Being Ascetic

Dr. Rajesh Bhola
India
May 23, 2014

 

Since medieval times there have been many who fled from their careers and worldly pleasures into jungles, mountains and ashrams, thinking that spirituality was only to be found in these isolated places. Most soon discovered that they could not escape from their thoughts, since they carried their psychological baggage with them. Their past, which was supposedly forsaken, was constantly intruding upon their minds and chasing them even in this absolute aloofness. Although they had apparently renounced the ‘vibrant and throbbing’ world, they were unable to escape this world’s influence and its attractions. Little did they realise that it is the daily life experiences, problems and challenges that are the tools for developing the sagacious qualities of self-restraint, egoless behaviour and asceticism - while living very much within this material world. The idea is not to find the answer in ‘escape’.     Asceticism and monasticism are two religious disciplines designed to de-emphasise the pleasures of the world, so that the practitioners can concentrate on the spiritual life. Both have been adopted by worshipers of various faiths. In general, asceticism is the practice of strict self-denial, as a means to attain a higher spiritual plane. Monasticism is the state of being secluded from the world, in order to fulfill religious vows. While most monks are ascetic, ascetics do not have to be monks.

Asceticism comes from the Greek word askesis, meaning exercise, training and practice. Ascetics renounce worldly pleasures that distract from spiritual growth and enlightenment and live a life of abstinence, austerity and extreme self-denial. Asceticism is common in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. It is not to be confused with Stoicism. Stoics believe that holiness can reside only in the spiritual realm, and all physical matter is evil. Ascetics do not necessarily believe that the flesh is evil, but they do go to great lengths to deny the flesh, in order to transform the mind or free the spirit. Historically, Asceticism has involved fasting, exposing oneself to heat or cold, sleep deprivation, flagellation, and even self-mutilation. Asceticism is usually associated with monks, priests and yogis. In ancient times, as early as the late second century, in Egypt and Syria, more than a few people abandoned their civic responsibilities, relationships and personal crises in order to seek relief and commune solely with God. It was the beginning of a new and distinct social movement and came to be known - from this preference for solitariness - as Monasticism. These early solitaries fled to the desert and took up residence in caves and near the oases of the Red Sea desert, discarding their worldly comforts and egos and seeking a goal of spiritual enlightenment. Some of them lived hermit-like, in strict separation. 

In similar manner, in the Indian context, there have been varied ascetic practices carried out by saints and hermits. There are several terms for ascetics in Hinduism. Some ‘sadhus’ are known to practise extreme forms of self-denial or devotion to a deity or principle. Some vow never to use one leg or to hold an arm in the air for a period of months or years. The particular types of asceticism involved vary from one sect or holy man to another. Asceticism in one of its most intense forms can be found in Jainism, one of the oldest religions. Jainism encourages fasting, yoga practices, meditation in difficult postures and other austerities. According to Jains, one’s highest goal should be ‘nirvana’ (liberation from this worldly cycle of birth and rebirth). For this, a soul has to ‘live’ without attachment or self-indulgence. This can be achieved only by the monks and nuns who take great vows of non-violence, truth, no-stealing, chastity and non-attachment. Most of their austerities and ascetic practices can be traced to Mahavira, who wore clothes just for a year and a month and after that walked about naked and accepted alms in the hollow of his hand. For more than twelve years Mahavira neglected his body and abandoned any care of it. With equanimity he bore pleasure and suffering. He had cut off all earthly ties and was not stained by any worldliness. Other austerities include meditation in a seated or standing posture near river banks in the cold wind, or atop hills and mountains, especially at noon when the sun is at its fiercest. Such austerities are undertaken according to the physical and mental limits of the individual ascetic. Jain ascetics are completely without possessions. Some Shvetambara monks and nuns own only unstitched white robes an upper and lower garments and a bowl - used for eating, and collecting alms. Male Digambara monks do not wear any clothes and carry nothing with them except a soft broom made of shed peacock feathers, and eat from their hands. They sleep on the floor without blankets and sit on special wooden platforms. Every day is spent either in study of the scriptures, meditation or in teaching lay people. They stand aloof from worldly matters. When death is imminent, or when they feel that they are unable to adhere to their vows due to advanced age or terminal disease, many Jain ascetics take a final vow of Santhara - a peaceful and detached death. Medicines, food and water are abandoned.

Basically, Asceticism means the liberation of the human. It leads us to self-mastery and enables us to fulfill the purpose that we have set for ourselves. A certain measure of ascetic self-denial is thus a necessary element in all that we undertake - whether in athletics or in politics, in scholarly research or in prayer. Without this ascetic concentration of effort we are at the mercy of exterior forces, or of our own emotions and moods; we are then reacting rather than acting. Only the ascetic is inwardly free. What basically distinguishes natural from unnatural Asceticism is its attitude towards the body. Natural Asceticism reduces material life to the utmost simplicity, restricting our physical needs to a minimum, but not maiming the body or otherwise deliberately causing it to suffer.  Unnatural Asceticism, on the other hand, seeks out special forms of mortification, which torment the body and gratuitously inflict pain upon it. Thus, it is a form of natural Asceticism to wear cheap and plain clothing, whereas it is unnatural to wear fetters with iron spikes piercing the flesh; it is ‘natural’ to sleep on the ground, and unnatural to sleep on a bed of nails; ‘natural’ to live in a hut or a cave (instead of a well-appointed house), and unnatural to chain oneself to a rock or to stand permanently on top of a pillar

   The same movement, of spiritual training and obedience to a life of faith, still exists today. Its core themes crop up in the growing popularity of meditation and prayer. There are many contemporary hermits, monks and nuns, some of them highly educated and accomplished, who have left/are leaving the civilized world in order to seek God in silence and prayer. The ascetical life is thriving. Do we still need to ‘leave’ the world, to become spiritually enlightened? Do we need to indulge in rigorous Asceticism in order to encounter God? It may be argued that many of us already lead solitary lives in our own modern city – within ‘cells’ of modern apartments in impersonal high-rise condo buildings and the closet caverns on mall avenues! While there has been an exodus from organised religions in recent decades, record numbers of spiritual seekers are meditating and praying in various retreats and centres. There is much value in simply taking time to be silent and still; there is tremendous power in setting ourselves aside and letting the likeness of God inside us shine through. Quieting the frenetic stimuli exploding from our modern multi-tasked lives not only brings about peace and calm, it may also be a revelation. There is really no need to renounce the world. We should treat our current space as our ‘karm-bhoomi’, where we must do positive ‘karmas’, which can help take us to the doorstep of ‘nirvana’. In fact real Asceticism is an inner virtue of the mind, and need not be manifested at the physical level. 

Thus was Mahavira

Just as water does not adhere to a copper vessel, his course too was unobstructed. Like the firmament, he wanted no support; like the wind, he knew no obstacles; like the water in autumn, his heart was pure; like the leaf of a lotus, nothing could soil him; like in a tortoise, his senses were well protected; like the horn of a rhinoceros, he was single and alone; like a bird he was free and always awake. He was valorous like an elephant, strong like a bull, difficult to attack like a lion, deep like the ocean, mild like the moon, refulgent like the sun and pure like excellent gold. Like a well-kindled fire he shone in his splendour; like the earth he patiently bore everything.

Some hold a contrary view on extreme ascetic practices. They believe that isolation in some wilderness can lead to severe psychological problems, and the rigorous life of constant fasting is an abuse of the physical body - which is a gift given to us for our maturing on earth. This abuse is seen as a transgression of the laws of God. They add that we do not have to do anything extraordinary to please God; all we need to do is to be sound mentally, physically and spiritually and have the volition to adhere to His laws. Asceticism can even retard a soul’s development. Not only will such individuals miss much of the necessary experiences that they need from the outside world, they also weaken their physical body, thus preventing the spirit from using it to the full. The spirit even severs itself much sooner from the maltreated body.

It is reassuring in this context to find that the earliest and most influential of all Greek Monastic texts, the Life of Antony, adopts a markedly positive attitude towards the body.  When Antony emerged after twenty years of enclosure within a fort, his friends were amazed to see that his body had maintained its former condition; he was neither fat from lack of exercise, nor emaciated from fasting and combat with demons. He was just as they had known him before his ‘withdrawal’. He was altogether balanced, as a person guided by reason and abiding in a natural state. Asceticism had not subverted Antony’s physicality; in fact it had maintained it in its ‘natural’ state, its true and proper condition as intended by God.  This natural state of the body continued till the end of Antony’s long life.  Although he lived to be more than a hundred, he continued to see clearly (his eyes were undimmed and quite sound); he lost none of his teeth (just the gums had worn down); and he remained strong in his hands and feet. According to the texts, Asceticism enhanced rather than impaired Antony’s bodily health. 

Dr. Rajesh Bhola is President of Spastic Society of Gurgaon and is working for the cause of children with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities for more than 25 years. He can be contacted at rabhola@yahoo.com