In the popular [[imagination]], asceticism is considered a sort of perversion (e.g., self-flagellation by birch twigs as the [[archetypal]] stereotype of [[self-mortification]]). However, the askēsis enjoined by religion functions in order to bring about greater freedom in various areas of one's life (such as freedom from compulsions and temptations) and greater [[peace]]fulness of mind (such as a concomitant increase in [[clarity]] and [[power]] of [[thought]]). | In the popular [[imagination]], asceticism is considered a sort of perversion (e.g., self-flagellation by birch twigs as the [[archetypal]] stereotype of [[self-mortification]]). However, the askēsis enjoined by religion functions in order to bring about greater freedom in various areas of one's life (such as freedom from compulsions and temptations) and greater [[peace]]fulness of mind (such as a concomitant increase in [[clarity]] and [[power]] of [[thought]]). |