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Pursuing enlightenment, Buddha first practiced severe asceticism before recommending a non-ascetic middle way.[1] In Christianity, Francis of Assisi and his followers practiced extreme acts of asceticism.[2]


Asceticism has been historically observed in many religious traditions, including Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Judaism. Contemporary mainstream Islam practices asceticism in the form of fasting during Ramadan by abstaining from all sensual pleasures, including food and water, from sunrise until sunset. The observation of fasting during Ramadan is purely done for God and to increase one's spiritual connection with God; it is compulsory for all Muslims to fast as it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Sufi tradition has included strict asceticism throughout history.[4][5]

The practitioners of this philosophy abandon sensual pleasures and lead an abstinent lifestyle, in the pursuit of redemption,[6] salvation or spirituality.[7] Asceticism is seen in the ancient theologies as a journey towards spiritual transformation, where the simple is sufficient, the bliss is within, the frugal is plenty.[3] Inversely, several ancient religious traditions, such as Zoroastrianism, Ancient Egyptian Religion[8] and the Dionysian Mysteries, as well as more modern Left Hand traditions, openly reject ascetic practices and focus on various types of hedonism.


Etymology and meaningEdit

The adjective "ascetic" derives from the ancient Greek term askēsis, which means "training" or "exercise". The original usage did not refer to self-denial, but to the physical training required for athletic events. Its usage later extended to rigorous practices used in many major religious traditions, in varying degrees, to attain redemption and higher spirituality.[9]

Dom Cuthbert Butler classified asceticism into natural and unnatural forms:[10]

  • "Natural asceticism" involves a lifestyle which reduces material aspects of life to the utmost simplicity and to a minimum. This may include minimal, simple clothing, sleeping on a floor or in caves, and eating a simple minimal amount of food.[10] Natural asceticism, state Wimbush and Valantasis, does not include maiming the body or harsher austerities that make the body suffer.[10]
  • "Unnatural asceticism", in contrast, covers practices that go further, and involves body mortification, punishing one's own flesh, and habitual self-infliction of pain, such as by sleeping on a bed of nails.[10]



Abrahamic religionsEdit




The deserts of the Middle East were at one time inhabited by thousands of Christian hermits[16] including St. Anthony the Great (aka St. Anthony of the Desert), St. Mary of Egypt, and St. Simeon Stylites. In 963 CE, an association of monasteries called Lavra was formed on Mount Athos, in Eastern Orthodox tradition.[17] This became the most important center of orthodox Christian ascetic groups in the centuries that followed.[17] In the modern era, Mount Athos and Meteora have remained a significant center.[18]

Sexual abstinence such as those of the Encratites sect of Christians was only one aspect of ascetic renunciation, and both natural and unnatural asceticism have been part of Christian asceticism. The natural ascetic practices have included simple living, begging,[19] fasting and ethical practices such as humility, compassion, patience and prayer.[20] Evidence of extreme unnatural asceticism in Christianity appear in 2nd-century texts and thereafter, in both Eastern Orthodox Christian and Western Christian traditions, such as the practice of chaining the body to rocks, eating only grass,[21] praying seated on a pillar in the elements for decades such as by the monk Simeon Stylites,[22] solitary confinement inside a cell, abandoning personal hygiene and adopting lifestyle of a beast, self-inflicted pain and voluntary suffering.[19][23] Such ascetic practices were linked to the Christian concepts of sin and redemption.[24][25]

Evagrius Ponticus: monastic teachingEdit


The ascetic literature of early Christianity was influenced by pre-Christian Greek philosophical traditions, especially Plato and Aristotle, looking for the perfect spiritual way of life.[27] According to Clement of Alexandria, Philosophy and Scriptures can be seen as "double expressions of one pattern of knowledge ".[28] According to Evagrius, " body and the soul are there to help the intellect and not to hinder it ".[29]


The Arabic word for asceticism is zuhd (Zuhd in Islam).[30] The prophet Mohammad and his followers practiced asceticism.[31] However, contemporary mainstream Islam has not had a tradition of asceticism, but its Sufi groups [32] – have cherished an ascetic tradition for many centuries.[4][33] Monasticism is forbidden in Islam.[34]



Sufism grew as a mystical, somewhat hidden tradition in the mainstream Sunni and Shia Islam, state Eric Hanson and Karen Armstrong, likely in reaction to "the growing worldliness of Ummayyad and 'Abassid societies".[37] Acceptance of asceticism emerged in Sufism slowly because it was contrary to the sunnah, states Nile Green, and early Sufis condemned "ascetic practices as unnecessary public displays of what amounted to false piety".[38] The ascetic Sufis were hunted and persecuted by Sunni and Shia rulers, in various centuries.[39][40]

Sufism was adopted and then grew particularly in the frontier areas of Islamic states, where the asceticism of its fakirs (or dervish) appealed to a population used to the monastic traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism or Christianity.[37][41][42] Ascetic practices of Sufi fakirs have included celibacy, fasting and self-mortification.[43][44] Sufi ascetics also participated in mobilizing Islamic warriors for holy war, helping travelers, dispensing blessings through their perceived magical powers, and in helping settle disputes.[45]




Asceticism has not been a dominant theme within Judaism, but minor to significant ascetic traditions have been a part of Jewish spirituality.[47] The history of Jewish asceticism is traceable to 1st millennium BCE era with the references of the Nazirite (or Nazorean, Nazarene, Naziruta, Nazir), whose rules of practice are found in Book of Numbers 6:1-21.[48] The ascetic practices included not cutting the hair, abstaining from eating meat or grapes, abstention from wine, or fasting and hermit style living conditions for a period of time.[48] Literary evidence suggests that this tradition continued for a long time, well into the common era, and both Jewish men and women could follow the ascetic path, with examples such as the ascetic practices for fourteen years by Queen Helena of Adiabene, and by Miriam of Tadmor.[48][49] After the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile and the Mosaic institution was done away with, a different form of asceticism arose when Antiochus IV Epiphanes threatened the Jewish religion in 167 BC. The Hasidaean-Essene tradition of the second Temple period is described as one of the movements within historic Jewish asceticism between 2nd century BCE and 1st century CE.[50]

Ascetic Jewish sects existed in ancient and medieval era times,[51] most notably the Essenes and Ebionites. According to Allan Nadler, two most significant examples of medieval Jewish asceticism have been Havoth ha-Levavoth and Hasidei Ashkenaz.[47] Pious self-deprivation was a part of the dualism and mysticism in these ascetic groups. This voluntary separation from the world was called Perishuth, and the Jewish society widely accepted this tradition in late medieval era.[47] Extreme forms of ascetic practices have been opposed or controversial in the Hassidic movement.[52]

The Ashkenazi Hasidim (Hebrew: חסידי אשכנז‎, Chassidei Ashkenaz) were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland whose practices are documented in the texts of the 12th and 13th centuries.[53] Peter Meister states that this Jewish asceticism emerged in the 10th century, grew much wider with prevalence in southern Europe and the Middle East through the Jewish pietistic movement.[54] According to Shimon Shokek, these ascetic practices were the result of an influence of medieval Christianity on Ashkenazi Hasidism. The Jewish faithful of this Hasidic tradition practiced the punishment of body, self-torture by starvation, sitting in the open in freezing snow, or in the sun with fleas in summer, all with the goal of purifying the soul and turning one's attention away from the body unto the soul.[53]

Another significant school of Jewish asceticism appeared in the 16th-century led from Safed.[55] These mystics engaged in radical material abstentions and self-mortification with the belief that this helps them transcend the created material world, reach and exist in the mystical spiritual world. A studied example of this group was Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, and their rules of ascetic lifestyle (Hanhagoth) are documented.[47][56]

Bahá'í FaithEdit


Indian religionsEdit

Asceticism is found in both non-theistic and theistic traditions within Indian religions. The origins of the practice are ancient and a heritage shared by major Indian religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. These probably developed from a syncretism of Vedic and Sramanic influences.[58]

Asceticism in Indian religions includes a spectrum of diverse practices, ranging from the mild self-discipline, self-imposed poverty and simple living typical of Buddhism and Hinduism,[59][60] to more severe austerities and self-mortification practices of monks in Jainism and now extinct Ajivikas in the pursuit of salvation.[61] Some ascetics live as loner hermits relying on whatever food they can find in the forests, then sleep and meditate in caves; others travel from one holy site to another while sustaining their body by begging for food; yet others live in monasteries as monks or nuns.[62] Some ascetics live like priests and preachers, other ascetics are armed and militant,[62] to resist any persecution – a phenomenon that emerged after the arrival of Islam in India.[63][64] Self-torture is relatively uncommon practice but one that attracts public attention. In Indian traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, self-mortification is typically criticized.[62] However, Indian mythologies also describe numerous ascetic gods or demons who pursued harsh austerities for decades or centuries that helped each gain special powers.[65]



The historical Siddhartha Gautama adopted an extreme ascetic life in search of enlightenment.[66] However, before enlightenment he rejected extreme asceticism.[67]

According to Hajime Nakamura and other scholars, some early Buddhist texts suggest that asceticism was a part of Buddhist practice in its early days.[67][68] Further, in practice, records from about the start of the common era through the 19th century CE suggest that asceticism has been a part of Buddhism, both in Theravada and Mahayana traditions.



In the Theravada tradition of Thailand, medieval texts report of ascetic monks who wander and dwell in the forest or crematory alone, do austere practices, and these came to be known as Thudong.[70][71] Ascetic Buddhist monks have been and continue to be found in Myanmar, and as in Thailand, they are known to pursue their own version of Buddhism, resisting the hierarchical institutionalized sangha structure of monasteries in Buddhism.[72]


In the Mahayana tradition, asceticism with esoteric and mystical meanings became an accepted practice, such as in the Tendai and Shingon schools of Japanese Buddhism.[69] These Japanese practices included penance, austerities, ablutions under a waterfall, and rituals to purify oneself.[69] Japanese records from the 12th century record stories of monks undertaking severe asceticism, while records suggest that 19th century Nichiren Buddhist monks woke up at midnight or 2:00 AM daily, and performed ascetic water purification rituals under cold waterfalls.[69] Other practices include the extreme ascetic practices of eating only pine needles, resins, seeds and ultimately self-mummification, while alive, or Sokushinbutsu (miira) in Japan.[73][74][75]

In Chinese Buddhism, self-mummification ascetic practices were less common but recorded in the Ch'an (Zen Buddhism) tradition there.[76] More ancient Chinese Buddhist asceticism, somewhat similar to Sokushinbutsu are also known, such as the public self-immolation (self cremation, as shaoshen 燒身 or zifen 自焚)[77] practice, aimed at abandoning the impermanent body.[note 1] The earliest documented ascetic Buddhist monk biography is of Fayu (法羽) in 396 CE, followed by more than fifty documented cases in the centuries that followed including that of monk Daodu (道度).[80][81] This was considered as evidence of a renunciant bodhisattva, and may have been inspired by the Jataka tales wherein the Buddha in his earlier lives immolates himself to assist other living beings,[82] or by the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabhārāja-related teachings in the Lotus Sutra.[83] Historical records suggest that the self-immolation practices were observed by nuns in Chinese Buddhism as well.[84]

The Chinese Buddhist asceticism practices, states James Benn, were not an adaptation or import of Indian ascetic practices, but an invention of Chinese Buddhists, based on their unique interpretations of Saddharmapuṇḍarīka or Lotus Sūtra.[85] It may be an adoption of more ancient pre-Buddhist Chinese practices,[86][87] or from Taoism.[84] It is unclear if self-immolation was limited primarily to Chinese asceticism tradition, and strong evidence of it being a part of a large scale, comprehensive ascetic program among Chinese Buddhists is lacking.[79]



Renunciation from the worldly life, and a pursuit of spiritual life either as a part of monastic community or as a loner, has been a historic tradition of Hinduism since ancient times. The renunciation tradition is called Sannyasa, and this is not the same as asceticism – which typically connotes severe self-denial and self-mortification. Sannyasa often involved a simple life, one with minimal or no material possessions, study, meditation and ethical living. Those who undertook this lifestyle were called Sannyasi, Sadhu, Yati,[88] Bhiksu, Pravrajita/Pravrajitā,[89] and Parivrajaka in Hindu texts.[90] The term with a meaning closer to asceticism in Hindu texts is Tapas, but it too spans a spectrum of meanings ranging from inner heat, to self-mortification and penance with austerities, to meditation and self-discipline.[60][91][92]

Female Asceticism

Indeed, Vedic literature does provide irrefutable
evidence for the existence of both female celibate
students and female renouncers in ancient India.

—Lynn Denton, Female Ascetics in Hinduism[93]

Asceticism-like practices are hinted in the Vedas, but these hymns have been variously interpreted as referring to early Yogis and loner renouncers. One such mention is in the Kesin hymn of the Rigveda, where Keśins ("long-haired" ascetics) and Munis ("silent ones") are described.[94][95] These Kesins of the Vedic era, are described as follows by Karel Werner:[96]



The Vedic and Upanishadic texts of Hinduism, states Mariasusai Dhavamony, do not discuss self-inflicted pain, but do discuss self-restraint and self-control.[97] The monastic tradition of Hinduism is evidenced in 1st millennium BCE, particularly in its Advaita Vedanta tradition. This is evidenced by the oldest Sannyasa Upanishads, because all of them have a strong Advaita Vedanta outlook.[98] Most of the Sannyasa Upanishads present a Yoga and nondualism (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy.[99][100] The 12th-century Shatyayaniya Upanishad is a significant exception, which presents qualified dualistic and Vaishnavism (Vishishtadvaita Vedanta) philosophy.[100][101] These texts mention a simple, ethical lifestyle but do not mention self-torture or body mortification. For example,

These are the vows a Sannyasi must keep – Abstention from injuring living beings, truthfulness, abstention from appropriating the property of others, abstention from sex, liberality (kindness, gentleness) are the major vows. There are five minor vows: abstention from anger, obedience towards the guru, avoidance of rashness, cleanliness, and purity in eating. He should beg (for food) without annoying others, any food he gets he must compassionately share a portion with other living beings, sprinkling the remainder with water he should eat it as if it were a medicine.

— Baudhayana Dharmasūtra, II.10.18.1-10[102]


The 11th century text, Yatidharmasamuccaya is a Vaishnavism text that summarizes ascetic practices in Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism.[107] In Hindu traditions, as with other Indian religions, both men and women have historically participated in a diverse spectrum of ascetic practices.[7]



Jain texts such as Tattvartha Sutra and Uttaradhyayana Sutra discuss ascetic austerities to great lengths and formulations. Six outer and six inner practices are most common, and oft repeated in later Jain texts.[113] According to John Cort, outer austerities include complete fasting, eating limited amounts, eating restricted items, abstaining from tasty foods, mortifying the flesh and guarding the flesh (avoiding anything that is a source of temptation).[114] Inner austerities include expiation, confession, respecting and assisting mendicants, studying, meditation and ignoring bodily wants in order to abandon the body.[114]



— Kalpa Sutra 117

Both Mahavira and his ancient Jaina followers are described in Jainism texts as practicing body mortification and being abused by animals as well as people, but never retaliating and never initiating harm or injury (ahimsa) to any other being.[116] With such ascetic practices, he burnt off his past Karma, gained spiritual knowledge, and became a Jina.[116] These austere practices are part of the monastic path in Jainism.[117] The practice of body mortification is called kaya klesha in Jainism, and is found in verse 9.19 of the Tattvartha Sutra by Umaswati, the most authoritative oldest surviving Jaina philosophical text.[118][119]

Monastic practiceEdit
Five Mahavratas of Jain ascetics

In Jain monastic practice, the monks and nuns take ascetic vows, after renouncing all relations and possessions. The vows include a complete commitment to nonviolence (Ahimsa). They travel from city to city, often crossing forests and deserts, and always barefoot. Jain ascetics do not stay in a single place for more than two months to prevent attachment to any place.[120][121] However, during the four months of monsoon (rainy season) known as chaturmaas, they stay at a single place to avoid killing life forms that thrive during the rains.[122] Jain monks and nuns practice complete celibacy. They do not touch or share a sitting platform with a person of the opposite sex.[citation needed]




Shvetambara monks and nuns wear only unstitched white robes (an upper and lower garment), and own one bowl they use for eating and collecting alms. Male Digambara sect monks do not wear any clothes, carry nothing with them except a soft broom made of shed peacock feathers (pinchi) to gently remove any insect or living creature in their way or bowl, and they eat with their hands.[124] They sleep on the floor without blankets, and sit on wooden platforms. Other austerities include meditation in seated or standing posture near river banks in the cold wind, or meditation atop hills and mountains, especially at noon when the sun is at its fiercest.[125] Such austerities are undertaken according to the physical and mental limits of the individual ascetic.


Other religionsEdit

Inca religionEdit

In Inca religion of medieval South America, asceticism was practiced.[127] The high priests of the Inca people lived an ascetic life, which included fasting, chastity and eating simple food.[128] The Jesuit records report Christian missionaries encountering ascetic Inca hermits in the Andean mountains.[129]


Historical evidence suggest that the monastic tradition in Taoism practiced asceticism, and the most common ascetic practices included fasting, complete sexual abstinence, self-imposed poverty, sleep deprivation, and secluding oneself in the wilderness.[130][131] More extreme and unnatural ascetic Taoist practices have included public self-drowning and self-cremation.[132] The goal of these spectrum of practices, like other religions, was to reach the divine and get past the immortal body. According to Stephen Eskildsen, asceticism continues to be a part of modern Taoism.[133][134]



Sociological and psychological viewsEdit



— Max Weber[136], The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism



Nietzsche's viewEdit


See alsoEdit


  1. ^ Alternate practices included cutting off a part of one's body.[78][79]


  7. ^ a b Lynn Denton (1992). Julia Leslie (ed.). Roles and Rituals for Hindu Women. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 212–219. ISBN 978-81-208-1036-5.
  8. ^ Wilson, John A. (1969). "Egyptian Secular Songs and Poems". Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 467.
  10. ^ a b c d Vincent L. Wimbush; Richard Valantasis (2002). Asceticism. Oxford University Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-0-19-803451-3.
  13. ^ New Advent – Catholic Encyclopedia: Asceticism, quoting St. Jerome
  14. ^ From Chapter 1 of a letter from Ignatius to Polycarp
  15. ^ The Catholic Encyclopedia
  19. ^ a b Jeremy Barrier (2013). Hans-Ulrich Weidemann (ed.). Asceticism and Exegesis in Early Christianity: The Reception of New Testament Texts in Ancient Ascetic Discourses. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 163. ISBN 978-3-525-59358-5.
  31. ^ "Shizuoka Muslim Association (Shizuoka Muslim Association)". Muslims in Japan Shizuoka Muslim Association website. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  32. ^ The World's Muslims: Religious Affiliations Pew Research (2012)
  36. ^ Karamustafa, Ahmet. Sufism: The Formative Period. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd., 2007
  55. ^ Wolfson, Elliot R. (2016). "Asceticism, Mysticism, and Messianism: A Reappraisal of Schechter's Portrait of Sixteenth-Century Safed". Jewish Quarterly Review. Johns Hopkins University Press. 106 (2): 165–177. doi:10.1353/jqr.2016.0007.
  57. ^ Effendi, Shoghi. Advent of Divine Justice.
  60. ^ a b Benjamin R Smith (2008). Mark Singleton and Jean Byrne (ed.). Yoga in the Modern World: Contemporary Perspectives. Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-134-05520-3.
  88. ^ yatin Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany
  89. ^ pravrajitA Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany
  108. ^ Cort 2001a, pp. 118-122.
  109. ^ Fujinaga 2003, pp. 205-212 with footnotes.
  110. ^ Balcerowicz 2015, pp. 144–150.
  111. ^ Doniger 1999, p. 549.
  112. ^ Winternitz 1993, pp. 408–409.
  113. ^ Cort 2001a, pp. 120-121.
  114. ^ a b Cort 2001a, pp. 120-122.
  115. ^ Jacobi, Hermann (1884). F. Max Müller (ed.). The Kalpa Sūtra (Translated from Prakrit). Sacred Books of the East vol.22, Part 1. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-7007-1538-X. Note: ISBN refers to the UK:Routledge (2001) reprint. URL is the scan version of the original 1884 reprint
  116. ^ a b Dundas 2002, p. 180.
  117. ^ Wiley 2009, p. 210.
  119. ^ Vijay K. Jain 2011, p. 134.
  123. ^ a b P.K. Jain. "Dietary code of practice among the Jains". 34th World Vegetarian Congress Toronto, Canada, July 10th to 16th 2000.
  137. ^ Parsons, Talcott (translator). "Chapter 2". The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.See translator's note on Weber's footnote 9 in chapter 2.
  138. ^ McClelland (1961). The Achieving Society.


Further readingEdit


External linksEdit

  • Asketikos- articles, research, and discourse on asceticism.