asceticism

The renunciation of physical pleasure; for example, in eating, drinking, sexuality, and human company. Discomfort or pain may be sought, often for religious reasons.

The most acute asceticism is the self-mortification of some Hindu fakirs and Islamic dervishes; the Buddhists and Persian Sufis emphasized the uprooting of worldly thoughts by meditation. Asceticism has from the beginning played an important part in Christian life, especially in monasticism. Opposition to it reached its height in the Reformation.

The reasons for asceticism vary: some Christian asceticism has been in order to share some of the sufferings of Christ; frequently it is undertaken in order to discipline the body and thereby learn to ignore bodily demands when meditating. In Buddhism, Prince Siddhartha, the Buddha, tried extreme asceticism before he reached enlightenment, to the extent of living on one grain of rice a day, but found that it did not bring him enlightenment. He later taught the ‘Middle Way’, which entails moderation and occasional fasting, as a path to enlightenment. Yoga is a Hindu practice aimed at religious development through physical discipline, with the aim of detaching the soul from the body, which tends to hold back spiritual development. Some Chinese ascetic practices in the past were part of a quest for physical immortality. Chinese Taoist monks still run great distances up steep mountains as part of their training.