The goal of fasting is inner unity. This means hearing but not with the ear; but not with the understanding; it is hearing with the spirit, with your whole being. The hearing that in only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of understanding is another, but the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty, to the ear, or to the mind. Hence, it demands the emptiness of the faculties, and when the faculties are empty, then your whole being listens…… Fasting of the heart empties the faculties, frees you from limitations and from preoccupations.

Thomas Merton