The conflicting themes of nonviolence and violence in ancient Indian asceticism as evident in the practice of fasting
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Author(s)
Olson, Carl
Date Issued
April 28, 2014
Abstract
In many ancient Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, the path of the ascetic lifestyle
involves an injunction to practice nonviolence, a requirement that conflicts with the
violence that the ascetic inflicts upon him/herself by going naked, clothed in coarse
garments made of discarded cloth, tree bark, or grass, excessive limits on food in-take,
self-mutilation, sleep deprivation, and practicing various forms of extreme austerities in
an effort to gain control over one's body, breathing rhythms, and mind. In spite of
taking a vow of nonviolence, many Indian ascetics inflict painful harm upon their own
bodies that represents a process of marking their bodies, which enables them to create
their own bodies in particular ways that distinguish them from ordinary members of
society by means of practicing their regimen of discipline. These bodily marks or
characteristics make it easy for people within society to recognize their religious
status outside of normal social intercourse and on the margins of Indian culture. A
popular method of marking an ascetic's body is through extreme forms of fasting, a
type of practice pushed to its most excessive extent by the vow to fast unto death
by a Jain ascetic. Using fasting as an example of self-inflicted violence by the Indian
ascetic, helps us to witness that violence and nonviolence are relative concepts because
their degrees of social acceptability differ among religious cultures and even within
particular religions. The relative nature of violence and nonviolence can also be traced
to its acceptability during changing historical periods and circumstances. Even though
violence and nonviolence are relative notions, violence signifies actions that injure,
causes harm or pain, or destroys an object, animal, or person, whereas nonviolence is
relative to other persons, animals, or things.
Journal
International Journal of Dharma Studies
Department
Philosophy & Religious Studies
Citation
Olson: The conflicting themes of nonviolence and violence in ancient Indian asceticism as evident in the practice of fasting. International Journal of Dharma Studies 2014 2:1.
Publisher
SpringerOpen
Version of Article
Published article
DOI
10.1186/2196-8802-2-1
ISSN
2196-8802
Rights
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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