Asceticism and Its Critics: Historical Accounts and Comparative Perspectives
Oliver Freiberger
Scholars of religion have always been fascinated by asceticism. Some have even regarded this radical way of life-- the withdrawal from the world, combined with practices that seriously affect basic bodily needs, up to extreme forms of self-mortification --as the ultimate form of a true religious quest. This view is rooted in hagiographic descriptions of prominent ascetics and in other literary accounts that praise the ascetic life-style. Scholars have often overlooked, however, that in the history of religions ascetic beliefs and practices have also been strongly criticized, by followers of the same religious tradition as well as by outsiders. The respective sources provide sufficient evidence of such critical strands but surprisingly as yet no attempt has been made to analyze this criticism of asceticism systematically. This book is a first attempt of filling this gap. Ten studies present cases from both Asian and European traditions: classical and medieval Hinduism, early and contemporary Buddhism in South and East Asia, European antiquity, early and medieval Christianity, and 19th/20th century Aryan religion. Focusing on the critics of asceticism, their motives, their arguments, and the targets of their critique, these studies provide a broad range of issues for comparison. They suggest that the critique of asceticism is based on a worldview differing from and competing with the ascetic worldview, often in one and the same historical context. The book demonstrates that examining the critics of asceticism helps understand better the complexity of religious traditions and their cultural contexts. The comparative analysis, moreover, shows that the criticism of asceticism reflects a religious worldview as significant and widespread in the history of religions as asceticism itself is.
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Contents
The Ascetic and the Domestic in Brahmanical Religiosity
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25 |
Epicurus Role in Controversies on Asceticism in European
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43 |
Aryan National Religions and the Criticism of Asceticism
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61 |
Hypocrisy
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91 |
The Caiva Devaluation of Pautta and Caina Asceticism
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117 |
A Critical
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131 |
The Controversy over Self
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153 |
Early Christian Ascetic Practice
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179 |
Patterns
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211 |
Early Buddhism Asceticism and the Politics of the Middle Way
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235 |
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Common terms and phrases
according Adversus Jovinianum Antony arguments Arnulf Aryan ascetic behavior ascetic practices asceticism Athanasius attitude Basil Bernard Bernard of Clairvaux bhikkhus bodhisattva body Brahmanical Buddha Caina monks Caiva Campantar Cathars celibacy century chapter Chinese Christ cism Cistercian context criticism of asceticism culture dhutangas doctrine early Buddhist Early Christian eating elite asceticism Epicureanism Epicurus ethical Evagrius fasting form of asceticism gender Goswin hagiographer Hüsken ideology imitation Indian Jerome Jovinian late antiquity lay brothers lay nuns laypeople lifestyle literature living Mahāyāna martyr martyrdom monastery monastic rules Monasticism monks non-Buddhist ordination Oxford University Press Pāli Pali Text Society Passion Patrick Olivelle Pauttas and Cainas Peter polemics precepts present volume religion religious renunciation ritual Saints sangha Schalk Schroeder sermon severe asceticism sickness social soul Sri Lanka Studies suffering suicide sūtra Syncletica Tamil Tamilakam tapas term tēvāram Theravada tion tradition trans translation Valantasis Vedic Vinaya virginity Wimbush women worldview York
References to this book
Handbuch Armut und Soziale Ausgrenzung Ernst-Ulrich Huster,Jürgen Boeckh,Hildegard Mogge-Grotjahn No preview available - 2008 |