wandering ascetic meaning

The Great Chronicle of Buddhas

by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw | 1990 | 1,044,401 words

This page describes The Story of Subhadda, the Wandering Ascetic contained within the book called the Great Chronicle of Buddhas (maha-buddha-vamsa), a large compilation of stories revolving around the Buddhas and Buddhist disciples. This page is part of the series known as the Buddha Declared the Seven Factors of Non-Decline for Rulers. This great chronicle of Buddhas was compiled by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw who had a thorough understanding of the thousands and thousands of Buddhist teachings (suttas).

Part 46 - The Story of Subhadda, the Wandering Ascetic

At that time Subhadda , a wandering ascetic, was staying at Kusināra. He had heard the news: “Tonight, in the last watch of the night, the Parinibbāna of the Samaṇa Gotama will take place.” Then it occurred to Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, thus: “I have already heard wandering ascetics, teachers, and teachers of teachers, declare that the Homageworthy, Perfectly Self-Enlightened Tathāgatas arise in the world only once in a very long time. Tonight, in the last watch of the night, the Parinibbāna of the Tathāgata Samaṇa Gotama will take place. A certain problem, an uncertainty, has arisen in my mind, and I am fully confident that the Samaṇa Gotama will be able to teach the Doctrine to me so that this uncertainty is cleared.”

Subhadda’s Previous Existence

(Before we discuss the previous existence of Subhadda, the wondering ascetic,) it is useful to know that there are three Subhaddas connected with the life story of Buddha Gotama. There is Subhadda, son of Upaka and Cāpā . And there is Subhadda the bhikkhu , who entered the order of bhikkhus after being a householder, who after the decease of the Buddha, was one of the company of bhikkhus that accompanied the Venerable Mahā Kassapa from Pāvā to Kusināra, who had the affront to declare that since the Buddha was no more, bhikkhus were free to conduct themselves as they pleased. The Subhadda, in our story here, is a wondering ascetic, not a naked ascetic, who came of a well known rich brahmin family, who was the last person that was enlightened in the Teaching of Buddha Gotama.

The reason for Subhadda’s idea to meet the Buddha at the eleventh hour may be due to his past merit which had the potential which entitled him to gain enlightenment only at such a late moment.

The peculiar nature of Subhadda’s past merit will be discussed now. In one of their previous existences, there were two cultivator brothers who were both charitable. But the elder brother had a desire to give in charity at every stage of the cultivation of paddy which had nine different stages. Thus, when the paddy plants were being sown, he set aside some of the seeds for giving away in charity, which he cooked and made a ‘ seed-rice offering ’ of them; when the paddy crop began to turn into rice, he consulted with his younger brother to extract the milky juice of the formative rice and give away in charity. The idea was not acceptable by the younger brother who said: “Brother, why do you wish to spoil the young rice?”

Thereupon, the elder brother, to be able to carry out his desire, divided the field equally with the younger brother and extracted the milky juice of the forming rice from his portion of the field, boiled it with ghee and clear top oil from sesame, and give away in charity as ‘ The earliest-stage rice offering .’ When the rice took solid grain shape, he pounded it and prepared ‘ soft rice-flakes offering ’. When it was time for harvesting, he made ‘ harvestingtime rice offering ’. When bundles of rice plants were made, he selected the earliest bound plants into ‘ bundle-time rice offering ’. When the bundles of rice plants were piled up on the threshing ground, he made the rice from the earliest-piled bundles into ‘ bundled-heap rice offering ’. When the threshing of the bundles began, he selected the first bundles to be threshed, took the rice and made an offering of ‘ threshing-time rice offering ’. After the rice grains were collected from the threshing floor and heaped up, he selected the earliest samples of the heap and made a ‘ paddy-heap rice offering ’. When the rice grains were put into the granary, he took the earliest samples and made a ‘ granary-time rice offering ’. In that manner, he made rice offerings of rice for every cultivating season.

As for the younger brother, he made his rice offering only after the harvested rice was garnered.

In their last existences, the elder brother was reborn as Koṇḍañña in the time of Buddha Gotama. When the Buddha viewed the world: “Who would deserve the privilege of hearing the first sermon?” He saw Kondañña who in his previous existence had made nine various offerings of rice for every cultivating season. Therefore, Koṇḍañña (one of the five ascetics) deserved to have the privilege of hearing the first sermon entitled Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta . Thus Koṇḍañña, who was the first human disciple to realize the Dhamma , was called Añānasi Koṇḍañña——‘Koṇḍañña who has understood,’ who became a stream winner along with eighty crores of Brahmans at the end of the first Sermon.

As for the younger brother, as the result of making late offerings, the thought of seeing the Buddha came to his mind only at the last hour. (Refer to Commentary on Dīgha Nikāya ).

When the time to reap the fruit of his previous merit arrived at last, Subhadda remembered the Buddha. He lost no time to go to the Sal grove.

He approached the Venerable Ānanda and said:

“O Venerable Ānanda, I have heard from elderly wandering ascetics, who are teachers, teachers of teachers, that the Homage-worthy, Perfectly Self-Enlightened Tathāgatas arise in the world only once in a very long time. Tonight, in the last watch of the night, the Parinibbāna of the Samaṇa Gotama will take place, A certain problem, an uncertainty has arisen in my mind, and I am fully confident that the Samana Gotama will be able to teach the Doctrine to me so that this uncertainty is cleared. O Ānanda, pray let me have the chance of seeing the Samaṇa Gotama!”

Thereupon, the Venerable Ānanda reflected thus: “These ascetics, who believe in doctrine other than the Bhagava’s Teaching, cling to their own views only. If the Bhagavā were to explain to this Subhadda at much length to make him forsake his own view, it would only strain the bodily and vocal energies of the Bhagavā, and Subhadda is not likely to renounce his own view. As it is, the Bhagavā is already weary.” So he said: “Friend Subhadda, this is out of the question. The Bhagavā is weary. Do not pester (trouble) him.”

On that reply, Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, bethought himself: “Venerable Ānanda is withholding his assent. But one must be patient to get what one wants.” And so he said for the second time: “O Ānanda,....” the Venerable Ānanda refused again. For the third time Subhadda made his appeal as before. And for the third time Venerable Ānanda refused again.

The Buddha overheard the conversation between Subhadda and Ānanda. Since He had made this exhausting journey to Kusināra for the sake of Subhadda, He called to Venerable Ānanda: “Ānanda, it is not fitting to stop him. Do not prevent Subhadda from seeing Me. Ānanda, let Subhadda have the opportunity to see the Tathāgata. Whatever Subhadda shall ask of Me, he will ask for his information, and not for harassing Me. When I answer what he asks, he will readily understand My answer.”

Then Ānanda said: “Go, friend Subhadda, the Bhagavā has given you permission.”

Then Subhadda approached the Buddha and offered courteous greetings to Him. After exchanging memorable words of felicitation with Him, Subhadda sat in a suitable place.

Then he addressed the Buddha thus:

“O Revered Gotama, there are samaṇas and brāhmanas who have large following, who have adherent sects, who are leaders of their sects, who are renowned, who are proponents of their own doctrines, and who are held in esteem by many people, such as, (i) Pūraṇa Kassapa, (ii) Makkhali Gosāla , (iii) Ajita Kesakambala , (iv) Pakudha Kaccāyana , (v) Sañcaya , son of Belaṭṭha, and (vi) Migaṇṭha, son of Nāṭaputta . Do all of them understand what they maintain as the truth? Or do all of them have no understanding of what they maintain as the truth? Or do some of them understand the truth and some of them do not?"

(Subhadda’s question essentially is about Buddhahood . He asked: “Revered Sir, do Pūraṇa Kassapa and five other religious leaders, who admit themselves to be all-knowing Buddhas , and who are held in high esteem by many people, are really the All-knowing Buddhas? Or are none of them Buddhas? Or are some of them Buddhas while others are not? For if they are really Buddhas the doctrines they preach must lead to liberation from the round of existences. Are all of their doctrines conducive to liberation? Or are none of their doctrines conducive to liberation? Or are some of their doctrines conducive to liberation while others are not?”)

Now, the Buddha’s intention in going to Kusināra was to discourse on the Doctrine to the Malla princes in the first watch of the night, to discourse on the Doctrine to Subhadda in the middle watch of the night, to give admonition to the bhikkhu Sangha in the third watch of the night, and then to realize Parinibbāna at the approach of dawn. In that tight schedule, it would be of no benefit to Subhadda to explain to him about whether the doctrines of the six religious leaders were conducive to liberation or not, and there would be no time for such a discussion. Therefore the Buddha chose to teach Subhadda the Middle Way as contained in the Ariya Path of Eight Constituents which could lead him to liberation.

Accordingly He said:

“Subhadda, do not ask that. Leave aside that question: whether all of those (six religious leaders) know all the truth, whether none of them know all the truth, or whether some of them know all the truth while others do not. “Subhadda, I shall expound to you the Good Doctrine leading to Nibbāna . Listen and pay careful attention. I shall speak in full.” “Very well, Revered Sir,” assented Sabhadda, the wandering ascetic.

And the Buddha gave this discourse:

“Subhadda, in whatever righteous Teaching, the Ariya Path of Eight Constituents is not found, therein there is not found a samaṇa of the first stage, a sotāpannabhikkhu , nor a samaṇa of the second stage, a sakadāgāmī -bhikkhu nor a samaṇa of the third stage, anāgāmī , nor a samaṇa of the fourth stage, an arahat . “Subhadda, in whatever righteous Teaching the Ariya Path of Eight Constituents is found, therein there is found a samaṇa of the first stage (a sotāpanna ), a samaṇa of the second stage (a sakadāgāmī ), a samaṇa of the third stage (an anāgāmin ), and a samaṇa of the fourth stage (an arahat ). “Subhadda, in this righteous Teaching of Mine, there is the Ariya Path of Eight Constituents. In this Teaching alone is found samaṇa of the first stage (a sotāpanna ), a samaṇa of the second stage (a sakadāgāmin ), a samaṇa of the third stage (an anāgāmin ), and a samaṇa of the fourth stage (an arahat ). “All other creeds are devoid of the twelve categories of bhikkhus who comprehend the truth, namely, the four ariyas who have attained magga ; the four ariyas who have attained phala ;and the four Trainees who are cultivating Insight to attain the four stages of Path-knowledge. “Subhadda, if these twelve bhikkhus (practise and) pass on the Teaching rightly, the world will not be void of arahats . “Subhadda, at the age of twenty-nine, I renounced the world and became an ascetic to seek the all-knowing truth (Enlightenment as a Buddha). It is over fifty years now, since I became an ascetic. Outside of this Teaching of Mine, there is no one who cultivates Insight which is the prelude to ariya-magga , there is also no samaṇa of the first stage ( sotāpanna ); there is also no samaṇa of the second stage ( sakadāgāmī );there is also no samaṇa of the third stage ( anāgāmī ); there is also no samaṇa of the fourth stage ( arahat ). “All other creeds are devoid of the twelve categories of bhikkhus (mentioned above) who comprehend the truth. Subhadda, if these twelve bhikkhus (practise and) pass on the Teaching rightly, the world will not be void of arahats .”

Subhadda became A Bhikkhu and attained Arahatship

When this was said by the Buddha, Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, said:

“Venerable sir! Excellent (is the Dhamma)! Venerable Sir! Excellent (is the Dhamma)! It is, Venerable Sir, as if that which has been turned over has been turned up, or as if that which has been hidden is revealed, or as if a lost traveller is told the way, or as if a lamp is lit and held up in a dark place so that those with eyes may see visible objects , even so has the Bhagavā shown the Dhamma to me in various ways. Venerable Sir, I, Subhadda, take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dhamma, I take refuge in the Sangha. Venerable Sir, may I be initiated into the Order in the presence of the Bhagavā; may I receive full admission into the Order.”

When Subhadda made this appeal, the Buddha said:

“Subhadda, if a person, who has been a believer in another faith, wishes to receive initiation and admission into this Order as a bhikkhu , he has to live under probation for four months, and if at the end of the four months, the bhikkhus are satisfied with him, he will be initiated and admitted into the Order. But in this matter, I recognize the difference in individuals (whether a person needs to go on probation or not).”

Subhadda replied:

“Venerable Sir, if a person, having been a believer in another faith and wishing to receive initiation and admission into the Order as a bhikkhu , has to live under probation for four months, and if at the end of the four months the bhikkhus are satisfied and grant him initiation and grant him admission, I'm prepared to live under probation (even) for four years. And at the end of four years, if the bhikkhus are satisfied with me, let them grant me initiation into the Order and raise me to the status of a bhikkhu .”

Then the Buddha said to the Venerable Ānanda: “Well, then, Ānanda, let Subhadda be initiated into the Order.”

“Very well, Venerable Sir,” Ānanda replied.

Then Subhadda said to Venerable Ānanda: “Friend Ānanda, how fortunate you all are, what a boon you all have, that you all have been personally conferred by the Bhagavā the status of close discipleship.”

[Here the actual words used by Subhadda were, ‘that you all have been sprinkled by (or anointed by) the sprinkling of close discipleship.’ This idea of being dubbed a close disciple by the head of the religious Order was, in the religious system of the wandering ascetics, a great honour and privilege.]

Then the Venerable Ānanda took Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, to an appropriate place where he was wetted at the head with water out of a water container, and taught the method of reflecting on the loathsomeness of the body, particularly the group of five parts or aspects of the body with him as the fifth. With the shaving of the head and the face, robing with bhikkhus robes, and administering of the Triple Gem , performed in succession, the initiation was effected. After that Subhadda was brought before the Buddha.

Then the Buddha caused Sāmaṇera Subhadda to be admitted into the Order as a fullfledged bhikkhu and then taught him the appropriate method of meditation. Bhikkhu Subhadda sought seclusion in the Sal grove, went into meditation in the walking posture alone, i.e. walking up and down. With intent mindfulness, and striving arduously, he became an arahat during that very night, as he was endowed with the four Discriminations. Then he went to the Buddha and sat there in worshipping posture.

The Venerable Subhadda became one of the arahats , and he was the last one to become an arahat in the presence of the Buddha.

(Herein, “ the last to become an arahat in the presence of the Buddha ” may mean any one of the following: (i) one who was initiated into the Order during the time of the Buddha, who was admitted into the Order as a bhikkhu after the Buddha’s decease and who learnt Insight meditation, and attained arahatta -phala ; (ii) One who was initiated and admitted into the Order as a bhikkhu during the time of the Buddha who learnt Insight-meditation after the Buddha’s decease and attained arahatta-phala ; (iii) One who was initiated and admitted into the Order as a bhikkhus who learnt Insight-meditation, and attained arahatta-phala after the Buddha’s decease. The Venerable Subhadda was one who was initiated and admitted into the Order, who learnt Insight-meditation and attained arahatta-phala during the time of the Buddha. Thus he was the chief of those who became an arahat in the presence of the Buddha.)

The Story of Subhadda, The Wandering Ascetic, according to The Commentary on The Dhammapada

What is related above about Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, is according to the Mahāvagga Pāli (Dīghanikaya) and the Commentary thereon. The story of Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, as described in the Commentary on the Dhammapada is also briefly related below:

While the Buddha was lying on the couch, the death-bed, in the Sal grove, Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, thought to himself: “I have referred my three questions to wandering ascetics but have not done so to the Samaṇa Gotama because He is young. Now, the Samaṇa Gotama is about to pass away. If I do not ask my questions to Him, I shall have cause to regret later for failure to do so.” Musing thus, he went to the Sal grove where the Buddha was staying and requested the Venerable Ānanda to gain an audience with the Buddha. The Venerable Ānanda refused as related above. However, the Buddha said to Venerable Ānanda: “Ānanda, do not prevent him. Let him put his question to Me.”

Subhadda was accordingly admitted into the Buddha’s private quarters which was screened off from outside. He sat at the foot of the Buddha’s couch and addressed Him thus:

“How is it, Revered Gotama, i) Is it possible for a track to be present in the sky? ii) Is it possible for Samaṇas who can quell the defilements to be present outside of the Teaching of Buddha Gotama? iii) Is it possible for any conditioned thing to remain permanent?

The Buddha answered the above three questions in the negative in the following stanzas:

( 1) Ākāseva padaiṇ natthi samaṇo natthi bāhire papañcābhiratā pajā nippapañcā Tathāgatā ( 2) Ākāseva padaiṇ natthi samaṇo nathi bāhire saṅkhāra sassatā natthi natthi buddhānamiñjitarṃ Subhadda, in the sky, there is no track. Even so, outside the Buddha’s Teaching, there is no bhikkhu (of the twelve categories) who can quell the defilements. All sentient beings, be they devas , humans or Brahmās , take delight in the three factors that tend to prolong saṃsāra , namely, craving, conceit and wrong view. All the Buddhas are free from these factors, (having overcome them at the time of Enlightenment at the foot of the Bodhi tree ) Subhadda, in the sky there is no track. Even so, outside the Buddha’s Teaching, there is no bhikkhu (of the twelve categories) who can quell the defilements. There is no conditioned thing, (i.e. the five aggregates ) that remains permanent. All the Buddhas are unperturbed (either by craving, conceit, or wrong view). At the end of the discourse Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, attained anāgāmī-magga . And the audience that were present also benefited from the discourse.

This is the story of Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, as told in the Commentary on the Dhammapada.

In this matter the two stories may be recompiled in this way:

Subhadda, the wandering ascetic, posed his question as contained in the Mahāvagga Pāli, and after having listened to the Buddha’s answer to it, he further asked the three questions as mentioned in the Dhammapada. After hearing the answers thereto, he became an anāgāmin . Then he became a Buddha’s disciple, was admitted into the Order of Bhikkhus, devoted himself to the Threefold Training , and became an arahat before the Buddha realized Parinibbāna.

Article published on 13 September, 2019

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Wandering, Begging Monks: Spiritual Authority and the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity

Raymond van dam.

Ascetics and monks were always ambiguous figures in early Christianity, usually revered for their uncompromising imitation of biblical commands about obedience and poverty but frequently also feared for their use of violence and as rivals to bishops and other churchmen. Daniel Caner now provides an excellent study of the problem of monasticism in the eastern empire during the later fourth and early fifth centuries. His book highlights the issue of ascetic poverty, and in particular of the wandering monks who survived by begging. Their behavior challenged the authority of bishops, who increasingly identified themselves with cities and who expected to be supported through the resources of their congregations. Caner’s meticulously learned discussion focuses first on itinerant monks in Egypt and Syria and then on the tension between monks and bishops at Constantinople.

In his first chapter Caner discusses the phenomenon of ascetic wanderers in Egypt. In some respects the drifting of these “ships on the open sea” was an extension of older traditions about the benefits of voluntary alienation and solitary withdrawal into the desert. These early ascetic pioneers had been living out Jesus’ recommendation in the Sermon on the Mount to prefer the pursuit of God’s kingdom over daily concerns like food and clothing. Then the practical difficulies of surviving in the harsh desert intruded to challenge the feasability of these ideals, and monastic leaders began to stress instead the benefits of manual labor and living in a cell or a community. Stability was the new ideal, certainly by the early fifth century: “manual labor was being specifically prescribed as an antidote for the impulse to wander around in a spiritual malaise” (p. 40). “Communal necessity and material needs recommended a spiritual life of physical stillness supported by manual labor” (p. 47).

The next chapter surveys the background of asceticism in Syria during the third century. Even though wandering ascetics in Syria would acquire a reputation for their extreme behavior as “grazers” who survived on wild plants in the mountains, later historians still classified them as imitators of Egyptian ascetics. Caner argues instead that already in the third century Syrian Christian communities had admired “covenanters”, who adopted celibacy and poverty but who remained engaged with cities. He then associates, and sometimes identifies, these covenanters with itinerant wanderers. The Acts of Thomas and the pseudo-Clementine Letters to Virgins , both texts from third- century Syria, endorsed “the ministries provided by itinerant ascetics to scattered Christian communities” (p. 66). By respecting the proper norms of ascetic conduct in cities, these wanderers could present themselves as the true heirs of the apostles.

But in Syria too ascetics withdrew from cities, and wandering ascetics became suspect. In his third chapter Caner discusses the controversy over so-called Messalians or Euchites. The ideals and behavior of these “People Who Pray” were clearly rooted in the apostolic model of proper Christian asceticism, and they certainly continued to flourish. Various texts from Syria pointedly recommended “that ascetics who devoted themselves to the spiritual work of prayer and edification merited support from other members of the Christian community” (p. 114). But according to Caner, such wanderers were soon the victims of “the Eastern crystallization of a conflict that arose between church officials and ascetic laymen all around the Mediterranean in the late fourth and early fifth centuries” (p. 86). The notorious heresy-hunter Epiphanius criticized “Massalians” for their wandering, their idleness, their rejection of manual labor, and their reliance instead on begging. Church councils then reinforced this image by associating Messalians with heretical doctrines. As a result, Messalians became the prototypical Others, to “be understood as a polemical construction rather than a historical reality” (p. 101).

Alexander the Sleepless, the subject of the next chapter, was one such itinerant ascetic who suffered from this new taxonomy of orthodoxy and heresy. His career is known primarily through a marvelous Life , which Caner translates in an appendix. Alexander and his supporters were so devoted to absolute poverty and nonstop praying (in shifts), that his biographer characterized him as an “apostolic man.” After roaming for decades in the steppes of eastern Syria he moved to Constantinople. In the mid-420s magistrates expelled him for what they considered to be his Messalian leanings. Bishops also condemned him, in part because he was a competitor for the limited resources of their ecclesiastical communities: “rival claims to apostolic identity, privilege, and authority were at stake in this contention over material support” (p. 154).

The fifth chapter discusses the wider issue of wandering, begging monks as “a threat to the reputation of monasticism itself” (p. 159). Churchmen were encouraging people to show their generosity to the crowds of ordinary vagrants and beggars. But because ascetics competed with these “involuntary poor” for alms, at Ancyra Nilus fretted about idle monks as parasites who were abusing their spiritual vocation. At Constantinople John Chrysostom finally confronted monks for what he called their grasping greediness. They in turn supported his deposition from the episcopacy. “Chrysostom’s sermons indicate that the real problem lay in rival claims for the city’s spiritual leadership: who had a legitimate claim to the laity’s support through alms, and for what reason?” (p. 195).

In the final chapter Caner discusses one attempt at resolution. In the decades following John Chrysostom’s exile monks remained so influential at the capital that Dalmatius supported the deposition of bishop Nestorius, and Eutyches was able to line up the patronage of the emperor Theodosius II for the deposition of bishop Flavianus. Flushed with his success, Eutyches was even hailed as “bishop of bishops.” Then his patron Theodosius died in an accident. At the Council of Chalcedon in 451 hundreds of bishops met to define both correct doctrine and a proper ecclesiastical hierarchy. One of their canons specifically put monks under bishops’ control and condemned rogue monks who wandered indiscriminately in cities: “the measures taken at Chalcedon seem to have inaugurated a new era of unity in church and monastic relations in the imperial city” (p. 241).

Caner’s discussion of these developments is sometimes a bit too compact and dense for ready comprehension, but always very sensible and intelligent. One sign of a book’s excellence is its capacity to raise more issues. One concerns wider attitudes toward manual labor and the relationship between begging and wealth. An underdeveloped agrarian economy produced only a comparatively small surplus, and much of that went to the state. Most people were born to a poverty in which only constant labor ensured survival. Wealthy notables, in contrast, had developed a lifestyle of leisured retirement and intellectual pursuits which certainly did not include manual labor. The necessity of manual labor therefore represented not so much the imposition of hard work, as the absence of power, and monks who depended on alms, either through begging or through the regular generosity of patrons, had found a new way of acquiring power. Begging had the same result as great wealth: no need for manual labor. A life of begging was the poor man’s version of a wealthy aristocrat’s life of otiose retirement.

A second issue concerns the obsession with stability. Once bishops exerted their authority, they redefined proper monasticism in terms of enclosure and isolation. At the same time in the later fourth and early fifth centuries the imperial court and its generals were trying to cope with the arrival of new barbarian groups. They too worried about invasions and wanderings, and they too hoped to settle these wandering barbarians in permanent reservations. Movement, whether by itinerant monks or marauding barbarians, was a threat to institutionalized authority, as the emperors struggled to retain their influence and the bishops to enhance theirs. Emperors thought of the Goths as “wild animals who had broken their cages,” while the ascetics who grazed in mountain pastures were seen as “animals, no longer human in the way they thought” (p. 52). The presence of both wandering monks and wandering barbarians forced a redefinition of the exact meaning of civilization.

A final issue is the notion of orthodoxy. As Caner notes, in many respects these itinerant monks were fanatically loyal to Jesus’ command to forget about food, clothing, and family. Their opponents may have cited the apostle Paul’s injunction about the important of manual labor, but this life of wandering could clearly claim equally powerful biblical support. The resolution of this conflict thus represented the confluence of social and cultural concerns and was not simply a consequence of biblical exegesis or spiritual preferences. Caner’s book is a wonderfully effective demonstration that defining orthodox monasticism, like defining orthodox theology, is an aspect not of narrowly focused theological studies, but of more expansive cultural studies.

Religion 100Q: Hinduism Project

A Student Blog about Aspects of Hinduism

The Phases of Life (Third and fourth)

Benedict Wong Dr. Gowler Religion 100Q – 01J 24 November 2015

Hinduism has been shown to have a progressive tension between sacrificial religion to obtain a fortunate rebirth, and renunciation to secure liberation from rebirth. The ideals of renunciation to secure liberation from rebirth has been growing in popularity. This is a result of the Brahmin orthodoxy, which can be seen in the pursuit of the four goals of life.

The four goals of life that are deemed worthy of pursuit are (1) Dharma , (2) artha , (3) Kama, (4) moksha . The four stages of life, mainly for the men of the household are (1) sisya , or brahmacarya , (2) Grihastha , (3) vanaprastha , and (4) samnyasa . These categories complement each other, and link with the samskara system, giving a framework for the lives of an orthodox Hindu.

Very briefly, the first phase of life is the Brahmacharya , or the celibate student. This is the phase of formal education, and it lasts until a man’s mid-twenties. During this period, the student is supposed to prepare for his future profession, family, and other social and religious obligations. The second phase of life is the Grihastha , or the married family man. This phase is when the man is supposed to get married and earn a living supporting his family. At this stage of life, Hinduism supports the pursuit of wealth ( artha ), and the indulgence in sexual pleasures ( kama ). The second phase of life is supposed to last until the male is about fifty years old, or, according to the Laws of Manu, when a ma’s skin wrinkles and his hair turns gray. At that point, the man should move to the third phase of life. However, many men have trouble moving on past the second phase as they do not want to change their lifestyle to one of asceticism.

Vanaprastha is the third phase of life and is known as the retired life phase, or as the forest hermit phase. This phase of life occurs around the retirement age of 48 to 72 years old. Another way to determine when the householder has entered the third phase of life is when his children have children of their own, as tradition recommends the man to enter into his period of retirement. The man is “expected to retire from family and social life, give up his work, wealth and possessions, and retreat to the forest as a forest hermit to live a more spiritual life.

This phase of life is also known as the forest hermit because vanaprastha splits into residence ( prastha ) in the forest ( vana ). It is at this point of the man’s life that he is encouraged to relinquish his possessions and wealth to his wife and children. He has to bequeath his possessions to them because they have greater material needs as they are going through their first and second phases of life. The man is entering the third phase of life then moves out and proceeds to live in a hut in the forest. In the forest, the man is supposed to read scriptural texts and learn from sagely renouncers.

Granted the man’s wife may follow the husband into the third phase of life and follow him into his hermit life. The life of the hermit is supposed to be a celibate one. However, the wife could engage in some social and conjugal relationships with her husband. The physical relationship with the wife would only be transitional as the male in the hermit phase is supposed to “down one’s preoccupations with kama and artha , in the ultimate pursuit of moksha. The third phase is a transitional phase in the householder’s life – the transition from materialistic pursuits to spiritual liberation. If the man’s wife were to follow him into his hermit life, she would ultimately be limited to menial daily tasks such as preparing meals. Also, though the man is supposed to be completely cut off from this family, he can still seek advice from family members if it is necessary.

It is not common for the modern Hindu to enter this stage of life. Most elderly Hindus will continue to live in their family homes with their children. There are, however, quite a few who retire to the hermitage (asrama) of a well-regarded religious teacher, or to relocate to a town with some religious renown. Banaras, a place once known as the Forest of Bliss, is still a popular retirement site, although it is mostly urban now. Further, the modern retired Hindu men and women may go on occasional pilgrimages to different religious sites. They may visit these different religious sites, taking up abode in asramas in places such as Tiruvannamalai , or Pondicheri , or Haridvar or Rishikesh , for weeks at a time.

The fourth phase of life is Sannyasin. This phase is also known as the wandering ascetic or renouncer phase. This phase is traditionally seen as the last part of a man or woman’s life. However, to the modern practicing Hindus, a young person can choose to skip the householder and retirement stage to renounce straight away worldly and materialistic desires. That young person can then dedicate the rest of their lives to spiritual pursuits, particularly moksha. The fourth phase of life is not one that is regularly practiced anymore.

Traditionally, the Samnyasins are expected to leave their family and loved ones and perform their death rites. They are supposed to burn their sacred threads, abandon the household fire, and wander the world in search for the final and highest goal: Liberation or moksha. A renouncer must ignore his consciousness and impulses of “I” and “my,” and must cut himself loose from the limitations of individuality.

The man that just renounced all of his possessions is expect to wear rag robes, “traditionally dyed in a saffron hue to conceal stains.” There are no formal requirements for the lifestyle or spiritual discipline on the methods of the renouncer. The lack of requirement has led to a wide variety of practices for those that do go through the last stage of life. However, there are some common themes. The only possessions that the renouncer is allowed to carry is a staff for support of their old age, and a bowl into which they have different householders donate food and give offerings. Also, renouncers are expected to be constantly on the move. They are nomadic ascetics because they need to avoid remaining too long in one site so as to not develop any attachments to particular places or to take the generosity or companionship of particular persons. For some, the path of renunciation is a form of severe asceticism

The behavioral state of a person attempting the fourth phase of life can be found in the Bhagavad Gita. For example, in hymn 5.3, “One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, free from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty-armed Arjuna.” The hymn is discussing the ultimate goal of liberation

Other characteristics of the person renouncing include non-violence, disarmament, chastity, non-desirous behaviors, poverty, self-restraint, truthfulness, kindness to all living beings, non-stealing, non-acceptance of gifts, non-possessiveness, and purity of speech and mind. These characteristics, however, are not exclusive to the fourth phase of life. They should be sought after throughout an individual’s entire lifetime.

The ultimate goal of the renouncer is to attain moksha or liberation. The definition of liberation, however, differs from traditions. For Yoga traditions, for example, liberation is experiencing the highest Samadhi, or deep awareness in this life. Being a renouncer is ultimately a means to decrease and ending ties of all kind. Granted some people see renouncers as people who abandon society and live a reclusive life. However, renouncers are rejecting the ritual mores of the social world and one’s attachment to materialistic desires. If the renouncer succeeds, the end is a liberated, free, and blissful existence.

Transitioning from the second phase of life to the third is an extremely challenging task. It is difficult to renounce all of one’s possessions and simply become a recluse, especially for the modern Hindus, after spending half a lifetime building one’s wealth. Further, leaving a family behind to pursue religious ambitions can be close to impossible if one is not fully committed to the religion. However, if one can successfully transition into the third phase of life, the transition into the fourth and final phase of life would be must smoother.

Further, transitioning from the third phase of life to the fourth is even more difficult. However, if the recluse is successful in that he can separate himself from all worldly possessions, he may find it easier coping with life as an ascetic. Also, if the renouncer can attain moksha or liberation, the benefits greatly outweigh the costs of living an ascetic life. After all, the final goal of having a liberated, free, and blissful existence is the reason people follow the religion in the first place.

Works cited:

• Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World’s Religions . 6th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
• Fowler, Jeaneane D. Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices . Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1997. Print.
• Stevenson, Sinclair. The Rites of the Twice-born . New Delhi: Oriental Reprint; Exclusively Distributed by Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1971. Print.
• Rodrigues, Hillary. Introducing Hinduism . New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006. Print.
• Morgan, Kenneth W. The Religion of the Hindus . New York: Ronald, 1953. Print.
• “Bhagavad Gita 5.3.” The Bhagavad Gita with Commentaries of Ramanuja Madhva Shankara and Others Bhagavad Gita 53 Comments . N.p., 13 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.

One thought on “The Phases of Life (Third and fourth)”

Things to remember: Retiree: stage that comes often after grandchildren. May retire/separate (various levels are options) to focus on religious matters. Renunciant (sannyasin): An option for people after retirement. Orange robe denoting celibacy. Pilgrim.

Comments are closed.

What is Asceticism? Bible Meaning and Practice Today

In the Christian context, an ascetic can be seen as a "spiritual athlete" training their discipline and disposition of heart to cultivate virtue and faith within themselves with the help of God.

What is Asceticism?

Ascetic as a noun is defined as "a person who dedicates his or her life to a pursuit of contemplative ideals and practices extreme self-denial or self-mortification for religious reasons."

As an adjective, ascetic means " relating to asceticism, the doctrine that one can reach a high spiritual state through the practice of extreme self-denial or self-mortification."

The adjective "ascetic" originates from the ancient Greek term askēsis , which means "training" or "exercise." In the Christian context, an ascetic is like a "spiritual athlete" training their discipline and disposition of heart to cultivate virtue and faith within themselves. Traditionally, the ascetic "exercises" of the faith include daily prayers, Bible reading, fasting, almsgiving, and church services.

Ascetic Self-Denial

Self-mortification may sound grim. However, it simply means to deny our self-will to follow the commandments of Christ. As Christ said in Matthew 16:24 ,  "Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." 

Here are more Bible verses that mention self-denial to follow Christ and live by His teachings:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." ~ Luke 14:26

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God , who loved me and gave himself for me." ~ Galatians 2:20

"And He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:15

Asceticism in Practice

Asceticism is the practice of the denial of physical or psychological desires to attain a spiritual purpose or goal. Hardly any religion has been without elements of asceticism.

The roots of asceticism related to the training and development of the human physique, as stated by Brittanica.com:

The origins of asceticism lie in man’s attempts to achieve various ultimate goals or ideals: development of the “whole” person, human creativity, ideas, the “self,” or skills demanding technical proficiency. Athletic askēsis (“training”), involving the ideal of bodily fitness and excellence, was developed to ensure the highest possible degree of physical fitness in an athlete.

For Christianity, asceticism relates to the body, mind, and soul. Christian asceticism is the practice of self-denial (i.e., control of one's passions and base impulses) to overcome our fallen nature with the help and grace of God. 

"Do not think about or do anything without a spiritual purpose, whereby it is done for God. For If you travel without purpose, you shall labor in vain." ~ St. Mark the Ascetic

The Importance of Asceticism Today

The Christian ascetic takes on the challenge of sorting out things that can become passions and separates himself or herself from allowing them to take ownership of his mind and heart. Whatever enslaves you owns you. Therefore, if you are serious about giving yourself to Christ, you must be free to do so. Practicing asceticism is identifying the worldly attachments that preclude our devotion and allegiance to Christ and laboring to overcome them. You must replace these earthly passions with things profitable for faith, hope, and love, such as prayer, Bible reading, family gatherings, attending church, charity, etc.

"For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." ( Romans 8:7-8 )

Christian Quotes on Asceticism

"Let all involuntary suffering teach you to remember God, and you will not lack occasion for repentance." ~  St. Mark the Ascetic

"In truth there is only one freedom - the holy freedom of Christ, whereby He freed us from sin, from evil, from the devil. It binds us to God. All other freedoms are illusory, and false. That is to say, they are all, in fact, slavery." ~ St. Justin Popovich

4 Ways Christian Faith Shatters Mental Health Myths and Builds Hope

“It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.” ~  Diogenes of Sinope

"Do not claim to have acquired virtue unless you have suffered affliction, for without affliction, virtue has not been tested." ~  St. Mark the Ascetic

“If there is no element of asceticism in our lives, if we give free rein to the desires of the flesh (taking care of course to keep within the limits of what seems permissible to the world), we shall find it hard to train for the service of Christ. When the flesh is satisfied it is hard to pray with cheerfulness or to devote oneself to a life of service which calls for much self-renunciation.” ~  Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  The Cost of Discipleship

Asceticism in the Bible

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and his pride in possessions—comes not from the Father but from the world”  ~ 1 John 2:15

"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." ~ 2 Timothy 3:1-5

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ~ Matthew 6:16-18

"And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed." ~ Acts 14:23

Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ~ 1 Corinthians 7:5

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ~ 1 Timothy 6:12

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. ~ 2 Timothy 2:5

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ~ 2 Timothy 4:7

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. ~ 1 Corinthians 9:24

Sources: Asceticism - Brittanica.com The Ascetic and the Mystic -  oca.org

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Buddhism and Asceticism

Introduction, general overviews.

• Life of the Buddha
• Primary Texts
• Gender and Asceticism
• Forest Monasticism
• Asceticism and Healing
• Ascetic and Contemplative Practices
• Comparative Studies and General Overviews
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Buddhism and Asceticism by Liz Wilson LAST REVIEWED: 10 March 2015 LAST MODIFIED: 10 March 2015 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393521-0206

Asceticism consists of practices of self-discipline undertaken voluntarily in order to achieve a higher state of being. Buddhism has an interesting, rather ambivalent relation to asceticism. It is a movement that places the principle of moderation among the key doctrines of the tradition. And yet in many cultural contexts, it is the most ascetic individual who is the most revered. Moreover, there is another paradox with regard to asceticism. Those who seek to practice an ascetic path often go out of their way to locate themselves far from the secular world. And yet the further ascetics go in order to be alone, the more people try to beat a path to their door. Asceticism has long been a powerful tool in the history of South Asian religions. Buddhism arose in India at a time when a number of non-Vedic ascetic movements were gaining adherents. The Jain community is especially noteworthy as an example of a group that focused intently on asceticism. Such groups were known as śramanic traditions (derived from a Sanskrit term that means “striving”); they offered a variety of psycho-somatic disciplines by which practitioners could experience states transcending those of conditioned existence. Although the ascetic disciplines these groups practiced drew on the vocabulary of Vedic religious practice, they explored realms that had not been traced in Vedic texts. Scholars such as Johannes Bronkhorst ( Bronkhorst 1993 , cited under General Overviews ) have argued that many ascetic ideas that rose to prominence around the time of the Buddha came from outside the Vedic fold. Accounts of the Buddha’s quest for awakening depict the bodhisattva engaging in ascetic disciplines common to many śramanic groups of his time. The most prominent form of asceticism practiced by the early Buddhist community is the Dhutangas. Theravāda contexts speak of thirteen dhutaṅga : wearing patchwork robes recycled from cast-off cloth, wearing no more than three robes, going for alms, not omitting any house while going for alms, eating at one sitting, eating only from the alms-bowl, refusing all further food, living in the forest, living under a tree, living in the open air, living in a cemetery, being satisfied with any humble dwelling, and sleeping in the sitting position (without ever lying down). Mahāyāna texts mention twelve ascetic practices (called dhutaguṇa ). They are the same as the Theravada list except they omit two rules about eating and add a rule about wearing garments of felt or wool. Several of the thirteen dhutaňga are virtual emblems of the sangha in Theravāda countries. For example, at the end of Theravāda ordination ceremonies, members of the sangha are instructed in the four ascetic customs known as the four “resorts” (Pali, nissaya ): begging for alms, wearing robes made from cast-off rags, dwelling at the foot of a tree, and using fermented cow urine as medicine (as opposed to more palatable medicines). These four practices, often mentioned in canonical texts, undoubtedly go back to the beginnings of Buddhism in India.

Because asceticism involves a range of behaviors that relate to many key topics in Buddhist studies, there is a wide range of sources. Freiberger 2006 and Wilson 2004 provide the reader with a sense of the broad contours of the topic, while the other sources mentioned are largely comparative studies or works dealing with asceticism as an aspect of another topic. Bronkhorst 1993 explores the two different cultural realms that contributed to the rise of asceticism in ancient India. Ashraf 2013 deals with the architecture of ascetic dwellings in a comparative manner. Cakraborti 1973 covers a vast amount of material from various ancient Indian ascetic traditions. Ishwaran 1999 does not provide a general overview of all Buddhist asceticism but is helpful on the general context of asceticism in China. Shiraishi 1996 focuses on the Dharmashastra texts (works on human conduct integral to the formation of Hindu law codes) and compares ascetic paths found there to early Buddhism ascetic practices. Wiltshire 1990 deals with royal modes of asceticism in ancient India.

Ashraf, Kazi K. The Hermit’s Hut: Architecture and Asceticism in India . Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2013.

Draws heavily (but not exclusively) on Buddhist materials. Reflects on the relationship of architecture and asceticism, with emphasis on the hermit’s hut.

Bronkhorst, Johannes. The Two Sources of Indian Asceticism . Bern and New York: Peter Lang, 1993.

Examines the rise of asceticism in ancient India with attention to contributions from Vedic sources as well as extra-Vedic sources.

Cakraborti, Haripada. Asceticism in Ancient India in Brahmanical, Buddhist, Jaina and Ajivika Societies . Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1973.

A massive work, a portion of which is dedicated to Buddhist asceticism.

Flood, Gavin D. The Ascetic Self: Subjectivity, Memory, and Tradition . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511617522

A thoughtful theoretical work with illustrative examples from Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

Freiberger, Oliver. “Early Buddhism, Asceticism, and the Politics of the Middle Way.” In Asceticism and Its Critics: Historical Accounts and Comparative Perspectives . Edited by Oliver Freiberger, 235–255. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Assesses the place of asceticism in early Buddhism by reference to the dhutaṅga/dhutaguṇa practices and speculates about how the doctrine of the Middle Way developed.

Ishwaran, K., ed. Ascetic Culture: Renunciation and Worldly Engagement . Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1999.

This edited volume brings together a variety of papers. Not much material on Buddhism is included, but the volume does include one chapter on China and another chapter on the 19th- and 20th-century revival of Buddhism in South Asia.

Shiraishi, Ryokai. Asceticism in Buddhism and Brahmanism: A Comparative Study . Tring, UK: Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1996.

Compares Buddhist and Brahmanical modes of asceticism, with a bit more attention paid to the latter than the former.

Wilson, Liz. “Ascetic Practices.” In Encyclopedia of Buddhism . Vol. 1. Edited by Robert E. Buswell Jr., 280–281. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004.

A brief but useful overview of the topic.

Wiltshire, Martin. Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha . Berlin and New York. Mouton de Gruyter, 1990.

DOI: 10.1515/9783110858563

Deals with the origins and nature of renunciatory asceticism in ancient India, especially that espoused by kings. Focuses on the figure of the pacceka-buddha , a sagely ascetic figure that Wiltshire considers to have been the basis for the development of Buddhism.

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Asceticism (Hinduism)

• Living reference work entry
• First Online: 08 December 2018
• Cite this living reference work entry

• Ramdas Lamb 5  

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Indian Religions ((EIR))

77 Accesses

Austerity ; Renunciation ; Self-denial ; Tapasya

Introduction

Asceticism refers to a lifestyle and/or a set of practices in which restrictions and limits are placed on the sensually pleasurable and comfortable experiences that most people consider integral to a happy life. The practices involve restrictions on a single or on multiple forms of pleasurable experiences along with the things that generate them. Ascetic practices may be undertaken for short periods, such as a day to a month, or longer term, including for the remainder of one’s life. Short-term ascetic practices can be found in indigenous cultures all over the world, usually done by shaman as part of rituals performed to communicate with the spirit world or overcome demonic forces and influences or by commoners as a form of penance for angering a deity, as a form of supplication in order to have one’s desires fulfilled, for ritual purification, etc. ([ 5 ], p. 441). Short-term forms of asceticism are traditionally...

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Ramdas Lamb

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Lamb, R. (2019). Asceticism (Hinduism). In: Jain, P., Sherma, R., Khanna, M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_90-1

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Definition of ascetic

Did you know.

If you’ve been refraining from adding ascetic to your vocabulary, it’s time to let your hair down and live a little ! In other words, be the opposite of ascetic. Ascetic comes from askētikos , a Greek adjective meaning “laborious,” and its earliest meaning in English implies the labor involved in abstention from pleasure, comfort, and self-indulgence as a spiritual discipline. These days, ascetic is also used to describe anyone or anything demonstrating marked restraint, plainness, or simplicity, even when no appeals to the divine or spiritual are attached, making it not unlike another adjective with connections to ancient Greece: spartan .

severe , stern , austere , ascetic mean given to or marked by strict discipline and firm restraint.

severe implies standards enforced without indulgence or laxity and may suggest harshness.

stern stresses inflexibility and inexorability of temper or character.

austere stresses absence of warmth, color, or feeling and may apply to rigorous restraint, simplicity, or self-denial.

ascetic implies abstention from pleasure and comfort or self-indulgence as spiritual discipline.

Examples of ascetic in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ascetic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Greek askētikos , literally, laborious, from askētēs one that exercises, hermit, from askein to work, exercise

1646, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Articles Related to ascetic

'Ascetic' vs. 'Aesthetic'

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“Ascetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ascetic. Accessed 10 May. 2024.

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Wandering Monks, Virgins, and Pilgrims

Ascetic Travel in the Mediterranean World, A.D. 300–800

Maribel Dietz

$34.95 | Paperback Edition ISBN: 978-0-271-05210-6

280 pages 6" × 9" 2005

“This is a fine book and a good read. I can’t think of anything else that explores in such an original way the themes of pilgrimage and early asceticism from the age of Constantine to that of Charlemagne.” —Constance Berman, University of Iowa

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Much of this early Christian religious travel was not focused on a particular holy place, as in the pilgrimage of later centuries to Rome, Jerusalem, and Santiago de Compostela. Rather, the inspiration was more practical. Travel was a way of escaping hostility or social pressures or of visiting living and dead holy people. It was also a means of religious expression of homelessness and temporary exile. The wandering lifestyle mirrored an interior journey, an imitation of Christ and a commitment to the Christian ideal that an individual is only temporarily on this earth.

Women were especially attracted to religious travel. In the centuries before the widespread cloistering of women, a life of itinerancy offered an alternative to marriage and a religious vocation in a society that excluded women from positions of spiritual leadership.

Eventually, ascetic travel gave way to full-fledged pilgrimage. Dietz explores how and why religious travel and monasticism diverged and altered so greatly. She examines the importance of the Cluniac reform movement and the creation of the pilgrimage center of Santiago de Compostela in the emergence of a new model of religious travel: goal-centered, long-distance pilgrimage aimed not at monks but at the laity.

“Maribel Dietz has captured the religious facets of a Late Antique world filled with movement, where administrative, legal, and strategic expectations already depended on complex systems of lodging, supply, and transportation. The resulting scenes of bustle and fatigue, of loneliness and excitement—the indispensable basis for more symbolic and imaginative displacement—carry us from the age of Constantine through the periods of barbarian settlement and Islamic expansion. The author is as careful as her sources in distinguishing between mere restlessness and a disciplined rejection of security. Spain provides a paradigm; the special interest of women is acknowledged; and a rich context is supplied for the familiar but narrower phenomenon of pilgrimage. To read the book is to embark on a fresh and exhilarating journey.” —Philip Rousseau, Catholic University of America

“Dietz’s book is amply researched and handsomely written. In it one meets some of the most influential figures in the history of Christianity.” —Joseph Shatzmiller, International History Review

“Dietz provides a counterpart to the apparent single-minded scholarly focus on pilgrimage to holy sites as the only ‘religiously motivated travel.’ This volume is essential reading for anyone interested in early Christian travel around the Mediterranean world.” —Kim Haines-Eitzen, Religious Studies Review

Maribel Dietz is Associate Professor of History at Louisiana State University.

Introduction

1. The Culture of Movement

2. Early Iberian Religious Travelers: Egeria, Orosius and Bachiarius

3. Monastic Rules and Wandering Monks

4. Women and Religious Travel

5. Travel and Monasticism on the Iberian Peninsula

6. Post-Islamic Monastic Travel

Bibliography

In a letter of A.D. 399 to Oceanus, Jerome says of the travels of the Roman widow Fabiola, “Rome was not large enough for her compassionate kindness. She went from island to island, and traveled round the Etruscan Sea, and through the Volscian province . . . where bands of monks have taken up their home, bestowing her bounty either in person or by the agency of holy men of faith.” Eventually, and predictably, Fabiola sailed to Jerusalem. Though Jerome urged her to stay in the East, she instead wanted to resume her travels, living out of her “traveling baggage . . . a stranger ( peregrina ) in every city.” Fabiola did not take Jerome’s advice, but instead followed another path, one that others before her, including many women, had followed. She left Jerusalem and resumed her travels, eventually returning to her home in Rome. Once again, Jerome states that she wanted to escape—she felt confined, and this time, against the advice of her Roman friends, she departed with a wealthy widower, Pammachius, and set up a xenodochium, a hostel for travelers, in Ostia, which quickly became popular and attracted huge crowds.

Remarkable though her story is, Fabiola was not alone or even exceptional in combining travel and monastic life during late antiquity. Jerome’s account of Fabiola’s travels, her patronage of monks, and her foundation of a xenodochium is but one window into the world of late antique monastic travel. Her story hints at the riches that an exploration of the origins and development of Christian religious travel in the West might uncover. The relationship between monasticism and travel seems at first to be one of opposition, especially when seen in light of the Regula Benedictina and its precursor, the Regula Magistri, with their attacks on wandering monks. Further study, however, reveals a broad intersection of early monastic practices and itinerancy. This book explores that intersection, the world of men and women, such as Fabiola, who traveled and promoted travel for religious reasons, as a form of monasticism, with the belief that there was spiritual meaning in the itineracy itself. Though pilgrimage is a more familiar mode of Christian religious travel, and the one that eventually eclipsed all others, it was in a monastic milieu that religious travel first claimed an essential place within Christianity.

Between the fourth and the eighth centuries there were many incentives leading the Christian toward a life of movement. Escape from hostility, escape from social pressures, escape from the mundane, and the urge to commune with holy men and women, both living and dead—these were all motives for travel. The life of movement that could result from these motives came to constitute a special form of monastic spirituality derived from a quest for the ascetic qualities of the state of detachment, detachment from homeland and from family. Douglas Burton-Christie traces this theme of exile and detachment in the early formation of desert monasticism in his seminal work on the essential role of scripture and the monastic urge to become the embodiment of scripture.

Evidence from a wide variety of sources points to the special religious value placed on travel by monks and other religious figures. Monasticism in late antiquity was itself a loosely defined, multifaceted phenomenon that incorporated a wide variety of ascetic practices. Among the monastic practices that arose during this period and in the absence of a commonly accepted paradigm of monastic behavior were a variety of forms of religious travel. Much of this early Christian religious travel focused not on a particular holy place, but rather on travel as a practical way of visiting living and dead holy people, and as a means of religious expression of homelessness and temporal exile. The theme of travel and pilgrimage to living holy people has recently been explored by Georgia Frank. Although her travelers are not monastic, the phenomenon of this sort of travel in Egypt helps to create a richer picture of religious travel in late antiquity, one that contains a multiplicity of meanings and practices. Though often criticized by contemporaries, monastic travel was clearly a reality of the late antique world.

Monastic travel mirrored an interior journey or quest on both an individual level, the journey of the soul toward God and heavenly Jerusalem, and on the level of the church as a whole, as manifested in Augustine’s notion of the City of God’s journey on Earth. This mirroring quality of the inward journey attracted many early Christians. Travel was viewed as an imitation of the life of Christ, a literal rendering of the life of a Christian, a life only “temporarily on this earth.” One was a wanderer until death, and with death eternal life in the Christian’s true homeland, heavenly Jerusalem. This idea was echoed by Orosius, Augustine’s famous letter carrier and himself a long-distance traveler, when he wrote, “I enjoy every land temporarily as my fatherland, because what is truly my fatherland and that which I love, is not completely on this earth.”

The idea of perpetual pilgrimage, although in an allegorical form, is also found in the writings of the Church Fathers, who used it, curiously enough, to denigrate itinerant spirituality of the terrestrial sort. Authors such as Augustine, Jerome, and much later, Bede pointed to the notion of the spiritual “homelessness” of the Christian, whose true home was in the heavenly paradise, the idea that all Christians were always temporary sojourners on earth. Implicit and sometimes explicit in these discussions was a critique of those who took the image of homelessness ad literam by traveling constantly. Physical travel also served as a corporeal metaphor for spiritual progress and movement, with the journey itself reflecting the spiritual growth of the traveler. Augustine uses this metaphor in his Confessions with his discussion of his journey of the soul and his own physical journey from Thagaste to Carthage, Rome, Milan, and back to Africa.

Recently, Mediterranean culture and society in the transitional phase linking the ancient and medieval periods has been the focus of a great deal of historical study. The impact of monasticism on this world, however, was long obscured by the perceived nature of the institution, its isolation and separation from society. Monasticism in its many forms, scholars are now acknowledging, played an integral role in the social, cultural, and political history of this period. Path-breaking work in this area has been done by Philip Rousseau. His works have explored the development of early monasticism in relation to the greater fabric of late antique society. Recent scholarship has made great strides in the investigation of monks and their relation to the society around them. The wandering monks discussed by Daniel Caner were part of the economic and social fabric of the eastern Mediterranean. These proto-mendicants claimed to offer their prayers and sanctity in return for material support, though not without some controversy and opposition from authorities. Caner views these monks as operating within a model of apostolic poverty. These studies have revealed monasticism as a socially and politically important phenomenon, which could challenge episcopal and civic authority. They have helped to reveal the role of the holy man and holy woman in society. Some scholars have traced the early tensions between anchoritic and cenobitic monasticism, and most recently turned their attention to the important role of women in early ascetic practices and in the spread of monasticism in Asia Minor.

Large number of monks fleeing civic and familial duties in order to lead monastic lives had a profound effect on society. The movement spread quickly because of the rapid circulation of accounts of famous monks, such as Antony, Pachomius, and Paul the Hermit. It was hearing the story of Antony that triggered Augustine’s final conversion; it was a monastic impulse, an impulse fulfilled in his first actions upon conversion: to resign his position in Milan, to not marry but instead begin a chaste life, and to flee society. He retired to a life of monastic pursuits and contemplation at Cassiciacum with a small group of his friends, and when he returned to Africa, he started a similar community in Thagaste. But Augustine is only one example of the effects of the monastic impulse. For women, monasticism offered an alternative to marriage or remarriage, as well as a way of fulfilling a religious vocation in a world where they were increasingly barred from leadership positions in the church.

The Regula Benedictina, written in Italy in the middle of the sixth century, presents a set of monastic regulations that was to become by the tenth century the most influential monastic rule in Western Europe. It prescribes for the monk a life of stability in a monastery, under a written rule and an abbot, emphasizing the isolation and otherworldliness of the monastery itself. Through the spread and dominance of the Benedictine Rule these attributes became so powerfully identified with monks and monasteries in the West that they have become part of their very definitions. The pervasive influence of the Benedictine Rule so overshadowed the early diversity of Western monasticism that it has often led some to project this identity even on monastic practices predating the rule. Thus the reification of stability as a defining element of Western monasticism from its beginnings that has obscured the true diversity of early monasticism in the West and has in turn excluded travel as a possible monastic pursuit. One work that has avoided this pitfall is Marilyn Dunn’s recent book, which explores important relationship between Eastern and Western monasticism, as well as the eventual development of Benedictine monasticism. Dunn is one of the few scholars who treats the full diversity of early monastic experience.

The Regula Benedictina and its important predecessor, the Regula Magistri, both in fact discuss monastic travel in detail. Although both rules condemn the practice of monastic wandering, both clearly present travel as a fact of daily monastic life. The denunciations of the gyrovague have been interpreted as satires or rhetorical devices to better expound the virtues of proper monastic behavior based on stability. A great deal of internal evidence and evidence from other rules and a variety of other sources, however, points to a different interpretation of these canonical texts, and suggests that the monastic travel they condemn was a reality.

Pilgrimage is the most widely known of all forms of religiously motivated travel. The title “pilgrim” has been bestowed on a wide variety of religious travelers, sometimes without careful attention to either the meaning of the term or to the precise motivation for and structure of the journey in question. Indeed, the word “pilgrimage” has taken on such a variety of powerful connotations that it has often distorted the actual practices it purports to describe. The meanings the terms peregrinus and peregrinatio acquired in the Middle Ages have often served, since that time, to mask the diversity and unique structures of religious travel before that time, especially for the late antique period.

Many have assumed that Christian pilgrimage traces its roots to biblical injunction and that the practice began in the early church, thereafter existing as a relatively unbroken and unchanging tradition, isolated from temporal, geographic, and cultural contexts. Even the study of Christian liturgy, by its nature a conservative and defiantly unchanging topic, has not been accorded the static uniformity in practice and function that the study of pilgrimage has. Pilgrimage appears to occupy a rarefied place in studies of the late antique and medieval worlds.

In this study, I distinguish monastic travel from pilgrimage—that is to say, goal-centered, religious travel for an efficacious purpose. A close examination of late antique spiritual itinerants, however, provides a clearer and more nuanced account of religious travel. It allows us to consider travel as part of a wandering and ascetic life, either on a voluntary basis or as a religious justification for forced migration. Many of what have been considered attacks on pilgrimage in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages might be better understood as attacks on ascetic or monastic travel.

The Mediterranean basin was the birthplace of Christian religious travel, and hence defines the geographical focus of this study. As a movement, monasticism physically spread from the East to the West via the travels of people, books, and stories of the monks. Many in Spain and Italy wished to visit the legendary monks of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, and the Mediterranean, rather than being an impediment, provided a convenient means of access. The Iberian Peninsula, Italy, and the Holy Land all had a special role in early Christian travel, and subsequently these regions provide the strongest evidence of religious travel and travelers. It was also here that by the Middle Ages, important pilgrimage sites first emerged: Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Rome in Italy, and Jerusalem in the Holy Land. This study also explores the special role of women in early Christian travel, not because I wish to focus on them, but because women, in their roles as travelers and patrons, emerged as a crucial element in the source material. While it is accurate to say that both women and men traveled for religious reasons in this period, the conjunction of travel, monasticism, and patronage seems to have been particularly appealing to women. Women and their religious lives emerge throughout the chapters of this book. This culture of monastic travel comes to an abrupt end, particularly for women, by the ninth century with the emergence of a more fully cloistered monastic experience for women. An Egeria or Melania would be hard to imagine in the Carolingian period. Even royal or imperial travel by women—such as the voyage of the Byzantine princess Theophano to the Ottonian court for her wedding to Otto II—was considered exceptional and extraordinary in the tenth century.

The chapters of this study are thematic in nature, though they do roughly follow in chronological order, exploring the development of ascetic travel between the fourth and eighth centuries. The earlier chapters primarily deal with the fourth through sixth centuries, and the last three chapters are concerned with the sixth through eighth centuries. The first chapter discusses travel in the ancient and medieval world, describing the rich culture surrounding movement in late antique Mediterranean society through a discussion of the logistics of travel, differing motives for travel, and the growing opposition to religious travel in particular. This points to a marked increase in travel that took place in the late antique period in spite of the many hardships travelers faced.

Chapter 2 explores the lives of two well-known travelers, Egeria and Orosius, who, though they made similar journeys only a generation apart, are rarely discussed together or seen in the same light. The voyages and writings of both these figures, viewed alongside the writing of Bachiarius, point to a particular form of religious travel within a monastic milieu. Defying the patterns and assumptions of the anachronistic category of “pilgrim,” these Iberian travelers of the fourth and fifth centuries further elucidate the possibilities of an early interpretation of the monastic impulse that embraced travel and homelessness as essential to religious life and provide a model with which to analyze subsequent travelers.

Chapter 3 turns to evidence of the modes and meanings of monastic travel through a discussion of early written monastic rules and texts. It concentrates specifically on the emergence of the gyrovague or wandering monk as one of the categories of false monk within the developing typology of monks included in many Western monastic texts. The analysis of this typology serves as a way of understanding Western notions of legitimate monastic practices and highlights the importance of this often dismissed categorization. The Regula Magistri figures prominently in this chapter because of its invention of and near obsession with the gyrovague. The chapter finally turns to the regulations within the Regula Magistri concerning hospitality, reception of new members, and travel—all of which were viewed by the author of the rule as necessary but potentially dangerous to life in the monastery. I argue that the pervasiveness and vigor of these attacks on monastic travel and wandering serve as evidence that these practices were indeed present and provides us a unique insight into the structure and meaning of the religious wandering they sought to exclude from proper monastic behavior.

Chapter 4 focuses on the many Western women travelers to the East, exploring the role of monastic vocation and patronage in their journeys. Through a close examination of the women who traveled to Jerusalem, this chapter demonstrates the impact of travelers on the city and its Christian, and especially monastic, topography.

Much of the special nature of monastic travel can be traced to one crucial geographic region: the Iberian Peninsula, homeland of Egeria, Orosius, and Bachiarius. In Chapter 5, therefore, I trace the connections between Spanish monasticism and travel from the fourth century to the beginning of Islamic rule in the early eighth century. This chapter relies heavily on hagiographic evidence in addition to letters and monastic rules. Hagiography, or lives of the saints, is a special form of literature with its own conventions and a strong adherence to specific models, such as the Life of Antony and the lives written by Jerome. Previously historians shied away from using these sorts of texts because of their use of topoi and the overt attempts to mold facts into a story of the sanctity of a particular individual. By understanding the conventions of hagiography and the limitations inherent in its form, many modern-day historians have successfully used these texts to illuminate, not only the life of a particular individual, but also the social milieu, social interactions, and relations evidenced in the texts. By carefully peeling away the layers of topoi, and by exploring those areas where the text does not quite fit the conventions, one can begin to make use of hagiography. This is the case in Chapter 5, which relies on many Iberian works of hagiography, such as Lives of the Fathers of Mérida, the Life of Saint Fructuosus, and the Life of Saint Emilian.

Chapter 6 examines the evolution of Christian monastic travel in the seventh and eighth centuries, tracing the impact of Islam on the religious topography of Jerusalem and on Christian travel to the East, and the impact of Benedictine monasticism, with its emphasis on physical stability, on notions of monastic travel. The Mediterranean tradition of mostly firsthand accounts of monastic travel, like those of Egeria and the Piacenza Pilgrim, seems to vanish. Surprisingly, the only narratives of monastic travel in this period come from two insular writers, the Irish abbot of Iona, Adomnán, and the Anglo-Saxon nun, Huneberc, each of whom wrote a secondhand account of a long-distance, religious journey.

The epilogue explores how and why religious travel and monasticism diverged so greatly. It examines the importance of the Cluniac reform movement and the creation of the pilgrimage center of Santiago de Compostela in the emergence of a now model of religious travel: goal-centered, long-distance pilgrimage aimed at the laity rather than at monks.

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