Sharing Some Thoughts Regarding Asceticism

9 February 2023

Sharing Some Thoughts Regarding Asceticism

1.  I sometimes mention in passing what I refer to as the ‘Ascetic Ideal’.  By Ascetic Ideal I mean the principle that underlies the specific practices of asceticism.  This ideal rejects the view that life should be centered on pursuing sensory stimulation, which is the view that dominates our society today.  The Ascetic Ideal means living a life that is instead centered on the transcendent, that which is beyond, and before, sensory experience and stimulation.  The Ascetic Ideal views sensory stimulation as a distraction from the pursuit of the transcendental.

2.  There are occasions in life when ordinary people engage in ascetic practice.  I am thinking of athletes who undertake a disciplined regimen that might exclude things like alcohol and rich food, as well as minimizing time spent in popular entertainments because time spent in such a way would interfere with their athletic training.

It is also fairly common for students in higher education, particularly when exams are approaching, to forego visiting bars as well as minimizing time spent with popular entertainment because students know the importance that studying for an exam will have for their futures.

I think of these episodes of asceticism as ‘transactional asceticism’; meaning that those who engage in it are paying a price for a possible future reward.  The difference between transactional asceticism and the ascetic ideal is that in transactional asceticism the reward for giving up some sensory pleasures is itself a sensory, or worldly, pleasure.  In contrast, the reward for following the ascetic ideal is transcendental and is ‘not of this world’.

In a materialist culture such as ours, it is comprehensible that someone would give up, for a limited time, ordinary activities in order to become a star athlete or to get a good grade in school so that they can become a doctor, banker, or businessman.  In contrast, in a materialist culture it is incomprehensible that someone would commit their life to the ascetic ideal for no material reward.  This is because we live in a culture that denies the existence of the transcendental.

3.  If the Platonist practitioner understands the Ascetic Ideal, the principle of living a life that is not based on sensory stimulation, then it is possible to apply that ideal in many areas of life; this is how specific ascetic injunctions are generated.  But if the practitioner begins with specific injunctions, it is often difficult to comprehend the ascetic ideal behind these specific injunctions. 

4.  In Platonism the classic ascetic injunctions are a vegetarian or vegan diet, refraining from alcohol and recreational drugs, and sexual restraint.  These three are body-based injunctions and purify the body so that it is capable of making the mystical ascent (just as an athlete trains the body to accomplish athletic prowess).  Food is often prepared in a way that stimulates the senses.  A vegetarian diet is likely to be more plain, and once the ascetic ideal is understood one naturally moves in the direction of a plainer, less stimulating, diet.  Alcohol and recreational drugs in themselves stimulate the senses in such a way that often gives rise to addiction and many other problems.  The ascetic ideal counters the inclination to indulge in these substances.  And sexual activity is, as everyone knows, perhaps the most stimulating of sensory activities.  The ascetic ideal calls into question pursuing sexual activity simply for the purpose of sensory pleasure.  For some, sexual restraint leads to celibacy.

5.  There are other asceses (ascetic practices) that are fairly well known.  One is to live a life of with few possessions.  Having lots of possessions stimulates the senses and often distracts the mind.  Another is to find spiritual friends, if possible, who are not opposed to the ascetic ideal and the way of life of the Platonic Sage. 

6.  There are many activities and areas of life and because of this traditional ascetic disciplines have tended become very detailed; I am thinking of the Buddhist Vinaya as an example.  The Buddhist Vinaya that governs the life of Buddhist monastics has hundreds of specific regulations, and many of these also have explanatory commentary.  I think there is virtue in this kind of detailed approach; but the Platonic tradition never generated that kind of document or extensive list of prohibitions.  I believe this is because Platonism is grounded in the understanding of how a principle generates specifics.  The Ascetic Ideal is like a Platonic Form that generates numerous specific practices depending on the circumstances.  A principle like the Ascetic Ideal resembles a song that sometimes leads to a solo performance, sometimes a full choir, sometimes done by a rock group, sometimes by a symphony.  The written music is the ‘ideal’ and then the music is ‘applied’ in various circumstances.  Similarly, the Ascetic Ideal is applied to varying circumstances yielding various results, but all rooted in the Ascetic Ideal.

7.  Another community that had a long list of prohibitions that has been influential on Western culture is the original Quaker community.  In the first about 150 years of the Quaker community, Quaker Meetings where governed by a ‘Book of Discipline’ whose regulations members were expected to adhere to.  The regulations were extensive, including prohibitions on alcohol, novels, regulations regarding clothing (plain dress), regulations of speech, prohibitions on activities related to war including participation in war, prohibitions on gambling, etc.  The idea was to live a life in accordance with their understanding of what God required, no matter how difficult that was.  So their ascetic practices where the result of the application of the principle of a transcendent God as they understood it.  This made Quakers of that period so different from ordinary people around them that they were often considered to be a separate ‘tribe’ or ‘people’.  Modern Quakers no longer adhere to these regulations, except in some dedicated individuals.

8.  The specific practices, or asceses, of the Ascetic Ideal are trainings and, in this way, resemble the training of an athlete (as previously mentioned).  For example, some people who want to become vegetarian may only be able to instantiate that practice to a degree; for example, the people whom they live with might object and refuse to accommodate the change.  Or living a life with minimal possessions might be achieved over many months, even years, as one finds occasions to divest oneself of various things.  There was a period in my life when every Monday I would look at my room and I would commit to finding one thing I could take to a donation store.  I never failed to find something (usually a book I hadn’t read in many years and would never reread).  Over time this reduced my possessions.

In other words, the practice of the Ascetic Ideal is a path, a practice, in a way applying the Ascetic Ideal is a skill, with which the Platonist Practitioner becomes more and more familiar, until it becomes an internalized way of life.

9.  But the Ascetic Ideal is both a path and a realization.  A moment of ascesis is a moment rooted in unity; meaning that as we become more naturally ascetic we more naturally manifest the unity and oneness of our lives because they are less scattered by sensory stimulation.  Many people I have spoken to mention how simplifying their life by reducing possessions felt like losing weight and brought them a sense of peace and calm; not a grand realization, but a sense of everyday focus.  This is one of the results of putting the Ascetic Ideal into practice; the oneness of The One begins to speak to us in small, yet meaningful, ways.