Asceticism - Secular & Spiritual

     "The word 'asceticism' comes from the Greek term askesis, which originally referred to training athletes. If you want to win the race, you've got to train; you've got to look at your exercise regime. You've got to look at your diet and your sleep, and conduct, because if you don't, you're not going to win the race. So the asceticism an athlete undertakes depends upon putting some other things aside. If you want to be a doctor, you've got to go through the mill of medical training, working a hundred hours or more a week as a junior doctor, being tested under grueling conditions so you can become a healer. That enormous degree of renunciation, which involves laying aside other interests and concerns, is completely accepted by society. If we aspire to the spiritual version of that same kind of training in order to realize our potential, we have to prioritize the way we spend our time and where we put our energy."
     Ajahn Amaro

Steve McCurry   http://stevemccurry.com/