; not with the mind, but with your soul. Confucius.

In psychology, as well as popular culture, we see the emerging of different types of detox. The dopamine detox, for example, also called the ‘dopamine fast’ is currently presented as a way to “reset” our brain’s reward system by abstaining from all kinds of activities that bring pleasure. This serves different purposes. One of them is increasing our motivation, as our brain learns that pleasure isn’t so easily available anymore, so it becomes more willing to take an effort to obtain it.

Another purpose is working with our addictions, as abstaining for a period of time weakens the relationship we have with things we’re addicted to, so the problem becomes easier to handle. Hence, the method of Alcoholics Anonymous is based on abstinence. The idea of detoxing ourselves from outside influences isn’t new. The ancient Taoists acknowledged the value of letting our minds rest, so we stop the exhausting maelstrom of judging, identifying, analyzing, fantasizing, et cetera.

According to the Taoists, silencing our faculties for a while not only replenishes our energy; it also brings us closer to a mysterious and incomprehensible force referred to as ‘Tao’. The ‘fasting of the heart’ entails a temporary abstinence from intellectual as well as sensual activity. This concept isn’t just about detoxing the mind; it’s about detoxing the soul, by shutting down the mind and the senses.

This video explores the ‘fasting of the heart’. The term ‘fasting of the heart’ is coined in an ancient Taoist text called the Zhuangzi, in which Confucius has a conversation with one of his pupils: Yen Hui. Yen Hui wanted to travel to the kingdom of Wei and bring about change by using his knowledge and wisdom. Confucius criticized Yen Hui’s plans for being a bit too ‘ego-driven’, as no one is waiting for a know-it-all that enters the kingdom and starts telling people how to live.

When Yen Hui asked what he should you then, Confucius advised him to start fasting. Yen Hui then replied: “My family is poor, and for many months we have tasted neither wine nor flesh. Is not that fasting?” “The fasting of religious observance it is,” answered Confucius, “but not the fasting of the heart.”

For a Westerner, the heart has a different meaning than for a Chinese person. The word ‘heart’, in this context, is translated from the Chinese word ‘Xin’ (心), which could be translated as ‘mind’, because the ancient Chinese believed that the heart was the center of human cognition. Thus, the ‘fasting of the heart’ is actually the ‘fasting of the mind’.

Confucius explained it by saying that it ‘cultivates unity’, by curbing the senses and the workings of the mind. Or as he states: “You hear not with the ears, but with the mind; not with the mind, but with your soul.” To understand what Confucius meant by ‘cultivating unity’, we must understand a metaphysical concept that the Taoists call Tao.

The Tao is an all-encompassing force that cannot be intellectually understood. Nonetheless, it’s eternal; it’s everywhere; it’s boundless and endless. We cannot recognize it with our senses, nor can it be explained with words. But we can feel it. Because our mind cannot know the Tao, and our five senses cannot perceive it, the only way to get closer to the Tao is by stopping the mind and senses, so there’s nothing left to disturb the connection we have with it.

So, it’s a subtractive process, a way of letting go, in order to unite with the Tao and experience oneness with the universe. So, it’s the abundance of thought and sensory activity that prevents our soul from what Confucius called ‘cultivating unity’. Even if the idea of Tao doesn’t appeal to us, we can still benefit from the fasting of the heart, as it’s an ultimate detox of everything that disturbs our being (or should we say our non-being).

This helps us to achieve what so many people try to achieve through sensual pleasure: inner...