asceticism

Self-denial and living a very simple life for religious reasons. Seriously religious people in virtually all traditions have given up things, especially things that appeal to the senses, for the sake of religion. They have given up food by fasting, or by subsisting only on coarse and tasteless food. They have worn only rough clothes, or even gone without clothes at all. They have lived in cold caves or hard monastic cells. They have foregone marriage. They have meditated for hours under a hot sun, or in freezing mountains. They have deliberately induced discomfort by wearing hair shirts or chains, sleeping on beds of nails, and standing under waterfalls. A few have even mutilated themselves. These states of self-denial are called asceticism— abstention from the natural pleasures of life for religious reasons. It ranges from what may be called "normal" asceticism, that of, say, a monk or nun in an austere order with long hours of prayer or meditation and a sparse but wholesome diet, to the greatest extremes of self-infl icted pain. Ascetics are found in the spiritual traditions of most religions. Examples would include the MONKS AND NUNS of ROMAN CATHOLICISM and EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY, of BUDDHISM and of TAOISM, the Sufi mystics of ISLAM, and the often more individualistic SADHUS or "holy men" of HINDUISM. All traditions have included both "normal" and sometimes very saintly ascetics, and "extreme" ascetics. All religions have also included devout lay men and women who, sometimes very quietly and privately, have practiced various forms of self-denial and asceticism in the midst of an "ordinary" life. What are the religious reasons for asceticism? First, it can be an aspect of the love or compassion that is the great virtue of most faiths, for what one denies oneself one can give to the poor. In this way it not only does good, it also sets an example to others. Second, it is a form of self-discipline, and to learn to discipline oneself is basic to following any spiritual path. It can be seen as a rejection of the physical body, viewed as the "lower" part of one's nature, or even as a source of temptation and evil, in favor of the spiritual dimension of life (see CELIBACY). Third, it is seen as a way of doing repentance for one's SINS, to work off the punishment or "bad KARMA" they have accrued, and so to set oneself right. Finally, asceticism is believed to enhance religious experience. Fasting can help one to see visions, and a light diet can lead to effective MEDITATION; even pain can alternate with religious rapture. There are psychological and physiological reasons for some of this. Most importantly, though, asceticism always sends a religious message: GOD takes priority over the pleasures and entanglements of this world.