Hare Krsna Guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

This is a published article by Bhanu Swami regarding conceptions and misconceptions of fasting in ISKCON. It clears up some points. What do you think about it?

Some Confusion in ISKCON Regarding Fasting

by Bhanu Swami

In ISKCON, there is some ambiguity in the term "fasting". This ambiguity is reflected in the VCal computer program, and it is often perpetrated in many printed calendars produced by ISKCON centers. Sometimes "fasting" means fasting from grains all day, as on Ekadasi. Sometimes it means not eating anything, even non-grain prasad, until a certain time, as in the phrases "fasting till noon on Ekadasi" (which is mentioned for the Ekadasis that occur before Vamana and Varaha Dwadasis) or "fasting till moonrise" (which is mentioned for Gaura Purnima). And sometimes the term's meaning is unclear, as in "fasting till noon" on the appearance day of an acarya. Can one take non-grains before noon on those days? After one "fasts till noon", what does the "break-fast" consist of? On the Ekadasi before Vamana Dwadasi, it must be non-grains, but on the appearance day of an acarya, it is grains. On Gaura Purnima, many centers "break fast" with non-grains, others serve grains.

It would be better to use the term "fasting" to exclusively refer to not taking grains all day. The term "anukalpa prasad" may be used to mean taking non-grain meals during Ekadasi or appearance days of avataras. We do not break a fast by taking anukalpa.

For the appearanc . . . .

HpS - AGTSP   pamho.  To me these are pretty clear, but it is nice that Maharaja has made such an apparently defintive statement!!!