   asceticism (; from the  Ã¡skÄsis, "exercise" or "training") describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. many religious traditions, such as islam, hinduism, buddhism, and jainism advocate restraint with respect to actions of body, speech, and mind. these religions teach that a deeper level of satisfaction and fulfillment is to be found than that offered by sensual pleasures and therefore promote the value of abstaining from these common, ordinary pleasures in the pursuit of acquiring deep inner peace. the founders and earliest practitioners of these religions eschewed worldly pleasures and led an abstemious lifestyle, not as a rejection of the enjoyment of life or because the practices themselves are virtuous, but as an aid in the pursuit of such inner peace. ==etymology== the adjective "ascetic" derives from the ancient greek term askÄsis, which means training or exercise. the original usage did not refer to self-denial, but to the physical training required for athletic events. its usage later extended to rigorous practices that are used in all major religious traditions, in varying degrees to attain redemption and higher spirituality. ==sociological and psychological views== early 20th-century german sociologist max weber made a distinction between innerweltliche and ausserweltliche asceticism, which means (roughly) "inside the world" and "outside the world", respectively. talcott parsons translated these as "worldly" and "otherworldly"âhowever, some translators use "inner-worldly", and this is more in line with inner world explorations of mysticism, a common purpose of asceticism. "inner- or other-worldly" asceticism is practised by people who withdraw from the world to live an ascetic life (this includes monks who live communally in monasteries, as well as hermits who live alone). "worldly" asceticism refers to people who live ascetic lives but do not withdraw from the world. {{quote|text=wealth is thus bad ethically only in so far as it is a temptation to idleness and sinful enjoyment of life, and its acquisition is bad only when it is with the purpose of later living merrily and without care.| sign=max weber{{cite web|last=weber|first=max|title=the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism|chapte
Asceticism Religious_terminology