| | | Asceticism (Greek: ασκησις askēsis) refers to the idea that a higher spiritual and moral state is attainable through the practice of self-denial. It is characterized by abstinence from various sorts of carnal or mundane pleasures such as cultivating power, engaging in sexual activity or consumption of alcohol. It is often accompanied with the objective of pursuing religious and spiritual goals. Some non- Judaeo-Christian religions teach that salvation and liberation involve a process of mind-body transformation that is effected through practicing restraint with respect to actions of body, speech and mind. The founders and earliest practitioners of these religions (e.g. Buddhism, Jainism, the Christian desert fathers) lived extremely austere lifestyles refraining from sensual pleasures and the accumulation of material wealth. This is to be understood not as an eschewal of the enjoyment of life but a recognition that spiritual and religious goals are impeded by such indulgence. | Asceticism is closely related to the Christian concept of chastity and might be said to be the technical implementation of the abstract vows of renunciation. Those who practice ascetic lifestyles do not consider their practices as virtuous but pursue such a life-style in order to satisfy certain technical requirements for mind-body transformation. There is remarkable uniformity among the above religions with respect to the benefits of sexual continence. Religions teach that purifying the soul also involves purification of the body which thereby enables connection with the divine and the cultivation of inner peace. In the popular imagination asceticism is considered a sort of perversion (self-flagellation by birch twigs as the archetypal stereotype of self-mortification) but the askēsis enjoined by religion functions in order to bring about greater freedom in various areas of one's life, such as freedom from compulsions and temptations bringing about peacefulness of mind with a concomitant increase in clarity and power of thought. Etymology The adjective "ascetic" derives from the ancient Greek term askēsis (practice, training or exercise). Originally associated with any form of disciplined practice, the term ascetic has come to mean anyone who practices a renunciation of worldly pursuits to achieve higher intellectual and spiritual goals. Many warriors and athletes, in Greek society, applied the discipline of askēsis to attain optimal bodily fitness and grace. The manner of life, the doctrine, or principles of someone who engages in askēsis is referred to as asceticism. "Worldly" vs "Otherworldly" Max Weber made a distinction between innerweltliche and ausserweltliche asceticism, which means (roughly) "inside the world" and "outside the world.", or Talcott Parsons translated these as "worldly" and "otherworldly" (some translators use "inner-worldly", but that has a different connotation in English and is probably not what Weber had in mind). Yet another translation, simply "secular" (a state of being separate from religion) and "non-secular" (praying, worshipping God, attending church). As Jesus taught in the temple, he spoke the following words, but was not arrested because His hour had not yet come. 21 So he said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come." 22 So the Jews said, "Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" 23 He said to them, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. John 8:21-23 "Otherworldly" asceticism refers to people who withdraw from the world in order to live an ascetic life (this includes monks who live communally in monasteries, as well as hermits who live alone). "Worldly" asceticism refers to people who live ascetic lives but don't withdraw from the world. Weber claimed that this distinction originated in the Protestant Reformation, but later became secularized, so the concept can be applied to both religious and secular ascetics. American psychological theorist David McClelland suggested that worldly asceticism is specifically targeted against worldly pleasures that distract people from their calling, and may accept worldly pleasures that are not distracting. As an example, he pointed out that Quakers have historically objected to bright colored clothing, but that wealthy Quakers often made their drab clothing out of expensive materials. The color was considered distracting, but the materials were not. Amish groups use similar criteria to make decisions about which modern technologies to use and which to avoid.
(McClelland, The Achieving Society, 1961) Religious Motivation Asceticism is most commonly associated with monks, yogis or priests, however any individual may choose to lead an ascetic life. Lao Zi, Gautama Buddha, Mahavir Swami, Saint Anthony, Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi and David Augustine Baker can all be considered ascetics. Many of these men left their families, possessions, and homes to live a mendicant life, and in the eyes of their followers demonstrated great spiritual attainment, or enlightenment. |  St. John the Baptist. Artist: Valentin De Boulogne.
Date: 1628-30, Oil on canvas, 130 x 90 cm.
Location: Santa Maria in Via, Camerino
(larger image)Judaism Asceticism is utterly rejected by Judaism; it is considered contrary to God's wishes for the world. God intended for the world to be enjoyed, in a permitted context of course. The Talmud says that "if a person has the opportunity to taste a new fruit and refuses to do so, he will have to account for that in the next world". This is one of the many core differences between Judaism and Christianity. Some sects of Christianity have held that the world is basically evil (original sin) and is to be avoided. In contrast Judaism holds that only by living in the world and enjoying it can the world be spiritually elevated. There are different categories of pleasure. From simple, short lived things, like eating something tasty, to more complex pleasures, such as the satisfaction of succeeding in difficult task. The closest Judasim comes to asceticism is when it tries to teach people to enjoy the more intellectual and spiritual pleasures, and not to chase after the simpler pleasures. However, Judaism does not encourage people to seek pleasure for its own sake but rather to do so in a spiritual way. Especially by thanking God for creating something enjoyable, like a wonderful view, or tasty food. As an example sex should be enjoyed while remembering that a person is fulling the commandments of: marriage and pru-urvu (procreation), but it should be enjoyed. Food can be enjoyed by remembering that it is necessary to eat, but by thanking God for making it an enjoyable processes, and by not overeating, or eating wastefully. God could just as easily have made food nutritious but bland and tasteless, or sex could be a forced drive (like the fictional Vulcan "Pon farr," or like how many lower animals have sex), however that is not what God wanted. God wanted people to enjoy living in his world. | Christianity Asceticism within Christian tradition is the set of disciplines practiced to work out the believer's salvation and further the believer's repentance as well as for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment. Although monks and nuns are known for especially strict acts of asceticism, ascetic practices are evident among other early Christians. Christian authors of late antiquity such as Origen, Jerome, John Chrysostom, and Augustine of Hippo interpreted meanings of biblical texts within a highly asceticized religious environment. Through their commentaries, they created a new “asceticized Scripture,” and in the process an "asceticized" version of Christianity. Scriptual examples of asceticism could be found in the lives of John the Baptist, Jesus, the twelve apostles and Paul of Tarsus, as well as in the primitive Christian community depicted by Luke the Evangelist: 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
-Acts 4:32 However, according to Paul Tillich, in Augustine's time the natural forms of love that had been sanctified by the traditions and faith of the earlier periods, in Greece and other countries, had been replaced by an unrestrained sexual naturalism. The remedies in place were unable to help because their preaching was the law, and the law had no power over naturalistic-driven sexual desire. It was in the principle of sanctification that Augustine was able to find a solution, both for himself and others. Protestant Christians vary widely in their attitudes toward and practices of asceticism. The Protestant reformers often strongly criticized monasticism and Catholic ascetical practices, contrasting these human works through which people participate in working out their salvation, with "faith alone" in Jesus as savior. Some Protestants are vehement about this to the point of rejecting the whole idea of asceticism, citing Paul's teaching in his epistle to the Romans that justification is by faith in Jesus rather than by works such as adherence to Jewish law (Halakha), or similarly in 1 Timothy 4:2-3 speaks against those who would turn Christians away from true faith by imposing unnecessary religious rules: "liars with branded consciences.. forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God required to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." However, many Protestants embrace "spiritual disciplines" such as fasting and disciplined dedication to prayer as a positive and Biblically-based means of growth in the Christian life. Saint Paul speaks of his own asceticism in his New Testament epistles, and also offers some nuance about true and false asceticism. For instance he writes of disciplining his body like an athlete, in order to subordinate it to reason in the service of the Gospel: "Athletes deny themselves all sorts of things. They do this to win a crown of leaves that wither, but we a crown that is imperishable" Cor 9:25. The Dead Sea Scrolls revealed ascetic practices of the ancient Jewish sect of Essenes who took vows of abstinence to prepare for a holy war. Thus, the asceticism of practitioners like Jerome was hardly original (although some of his critics thought it was), and a desert ascetic like Antony the Great (251-356 CE) was in the tradition of ascetics in noted communities and sects of the previous centuries. Clearly, emphasis on an ascetic religious life was evident in both early Christian writings and practices. Other Christian followers of asceticism include individuals such as Francis of Assisi. To the uninformed modern reader, early monastic asceticism may seem to be only about sexual renunciation. However, sexual abstinence was merely one aspect of ascetic renunciation. The ancient monks and nuns had other, equally weighty concerns: pride, humility, compassion, discernment, patience, judging others, prayer, hospitality, and almsgiving. For some early Christians, gluttony represented a more primordial problem than sex, and as such the reduced intake of food is also a facet of asceticism. As an illustration, the systematic collection of the Apophthegmata Patrum, or Sayings of the desert fathers and mothers has more than twenty chapters divided by theme; only one chapter is devoted to porneia ("sexual lust"). (See Elizabeth A. Clark. Reading Renunciation: Asceticism and Scripture in Early Christianity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.) Catholic vs Protestant Asceticism Medieval (Catholic) asceticism had implied a contemplative possession of the holy; Reformation asceticism represented devout action. The Catholic saw himself as a divine vessel; an "asceticism of duty." In its own way, worldly asceticism imposed upon the Protestant layman a discipline every bit as severe as that of the Catholic monk. Jean-Jacques Rousseau observed that Calvinists lived "like monks within the world." Hinduism Sadhus, men believed to be holy, are known for the extreme forms of self-mortification they occasionally practice. These include extreme acts of devotion to a deity or principle, such as vowing never to use one leg or the other, or to hold an arm in the air for a period of months or years. The particular types of asceticism involved vary from sect to sect, and from holy man to holy man. Buddhism The historical Gautama Buddha adopted an extreme ascetic life after leaving his father's palace, where he once lived in extreme luxury. But later the Buddha rejected extreme asceticism as an impediment to ultimate freedom from suffering (nibbana), choosing instead a path that met the needs of the body without crossing over into luxury and indulgence. After abandoning extreme asceticism he was able to achieve enlightenment. This position became known as the Middle Path or Middle Way, and became one of the central organizing principles of Buddhist philosophy. The degree of moderation suggested by this middle path varies depending on the interpretation of Buddhism at hand. Some traditions emphasize ascetic life more than others. The basic lifestyle of an ordained Buddhist practitioner (bhikkhu, monk, or bhikkhuni, nun) as described in the Vinaya Pitaka was intended to be neither excessively austere nor hedonistic. Monks and nuns were intended to have enough of life's basic requisites (particularly food, medicine, clothing, and shelter) to live safely and healthily, without being troubled by illness or weakness. While the life described in the Vinaya may appear difficult, it would be perhaps better described as Spartan rather than truly ascetic. Deprivation for its own sake is not valued. Indeed, it may be seen as a sign of attachment to one's own renunciation. The aim of the monastic lifestyle was to prevent concern for the material circumstances of life from intruding on the monk or nun's ability to engage in religious practice. To this end, having inadequate possessions was regarded as being no more desirable than having too many. Initially, the Buddha rejected a number of more specific ascetic practices that some monks requested to follow. These practices — such as sleeping in the open, dwelling in a cemetery or cremation ground, wearing only cast-off rags, etc. — were initially seen as too extreme, being liable to either upset the social values of the surrounding community, or as likely to create schisms among the Sangha by encouraging monks to compete in austerity. Despite their early prohibition, recorded in the Pali Canon, these practices (known as the Dhutanga practices, or in Thai as thudong) eventually became acceptable to the monastic community. They were recorded by Buddhaghosa in his Visuddhimagga, and later became significant in the practices of the Thai Forest Tradition. The Mahayana traditions of Buddhism received a slightly different code of discipline than that used by the various Theravada sects. This fact, combined with significant regional and cultural variations, has resulted in differing attitudes towards asceticism in different areas of the Mahayana world. Particularly notable is the role that vegetarianism plays in East Asian Buddhism, particularly in China and Japan. While Theravada monks are compelled to eat whatever is provided for them by their lay supporters, including meat, Mahayana monks in East Asia are most often vegetarian. This is attributable to a number of factors, including Mahayana-specific teachings regarding vegetarianism, East Asian cultural tendencies that predate the introduction of Buddhism (some of which may have their roots in Confucianism), and the different manner in which monks support themselves in East Asia. While Southeast Asian and Sri Lankan monks generally continue to make daily begging rounds to receive their daily meal, monks in East Asia more commonly receive bulk foodstuffs from lay supporters (or the funds to purchase them) and are fed from a kitchen located on the site of the temple or monastery, and staffed either by working monks or by lay supporters. Similarly, divergent scriptural and cultural trends have brought a stronger emphasis on asceticism to some Mahayana practices. The Lotus Sutra, for instance, contains a story of a bodhisattva who burns himself as an offering to the assembly of all Buddhas in the world. This has become a patterning story for self-sacrifice in the Mahayana world, probably providing the inspiration for the spectacular auto-cremation of the Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc during the 1960's, as well as several other incidents. Islam The Arabic word for asceticism is zuhd. The Prophet Muhammad is quoted to have said, "What have I to do with worldly things? My connection with the world is like that of a traveler resting for a while underneath the shade of a tree and then moving on." He advised the people to live simple lives and himself practised great austerities. Even when he had become the virtual king of arabia, he lived an austere life bordering on privation. His wife Aiysha (ra) says that there was hardly a day in his life when he had two square meals (Muslim, Sahih Muslim, Vol.2, pg 198). When he died there was nothing in his house except a few seeds of barley left from a mound of the grain obtained from a Jew by pawning his armour (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter "Aljihad"). The above paragraph is taken from: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet/prophetdescription.html Sufism Sufism evolved not as a mystical but as an ascetic movement, as even the name suggests; Sufi refers to a rough woollen robe of the ascetic. A natural bridge from asceticism to mysticism has often been crossed by Muslim ascetics. Through meditation on the Qur'an and praying to Allah, the Muslim ascetic believes that he draws near to Allah, and by leading an ascetic life paves the way for absorption in Allah, the Sufi way to salvation. (See Alfred Braunthal. Salvation and the Perfect Society. University of Massachusetts Press, 1979.) Religious vs Secular motivation Observation of ascetic lifestyles have its beginnings in both religious and secular settings. For example, the religious motivations of the ancient Hebrew sects, fasting in order to become Holy, priestesses in the temples of ancient Greece abstaining from sex to better serve their particular god, and Stoic philosophers disciplining their will against a life of sensual pleasure to achieve spiritual goals, is balanced by the examples of Spartans undertaking regimens of severe physical discipline to prepare for battle and the belief in Rome that the purity of the Vestal Virgins was a safeguard against harm to the city. References - McClelland, The Achieving Society, 1961
- P. 77 An Introduction to Hinduism By Gavin D. Flood
- P. 137 The Rig Veda By Wendy Doniger, Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty
- P. 460 Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature By John McClintock, James Strong
- Frank William Iklé et al. "A History of Asia", page ?. Allyn and Bacon, 1964
- Hermann Jacobi, "Sacred Books of the East", vol. 22: Gaina Sutras Part I. 1884
- USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts
- The final sentence of the book puts it like this: "For man would rather will even nothingness than 'not will.'" (Kaufmann's trans.)
Bibliography - Tillich, Paul. A History of Christian Thought. From Its Judaic and Hellenistic Origins to Existentialism. (109-110). ISBN 0-671-21426-8
- Valantasis, Richard. The Making of the Self: Ancient and Modern Asceticism. James Clarke & Co (2008) ISBN 9780227172810.
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