LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Asceticism
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Asceticism is most commonly associated with monks, yogis or priests... any individual may choose to lead an ascetic life. Lao Zi, Shakyamuni Gautama (who left ascetism to seek a better way of enlightenment), Mahavir Swami, Saint Anthony, Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi and David Augustine Baker can all be considered ascetics. Many of these men left their families, possessions, and homes to live a mendicant life, and in the eyes of their followers demonstrated great spiritual attainment, or enlightenment.
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A[S]ceticism is the practice of austere self-discipline, voluntary undertaken, in order to achieve a higher or spiritual ideal. The term is derived from the Greek askein, which in the time of Homer meant, "to practice an art or skill." Later in Greece the term took on a broader meaning of "exercise"; so the early ascetics were skilled in athletics and the military arts. The various Greek philosophical schools, such as the Pythagoreans (see Pythagoreanism), Stoics, Sophists, and Cynics, used asceticism as a system of moral practices to free men of vices. Plato viewed asceticism as a means of not only conditioning the body but ... conditioning it up to a point at which the soul-the sum total of ideals-could be free. The term seemed to have come into Christian and Western thought through the Hellenistic-Jewish philosopher Philo.
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Asceticism denotes a system of practices that aims at the development of virtue and strength of character through self-denial and mortification. It has been an aspect of most religious traditions and of many philosophies, such as Stoicism. Methods of asceticism generally include exercises such as celibacy, fasting, upright posture, periods of silence, performance of unpleasant tasks, and withdrawal from human companionship. It is thought that these practices gradually free a person's spiritual element from the body's demands. Once control has been achieved, a harmony of the whole person is experienced. Forms of self-mutilation, flagellation, and castration have been used in extreme practices of asceticism.
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Asceticism describes a life characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures (austerity). Those who practice ascetic lifestyles often perceive their practices as virtuous and pursue them to achieve greater spirituality. Many ascetics believe the action of purifying the body helps to purify the soul, and ... obtain a greater connection with the Divine or find inner peace. This may take the form of self-mortification, rituals or renunciations of pleasure. However, ascetics maintain that self-imposed constraints bring them greater freedom in various areas of their lives, such as increased clarity of thought and the ability to resist potentially destructive temptations.
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Asceticism is not to be completely condemned. As previously mentioned every society has taught some form of asceticism to promote self-control within its members. Such social asceticism is justified for social existence. But, the key to its validity is in its function; to teach self-control without which there could be no social structure. This is far different than people practicing asceticism in order to commune with God, or condemning sexuality because they believe it to be sinful. If their reasoning is questioned it soon become fallacious or nonexistent.
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Asceticism is rejected by modern day Judaism; it is considered contrary to God's wishes for the world. God intended for the world to be enjoyed, in a permitted context of course [1]. The Talmud says that "if a person has the opportunity to taste a new fruit and refuses to do so, he will have to account for that in the next world".
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