Asceticism

From meditation and fasting to celibacy and anchoretism, the ascetic impulse has been an enduring and complex phenomenon throughout history. Offering a sweeping view of this elusive and controversial aspect of religious life and culture, Asceticism looks at the ascetic impulse from a unique vantage point. Cross-cultural, cross-religious and multidisciplinary in nature, these essays provide a broad historical and comparative perspective on asceticism - a subject rarely studied outside the context of individual religious tradtions. The work represents the input of more than forty preeminent scholars in a wide range of fields and discilplines, and analyses asceticism from antequity to the present European, Near Eastern, African, and North American settings.