ASCETICISM. The cultivation of the spiritual life by means of self-denial and severe religious exercises. Ascetics think to please God by imposing upon themselves suffering. A common form of such self-denial and self-torture is abstention from food (or fasting). " The ascetic element was not strongly marked in the Hebrew religion " (S. G. Smith, Religion in the Making, 1910); and asceticism is condemned in the Koran (Sur. lvii. 27). But, whether officially condemned or approved, the impulse to it has always been very strong (see William James, Varieties of Religious Experience, 1906). Christian ascetics have subjected themselves to all kinds of deprivation, living in caves, dens, or pits, going about like animals without clothes, eating rotten corn, etc. Hindus have exposed themselves naked to the violence of the weather, cut themselves with knives, eaten offal, etc. Monier-Williams tells of a Brahman who tortured him self by lying on a bed of arrows (as a substitute for a " bed of thorns ") " He was seated in the usual way on the ground, but close to him on his right hand was his only bed—an iron framework resting on four short legs, and unprovided with mattress or coverlet, but studded instead with rows of iron spikes, somewhat blunted at the points, while at the pillow-end there was a spiky head-rest." Mohammedans have dragged about heavy chains or cannon balls, have lain on iron spikes, etc. Adherents of Zoroastrianism, the ancient Egyptians, and modern Jews have submitted to flagellation. Ancient Mexicans, as a preparation for festivals or as an expia tion for sin, lacerated themselves and let the blood flow freely. Such beating is also connected with purification.
As a preparation for the Jewish fast of atonement, for instance, some of the Jews purify themselves by ablu tions, while others allow themselves to be scourged. Christians have in all ages suffered pain in order to atone for their sins; and the belief that atonement is possible in this way has prevailed among Mohammedans, adherents of Zoroastrianism, Hindus, and others. The Brahmans believe further that asceticism can produce superhuman power. Another idea which sometimes operates in asceticism is that the suffering will excite the compassion of the deity. A Fijian priest, after praying in vain for rain, is reported to have slept several nights on the top of a bare rock in the hope that the deity would take pity on him and send a shower. Another aim in asceticism is the mortification of the lusts of the flesh to such an extent that the proneness to sin may be reduced, and communion with God be rendered possible. Associated with this is the idea that matter and material things are evil by nature. This influenced the Essenes (q.v.) and the Therapeutae (q.v.) in their renunciation of the life of the world. A strict form of asceticism, apart from a simple monastic life, is foreign to the nature of Buddhism, though there are instances of it among Chinese Buddhists. Some of the latter not only brand themselves, but also burn off their fingers or give their whole body to the flames. Others incarcerate them selves. Another form of asceticism is celibacy. Cp. MYSTICISM. See E. Westermarck; Monier-Williams, Brahmanism: J. C. Oman, M.A.S.I.; H. Hackman, Buddhism.