num_pages: 159
description: This book gives an account of Abdullah's striving from the unconscious to the conscious. It describes his early struggle and influences, his contact with Gurdjieff's teaching and eventual initiation as a Naqshbandi Sufi. In 1974 Abdullah undertook a forty-day fast on water alone while travelling in India and Afghanistan. The unfolding of this discipline is narrated as a day-to-day record. The book concludes with an objective account of the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage .Excerpts from book  From 'Day 20'Today, halfway through the fast, Neil felt very well. He was not hungry, thus showing that when one fasts for God one is given other food on a very fine vibration. (p. 74)From 'Day 31' At the pupil's level of development, what are the effects of a fast over several days, apart from working against the body? It all depends on the degree of development. All fasts must help to make the body obedient, but they won't necessarily have the same effect spiritually for everyone. The key is motive. If you have the correct motive for the fast, then in the end the correct result will accrue. Many people do fasts out of vanity, pride etc. and as such these fasts only build the ego. The attitude to adopt, at first intellectually or emotionally, then spiritually, is that the fast is for God. (p. 90)
language: English
title: 40 Days: An account of a discipline
titlecomplete: 40 Days: An account of a discipline
ratings_count: 2
publisher: Gnostic Press : [Distributed by Luzac]