Chilla (retreat)

Chilla-nashini (also spelled Chelaa-nashini) is the spiritual practice, known mostly in Indian and Persian folklore, of remaining seated in a circle without food, water, or sleep for forty days and nights. The nashini is the person who does the forty-day fast and remains seated in the circle of seclusion. It is believed that those who try it but do not succeed usually die or suffer madness.

"Chilla-nashini is a severe penance. A circle is drawn on the ground by the penitent's own hand; for forty days and nights he must not step out of the circle, he must forgo food, water and sleep. He must face whatever comes. Chilla-nashini is known to both Sufi and Vedantic ascetics."

People who have performed partial or complete chillas

• The most famous case of a chilla-nashini from Persian culture is found in the biographies of Sufi poet Hafez of Shiraz. [1] [2] [3]
• Mirza Ghulam Ahmad performed a chilla of solitude without fasting in 1846.
• Sheriar Mundegar Irani, father of Meher Baba, performed 30 days of a chilla in 1884, but could not complete the required 40 days.

Similar accounts in western culture

• The period of forty days and nights that Jesus spent fasting in the desert is viewed by some eastern mystics as a form of chilla-nashini. "After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry." (Matthew 4:2)
• Moses fasts on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. "I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water." (Deuteronomy 9:9)
• The prophet Elijah fasted for 40 days and 40 nights during his journey to the mountain of God. "The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.' So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God." (1 Kings 19:7)
• Saint Patrick fasted for forty days on a mountain top. "In imitation of the great Jewish legislator on Sinai, he spent forty days on its summit in fasting and prayer, and other penitential exercises."