ascetic

(noun)

A person who practices severe self-discipline and abstention from worldly pleasures in order to attain a higher level of spirituality.

Related Terms

  • Vedic Religion
  • Sramanas
  • Brahmin
  • Sramana
  • Jainism
  • saṃsāra
  • shramana
  • karma
  • Buddhism

(noun)

A person who practices severe self-discipline and abstention from worldly pleasures as a way of seeking spiritual enlightenment and freedom.

Related Terms

  • Vedic Religion
  • Sramanas
  • Brahmin
  • Sramana
  • Jainism
  • saṃsāra
  • shramana
  • karma
  • Buddhism

Examples of ascetic in the following topics:

  • Protestant Work Ethic and Weber

    • Weber proposed that ascetic Protestantism had an elective affinity with capitalism, bureaucracy, and the rational-legal nation-state in the Western world.
    • In other words, although he did not argue that religion caused economic change, Weber did find that ascetic Protestantism and modern capitalism often appeared alongside one another in societies.
    • Additionally, Weber observed that both ascetic Protestantism and capitalism encouraged cultural practices that reinforced one another.
    • As evidence for his study, Weber noted that ascetic Protestantism and advanced capitalism tended to coincide with one another.
    • To explain these observations, Weber argued that Protestantism, and especially the ascetic Protestant or Calvinist denominations, had redefined the connection between work and piety .
  • The Sramana Movement

    • Sramana broke with Vedic Hinduism over the authority of the Brahmins and the need to follow ascetic lives.
    • The dominant Vedic ritualism contrasted with the beliefs of the Sramanas followers who renounced married and domestic life and adopted an ascetic path, one of severe self-discipline and abstention from all indulgence, in order to achieve spiritual liberation.
    • In India, Sramana originally referred to any ascetic, recluse, or religious practitioner who renounced secular life and society in order to focus solely on finding religious truth.
    • Sramana evolved in India over two phases: the Paccekabuddha, the tradition of the individual ascetic, the “lone Buddha” who leaves the world behind; and the Savaka, the phase of disciples, or those who gather together as a community, such as a sect of monks.
    • Buddha practiced severe asceticism before his enlightenment and recommended a non-ascetic middle way.
  • Jainism

    • The Sramanas renounced married and domestic life and adopted an ascetic path (one of severe self-discipline and abstention from all indulgence) in order to achieve spiritual liberation.
    • Jain monks and nuns adhere to these vows absolutely, placing Jainism squarely in the ascetic and self-discipline traditions of Sramana.
    • The Svetambara, meaning "white clad," describes its ascetic adherents’ practice of wearing white clothes, while the monks of the "sky clad" Digambara do not wear clothing at all, a practice upon which they disagree.
  • The Rise of the Monasteries

    • Christian monasticism, which consists of individuals living ascetic and often cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship, became popular during the Middle Ages and gave rise to several monastic orders with different goals and lifestyles.
    • Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of individuals who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship.
    • Their life was extremely ascetic, though such practices were apparently not prescribed by the first rule that Francis gave them (probably as early as 1209), which seems to have been nothing more than a collection of Scriptural passages emphasizing the duty of poverty.
  • Jain Architecture

    • Its founder Mahavira (c. 540–468 BCE) was born into a royal family but renounced worldly life to become an ascetic and establish the central tenets of Jainism.
  • Buddhism

    • The Sramanas renounced married and domestic life, and adopted an ascetic path— one of severe self-discipline and abstention from all indulgence—in order to achieve spiritual liberation.
    • Buddha lived as a Sramana ascetic for approximately six years until he had an "awakening" in a place called Bodh Gaya, in the Gaya district of the modern Indian state of Bihar.
  • The Golden Age of India

    • These showed scenes from the life of the Buddha, the ascetic and philosopher, who lived in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between sixth and fourth centuries, on whose teachings the Buddhist religion is based.
  • Buddhist Rock-Cut Architecture

    • In India, caves have long been regarded as sacred spaces and were enlarged or entirely man-made for use as temples and monasteries by Buddhist monks and ascetics.
  • Pre-Iconic Buddhist Art and Architecture

    • Born to a royal family and originally named Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha left his family and all worldly possessions to live as an ascetic and achieve enlightenment.
  • Erasmus

    • His residence at Leuven, where he lectured at the University, exposed Erasmus to much criticism from those ascetics, academics and clerics hostile to the principles of literary and religious reform and the loose norms of the Renaissance adherents to which he was devoting his life.
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