Asceticism

Asceticism (Gk., askesis, ‘exercise’, as of an athlete). The practice of self-denial or self-control as a means of religious attainment through discipline. Asceticism occurs in all religions, since in all religions there are more important things in life than living, and to attain particular goals, or to serve others, the giving up of some things on one's own behalf may be the only way forward. Nevertheless, asceticism is somewhat suspect in Judaism (but see BAḤYA BEN JOSEPH) and in Islam, because it seems to imply a denial of the goodness of God's creation. Even so, ṣawm (fasting during the month of Ramadhan) is one of the Five Pillars of Islam; see also ZUHD.

In Hinduism, the most basic structure of ordinary life, the four stages of life (āśrama) are marked by discipline, culminating in complete renunciation; the practice of asceticism is marked pravrajya (going forth from home). The efficacy of self-mortification (tapas) is so great that even the gods engage in it. This is even more marked in Jainism, where the ideal is the one who dies his death before it actually occurs (see SALLEKHANĀ). The practice of control becomes literally manifest in the many techniques of yoga.

All of these were practised by Gautama in the early stages of the quest for enlightenment which culminated in his becoming the Buddha.

Renouncing these practices as counterproductive, the Buddha came to be critical of contemporary ascetic movements, and in several discourses he describes and criticizes their many and varied practices. Although the Buddha prohibited extreme practices, he allowed twelve optional practices (dhutanga) of a moderately ascetic kind but resisted the attempt to make five of them compulsory for monks; thirteen are listed in Visuddhimagga 11.

Among Jains, the commitment to asceticism is the central dynamic of the whole system. Those far enough advanced in the emancipation of jīva from karma (see GUNASTHĀNA) undergo initiation (dīkṣa) and take the Five Great Vows (mahāvrata); but the laity are closely integrated, by being on the same path, and by the formality of dāna, gifts in support of the ascetics. The two immediate aims of the Jain ascetic counterbalance each other, saṃyama being restraint, and tapas being the generation of ‘heat’ (i.e. spiritual power).

Among Sikhs, asceticism is viewed with caution: the Gurus advocated for all Sikhs full involvement in family life coupled with self-discipline. For the amritdhārī this frequently means a vegetarian diet and avoidance of alcohol. Austerities and penances are considered painful, irrelevant and not conducive to spiritual development. (see GRAHASTI; NIRMALĀ; SRĪ CHAND; TOBACCO.)

The origins of Christian asceticism are to be found in the strongly eschatological consciousness of early Christians who looked forward to an imminent end of the world in which good would triumph over evil in a holy war. They were to prepare themselves by watchfulness, prayer, fasting, and, for many, sexual continence (cf. 1 Samuel 21. 5), anticipating martyrdom as the test of their faithfulness and a sign of the imminence of the final struggle. With the triumph of Christianity in the 4th cent. this attitude of eschatological awareness was inherited by the monastic movement, and Christian asceticism became archetypically monastic. A systematic understanding of the demands of such asceticism on human nature was developed, notably by Evagrius, and later by Cassian and Dorotheus. The Renaissance brought a reaction against Christian asceticism, intensified by the Reformation with its tendency to suggest the worthlessness of human effort.