Dr. Rajesh Bhola
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
