Asceticism as a way of life moderate and devoid of all sorts of frills has more than one thousand years. Ascetics have always existed, at all times, from the most distant antiquity. An ascetic is a hermit who voluntarily chose for himself a secluded and rather harsh lifestyle. In order to achieve certain spiritual goals, he spends his life in strictness and abstinence, keeping his vows.
By their example, the ascetics showed all people how to improve the body and mind, controlling passions and controlling their unbridled desires. The word "ascetic" itself is a derivative of the Greek "austerity", which in translation means some kind of preparation, exercise. Asceticism in the most general sense is a certain system of spiritual and psychophysical exercises that reflect the essence of the religion on the basis of which it is formed. This practice is very common in many types of cultures.
Hinduism
Inhabitants of ancient India, with the help of austerity, expected to gain supernatural powers and achieve equal power to the gods. The forms of self-torture resorted to by Indian ascetics were amazing, they could hold their hands above their heads or stand for months.on one leg.
Buddhism
According to Buddhist doctrine, asceticism is one of the ways to achieve enlightenment. But you don't have to give up everything at once. First you need to drink the whole cup of life to the bottom and only then, having recognized it, become disappointed in it. By and large, the ascetic was not an ideal in Buddhism, because he indulged in asceticism for the sake of the personal, in contrast to the bodhisattva, who cares about the common good.
Islam
The meaning of Islamic asceticism, referred to as "zuhd", is that one should not grieve about the worldly things that are missed, but one should not rejoice at all that worldly things that are acquired. Zuhd, followed by an Islamic ascetic, is, first of all, the rejection of everything that distracts from Allah.
Christianity
The fundamental principle of Christian asceticism is the coordination of the will of God and the will of man. For the salvation of the soul, the union of grace and the free will of man is necessary, and it can be freed only through ascetic deeds. Among Christians (if this is not an ascetic stranger), the concept is usually associated with a hermit monk who lives a strict moral life. Asceticism meant special exercises that entailed the mortification of the flesh. The Orthodox hermit exercised his will and thoughts through prayer, vigil, fasting and solitude.
The essence of asceticism
The vow of an ascetic for the sake of spiritual enlightenment sometimes includedreal self-torture, accompanied by fear and pain. Some philosophers saw this as a clear excess and believed that all sorts of pleasures can teach us much more than deprivation. It is also important to understand that an ascetic is a person who definitely has the opportunity to live in absolute prosperity and at the same time deliberately limits himself in all material goods, comforts and pleasures for the sake of a specific goal. That is, asceticism caused by temporary material difficulties is, in fact, false.
