Asceticism and Liberation from Suffering

Through the Peacock's Eyes

There was a news article this week that reported on                                                                 the death of a member of a so-called Buddhist cult in Arizona that practices extreme asceticism, the practice of self-denial, especially of food and water. Asceticism is intended to free one’s Self from earthly desires and to clear the mind for spiritual awakening. However it goes against the Buddhist philosophy of practicing the Middle Way. Going to such extremes makes balance and harmony in body, mind, and soul impossible.

At the age of 29, Siddhartha Gautama left his palace to become an ascetic so that he could understand suffering. After six years of starving himself, he realized that self-mortification and self-violence was not the way to nirvana, the…

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