ASCETIC (Gr. askein,to exercise)
A person who leads a life of austere self-discipline, particularly for devotion or penance. Extreme self-abuse, suppression of simple pleasures, celibacy, fasting, “the silence,” eating/drinking disgusting things, and isolation are part of the effort to achieve what is perceived to be a higher state of consciousness.
Related article: “Power Suffering” by Jennifer Egan, New York Times Magazine, May 11, 1999.
In the New Testament, forbidding marriage and certain foods as spiritual practice, “which God created to be received with thanksgiving” is lumped in with “doctrines of demons.” (I Timothy 4:1-8).
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