Ascetism: an endangered value? Mutations of ascetism in contemporary monasticism

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the shifts which are affecting monastic asceticism in modern society. Is monastic asceticism really changing and in which terms? Why has the place of the body in religious virtuosity changed? As religious virtuosity is based on ascetic practices, we cannot consider that monastic life nowadays has totally eschewed asceticism. So we have to understand the new sense given to this traditional religious practice. It seems that both asceticism and the place of the body in monastic life are changing. Rather than a decline of asceticism, it is more accurate to say that its meaning is being redefined and it becomes more intellectual than physical. At the same time, the body acquires a new position: from mortification to self-fulfilment, it becomes a new ally—and no longer an enemy—of monastic life. So, is asceticism an endangered value? Yes, in the sense that it is no longer a religious value, as was proved by monks who said they are not ascetics, or the nun who said that her community lives a ‘non-ascetic asceticism’. However this does not mean that it has disappeared. The practice of asceticism is necessary to religious virtuosity, but the way to practise it and to define it has been changing, and this is contingent on other evolutions of the religious system and of society. The new kind of asceticism which monks are living nowadays is mainly intellectual asceticism.

Katolickie klasztory kontemplacyjne i życie zakonne w Polsce w kontekście turystyki

“…W odróżnieniu od swoich początków, gdy ten model konsekrowanego życia zakładał mistrzostwo w umartwianiu się, życie w zakonie stało się "systematyczną, przemyślaną metodą racjonalnego życia w celu przezwyciężenia status naturae, uwolnienia człowieka od władzy irracjonalnych popędów i podporządkowania supremacji wolnej woli, poddania własnych działań samokontroli i rozważeniu ich etycznego znaczenia" (Weber 2014, s. 85). Ascetyzm towarzyszący życiu monastycznemu od zarania jego początków nadal stanowi ważny jego składnik, przechodząc jednak od cielesnej do bardziej duchowej, intelektualnej dyscypliny (Jonveaux 2011).…”

American Trappist Monasteries and the Changing Spiritual Landscape

“…Both concepts are inextricably linked to the monastic life (Meninger ), but have also been competing ideals in the history of the Trappist order (Merton ). Asceticism has been defined as a tool to discipline the body as a way to focus on the contemplation of God rather than worldly aspects (Merton ; Jonveaux ; Abbruzzese ). Asceticism can include quantitative restrictions in diet (such as fasting or abstaining from meat), reduced sleep, and bodily mortification, which tends to occur less frequently today than in the past (Jonveaux ).…”

“…Asceticism has been defined as a tool to discipline the body as a way to focus on the contemplation of God rather than worldly aspects (Merton ; Jonveaux ; Abbruzzese ). Asceticism can include quantitative restrictions in diet (such as fasting or abstaining from meat), reduced sleep, and bodily mortification, which tends to occur less frequently today than in the past (Jonveaux ). Asceticism, as an embodied practice, may provide useful steps to grow in contemplation, but that is not a guarantee (Merton , ).…”

“…Trappist monks and nuns have described themselves as contemplative in the purest sense of the word (Merton ). Ideally, monasteries are deemed quintessential places for fostering physical solitude and community stability necessary for such interior silence (Jones ; Jonveaux ; Sbardella ). Contemplation, as a significant component of the Trappist spiritual landscape, has had an ambivalent past.…”

Dispositivos Conventuales Y Resocialización Religiosa: Etnografía Del Arte De Hacerse Fraile

“…Como ha mostrado Csordas (1990Csordas ( , 1994Csordas ( , 2011, la experiencia corporizada posibilita más que comprobar el accionar cultural de un cuerpo representado de antemano; analizar la cualidad somática de ser-en-el mundo. Por ejemplo, las recientes investigaciones en monasterios femeninos (Lester, 2003;Jonveaux, 2011Jonveaux, , 2012Khonineva, 2019) señalan cómo existen reinterpretaciones sobre el celibato y la ascesis corporal gracias a la inclusión de nociones seculares sobre el género y la libertad individual. Las monjas de claustro reelaboran la tradición contemplativa del "control" corporal en primacía del espíritu, y construyen concepciones alternativas en donde el cuerpo, las sensaciones, el intelecto y el bienestar forman aspectos claves de la meditación y oraciones monásticas.…”