Asceticism is derived from the Greek verb “to exercise,” and ascetics are accordingly understood to exercise—quite literally, to put into action—both mind and body in the interest of cultivating virtue and a closer relationship with the divine. Specific practices of religiously inspired asceticism include celibacy, fasting, silence, and various forms of corporal mortification. In one sense, ascetical practices are negative in that they involve renunciation and denial. In another sense, ascetical practices are intensely positive in that they seek to cultivate virtue, discipline, and the associated experience of proximity to the divine.
In the Jewish tradition, asceticism has often been associated with prophecy, mysticism, messianic expectation, and penance. The biblical topic of Numbers (chapter 6) refers to the “Nazirite” (one who is consecrated or separated). The vow of the Nazirite required the man or woman to abstain from wine, vinegar, grapes, and raisins, and to refrain from cutting one’s hair and/or beard. After following these requirements for a designated period, the person would make appropriate sacrificial offerings. The Bible also refers to some of the prophets who practiced fasting and lived under hermetic conditions. In the second century BCE, the Essenes—later known as the Dead Sea Sect—lived an ascetic lifestyle, embracing celibacy and a sparse, largely vegetarian diet. Medieval Ashkenazic “pietists” prescribed a variety of ascetic atonements such as sitting on an anthill or in icy cold water for those who had committed sexual transgression. Asceticism also figured prominently in the life of the Hasidic mystic Baal Shem Tov. Fasting as a more general rite of penance and remembrance is an important part of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on which Jews observe a twenty-five hour fast. In remembrance of the destruction of the First and Second Temples, Jews also fast during Tisha B’Av.
Within the Jewish tradition as a whole, radical asceticism has been looked upon with suspicion. Judaism generally affirms the goodness of the world and the human body. Food and sex may be enjoyed as long as these are practiced in moderation. Although ascetic practices may help the individual reach a higher level of sanctity, moderation and balance are the key considerations in any act of renunciation aimed at holiness.
Christianity has a long tradition of ascetic practice associated with penance and the desire for mystical union with God. Most obviously, Lent, the forty days preceding Easter, is a time of asceticism. Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent and fast on Ash Wednesday as a sign of penance and on Good Friday in memory of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Asceticism is also a sign of sanctity. St. Anthony and other “desert fathers” retired to a life of isolation wherein they hoped to find God without the distractions of society or material possessions. Subsisting on the Eucharist alone, along with inedia (extended periods without eating), is a standard trope in the ha-giographies of medieval women. While the explicit intent of such austerities was often articulated as penance for oneself or others, scholars continue to debate the motivations underlying them. Rudolf Bell (1987) argues that extreme fasting constituted a medieval form of anorexia nervosa. Catherine Walker Bynum (1987) interprets the radical asceticism of medieval women as a desire to share in the humanity of Jesus—a humanity or humanness that includes suffering and deprivation.
In addition to fasting, corporal mortification has been part of the Christian tradition. The sixteenth-century Spanish mystic John of the Cross wore a spiked chain around his thighs, as do some contemporary members of Opus Dei, a religious order that includes both priests and laity. Corporal mortification can be understood as atonement for sin, denying the body for spiritual advancement, or as a means of exploring the full range of experiences provided by the body. Poverty is another ascetic practice and is embraced by religious communities that either renounce material goods altogether or share them communally. This tradition finds contemporary expression in religious orders such as the Franciscans and Catholic and Protestant lay communities like the Catholic Worker and the Bruderhof.
Three of the five “pillars” of Islam involve asceticism to some degree. Zakat, or almsgiving, is a form of renunciation of material possessions for the greater good. Sawm, or fasting, especially during the lunar month of Ramadan, is a particularly rigorous practice in the Islamic tradition and includes abstaining from food, water, tobacco, and sexual activity from sunrise to sunset. Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca, also has a strong ascetic component. Pilgrims enter a special ritual state called ihram, signified by a special white garment. While in ihram, the pilgrims refrain from sexual activity and do not cut their hair or nails. The effect of this asceticism is not only to represent a special ritual state, but also to express an egalitarian religious vision in which all Muslims are equal before God. Wandering Islamic mendicants continue a tradition of asceticism that includes practices of mortification and denial. Whereas the term faqir became a pejorative term in the West, in Islamic cultures it usually refers to an initiate into a Muslim mystical order who practices begging and seclusion as part of the effort to achieve union with God.
In Hinduism, asceticism is primarily associated with the fourth stage of life called sam-nyasa. In samnyasa, a man renounces his ties to his family and society and prepares himself for liberation. This form of asceticism is designed to break all attachments that keep the individual tied to the cycle of rebirth. Although the stage of samnyasa is traditionally associated with celibacy, begging, and a vegetarian diet, the status of these and other austerities has been a matter of much debate in the Hindu tradition. Some renunciants have gone so far as to argue that because they have left society, conventional social standards regarding diet or sexuality no longer apply. In this sense, the asceticism is internal and is constituted by a lack of attachment to pleasure, pain, and other sensations.
Although samnyasa is perhaps the most conspicuous, there are other common and important forms of asceticism in the Hindu tradition. Of these, the most pervasive is fasting. Women fast for the welfare of their families, and devotees often fast on the day sacred to the god whom they worship. Fasting can be a form of sacrifice, of offering up. But fasting is also a way of building up inner heat, or tapas, and is sometimes associated with magical powers. Hindu forms of asceticism have also informed political acts of resistance. Mahatma Gandhi’s numerous fasts during British rule drew their power from religious understandings of the fast as a sign of spiritual strength. Contemporary untouchable political activists also practice a form of asceticism by living conspicuously on meager resources in the communities they serve. Asceticism is thus a sign of solidarity with the poor and an act of resistance against what is perceived as an oppressive and materialistic nature of Indian society.
Gautama Buddha spent time with forest-dwelling ascetics. Realizing that extreme asceticism was counterproductive, the Buddha understood the process of enlightenment as a “middle way” between radical renunciation and material indulgence. And so, while asceticism for monks and nuns is important it should not become a distraction. As Richard Gombrich (1995) describes, the newly ordained monk is admonished that he only has four “resorts”: begging for food, wearing rags, living outside, and using cow urine as medicine. But these ascetic practices are not obligatory, although disdain for material comfort is clearly a sign of progress toward enlightenment. Whereas Buddhist monks and nuns do practice begging, celibacy, and other austerities, such forms of renunciation are themselves nothing without appropriate balance and the exercise of mindfulness.
