Home›Ascetic Practices›Scholarly Standing›A standard analytic category in the study of religionBrowse ByA standard analytic category in the study of religionThis page groups practices by how settled their scholarly classification is. Wikipedia notes that "starting about 1920, 'cult' acquired an additional six or more positive and negative definitions," a term whose meaning has shifted considerably. Browsing this way lets a visitor see which practices scholars describe consistently and which remain genuinely contested.FactsLearn MoreA standard analytic category in the study of religionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedDisciplines that withhold something the body wants - food, sleep, comfort, sexual activity, company - undertaken for a religious end. The ends differ: Jain sallekhana, Christian and Buddhist monastic renunciation and Islamic itikaf are not one impulse, and the older reading of asceticism as world-denial has been displaced by treatments that read it as the making of a self. 2StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedPractices 1Learn MoreThe Ascetic Practices This group gathers ascetic practices: disciplines of self-denial and renunciation undertaken for spiritual ends: fasting, celibacy, solitude, poverty, and the mortification of the body. Asceticism appears across the religious world as a means of purification, detachment and the pursuit of holiness. The browser will find ascetic practices from various traditions. The entries describe each practice's form and rationale, noting the tradition that prescribes it and the goal it serves.A standard analytic category in the study of religionFilter Results14 entriesOrigin Period Start YearAll-600 (1)-400 (1)-300 (4)250 (1)530 (1)622 (1)1835 (1)Solitary or CommunalAllPerformed alone (5)Performed alone or together (5)Performed by a gathered group (4)TraditionAllAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church (1)African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (1)Aladura (1)Anabaptism (1)Anglican Communion (2)Anglicanism (2)Armenian Apostolic Church (2)Assyrian Church of the East (1)Baptist (1)Beta Israel (1)Breslov Hasidism (1)Calvinism (Reformed) (1)Chabad-Lubavitch (1)Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (1)Church of Cyprus (2)Church of England (2)Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) (1)Church of Greece (2)Church of Ireland (2)Church of Scotland (1)Church of Sweden (1)Church of the Nazarene (1)Coptic Orthodoxy (2)Digambara (2)Dutch Reformed Church (1)Eastern Orthodoxy (2)Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (2)Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (2)Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (2)Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1)Free Methodist Church (1)Georgian Orthodox Church (2)Global Methodist Church (1)Greek Orthodox Church (2)Haredi Judaism (1)Hasidic Judaism (1)Karaite Judaism (1)Kimbanguist Church (1)Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) (1)Lutheranism (1)Maronite Church (2)Methodism (1)Modern Orthodox Judaism (1)National Baptist Convention of America (1)Nirmala (1)Old Believers (1)Oriental Orthodoxy (2)Orthodox Judaism (1)Presbyterianism (1)Progressive National Baptist Convention (1)Quanzhen (Complete Reality) (1)Roman Catholicism (3)Romanian Orthodox Church (2)Russian Orthodox Church (2)Saint Thomas Christians (1)Serbian Orthodox Church (2)Shakers (1)Shingon (1)Svetambara (2)The Episcopal Church (2)The United Methodist Church (1)Theravada (2)Udasi (1)Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (1)Ukrainian Orthodox Church (2)Vajrayana (1)Wesleyan Church (1)Category of PracticeAllAscetic (2)Sacrificial (1)Who Performs ItAllAll adherents of the tradition (8)Clergy or ordained officiants (1)Initiates only (1)Monastics: monks and nuns (3)Trained or authorised specialists (1)Practice StatusAllHistorical; not practised continuously (3)Living tradition, practised today (10)CadenceAllAnnual (1)As the occasion requires (2)Continuous: a standing discipline, not an event (1)Daily (4)Monthly (2)Once, or at a turning point in a life (1)ObligationAllObligatory (4)Optional and voluntary (1)Recommended and meritorious, not required (5)Undertaken only with authorisation or transmission (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 14Alms round (pindapata)A standard analytic category in the study of religionAutosacrifice (Ritual Bloodletting)A standard analytic category in the study of religionCelibacy / MonasticismA standard analytic category in the study of religionEkadashi observanceA standard analytic category in the study of religionFast Sunday and the Fast OfferingA standard analytic category in the study of religionFastingA standard analytic category in the study of religionGrand SilenceA standard analytic category in the study of religionItikafA standard analytic category in the study of religionKayotsargaA standard analytic category in the study of religionMaunaA standard analytic category in the study of religionRoyal BloodlettingA standard analytic category in the study of religionSallekhana (ritual fast to death)A standard analytic category in the study of religionSokushinbutsuA standard analytic category in the study of religionUpvasA standard analytic category in the study of religionSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Asceticismtier 1Vincent L. Wimbush and Richard Valantasis (eds.), Oxford University Press, 1995View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.