What the Ancients Knew About Fasting

AROPL Studios announces the release of the latest installment of the Hall of Mysteries (HOM) series on the Mahdi Has Appeared YouTube channel: "What the Ancients Knew about Fasting." This discourse, based on a chapter of the Corpus Hermeticum, goes beyond typical spiritual teaching to deliver a profound, intellectual, and historically grounded truth about the exclusive nature of Divine goodness. The episode masterfully links ancient wisdom to the teachings of the Imams, establishing a clear line of spiritual and scientific authority.

The episode's synopsis is built around two explosive concepts: first, a powerful Hadith from Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq outlining the markers of the true Imam—specifically, that he is known by his "Serenity and dignity" and the "people's need for him while he needs no one". Second, the discourse unearths the esoteric teachings of Jabir ibn Hayyan, the world-renowned father of chemistry and alchemy, who learned directly from Imam al-Sadiq. Aba Al-Sadiq reveals Jabir's belief that the laboratory is a "microcosm of the cosmos" and that all matter—including man—is "ensouled with the divine intellect already," a mind that is currently "asleep".

One of the most potent excerpts is the psychological dismantling of the human ego through the "man-dog" metaphor. Aba Al-Sadiq suggests that a person acting out of desire and fear is like "a dog that is hungry" who "thinks everybody is a threat to his food". This simple, visceral comparison connects our deepest spiritual hunger to our most base, anxious psychological state. The core message is clear: true goodness, wisdom, and the awakening of the divine intellect within the self (alchemical transmutation) can only occur by turning away from the external world and recognizing that good exists solely in God.

Aba Al-Sadiq asked the believers: "Do you want to know how and why we must be active and move our bodies? Is it in imitation of the universe? What did the ancient native American, ancient Egyptians, ancient Chinese and ancient Romans have in common? And what about alchemy and the philosopher's stone?"

It's all covered here in this lecture as we begin to shift towards Alchemy: