Asceticism, Renunciation and the One
by Eric S. Fallick
The One, the Good, the Absolute, the Unconditioned, God, the ultimate transcendent Reality, the Noumenon, the Source and Origin of all, That on Which all depend and within Which all exist, That from Which we come and to Which we return, the Source of all good and all being and knowing, the Good that all seek—Hyper-perfection beyond perfection, Hyper-beauty beyond beauty, Hyper-unity beyond unity, Hyper-goodness beyond goodness, Hyper-love beyond love, Hyper-luminosity beyond luminosity, Hyper-knowing beyond knowing, Hyper-being beyond being, Hyper-wonderfulness beyond wonderfulness. This Absolute One and Absolute Good to which we are striving, and should strive with all ours souls, seeking nothing else not absolutely necessary for temporary temporal survival, to return to and attain re-union with, which is release from the cycle of birth and death and individuated sensate existence in space-time—how can we be and live in accord and accordance with It and by It even now before we attain and while we are striving to attain realization of and re-union with It, before we re-become It and are released from ourselves and into It? There is only one way—the Way and the only way is full and true contemplative asceticism and renunciation. Celibate, vegetarian, teetotalling, impecunious, truthful, worldly entertainment and pursuits and activities avoiding, contemplation and study devoted, world-denying, otherworldly, single-minded, both inward and outward, both in thought and body contemplative asceticism and renunciation is the Way and only way of living and being according to the Absolute now and of attaining re-union with It and release. True contemplative asceticism and renunciation is the very reflection of the One or the Good in this world. It is most important to clearly understand this, to whatever degree one is presently able to implement it, and to have a 'traditional', pre-modern and in accordance with Reality mindset and weltanschauung in this regard, not the confused modern non-understanding and self-centered any way is OK, no need to renounce or give up anything, this-worldly groovo-mindset and weltanschauung. This understanding is metaphysically correct and in accord with the actual underlying spiritual Reality and facts. The modern non-understanding is not.
The One or the Good, the Absolute, is actually beyond predication and can only be known and experienced, with the greatest difficulty and trial, directly in ascetic contemplation, after the long, tremendous effort of many years and lifetimes. We can, however, extrapolate a manner of positively discussing and positing wonderful and transcendent attributes and perfections of It. We can correlate these transcendent attributes and perfections with the specific practices and facets of the contemplative ascetic, renunciant life and practice and existence. Thus, we can get an idea of how this Way is even now the reflection of and attuning with the One, and is necessary for attaining re-union with the One.
Celibacy, and that in its fullest and truest sense, is commonly considered the first great dividing line between the worldly and renunciant lives. Celibacy, singleness, the abandonment and renunciation of all sexual activity of any sort whatsoever and of concomitant emotional attachment and of romantic love and of procreation and family life and love, is an absolutely necessary requisite for the higher spiritual life and any sort of real contemplative practice. The One is just that, one. It is unity in a way far beyond and transcending and more complete than any sort of unity that can be conceived of phenomena. The One is also completely self-sufficient—again, in a way far beyond and transcending and more complete than any way of conceiving any phenomenon as self-sufficient. It is totally self-contained. It needs nothing outside of Itself. It seeks nothing outside of Itself. There is nothing outside of Itself. It is completely transcendent love in Itself without any need of an object of love. It is completely transcendently satisfied with Itself. There is nothing outside of Itself in which It could find or seek pleasure. The celibate life reflects, in the individual at the level of sensate existence and change, the unity, self-sufficiency and independence of the Absolute. Sexual desire and activity of any sort, as well as romantic love and familial attachment and love, is rushing headlong the opposite way away from the One and Its Unity into the very farthest reaches and depths of multiplicity and otherness and alienation. It is a state of the greatest lack of self-sufficiency and seeking of satisfaction and pleasure in changing, multiplicious sense experience and otherness. It is of the very essence and root of the miserable cycle of birth and death, of becoming, which is the exact opposite of the self-complete unchanging Unity and Self-subsistence of the One. The celibate contemplative ascetic and renunciant in his life of singleness, complete abstinence from sexual activity and removal from ordinary worldly emotional attachment is the expression in this world of the transcendent Unity and Self-Sufficiency of the Absolute. (A word should perhaps be said here about spiritual friendships. Spiritual friends and friendships are, of course, allowable and beneficial—that is, if you can find any real ones here in these thoroughly and unprecedentedly benighted modern times when real renunciants are an endangered species! True spiritual friendships have, however, properly, an entirely different basis than ordinary worldly emotional relationships. They are based on a common love of the Good, not on ordinary mutual worldly affection and attachment. True spiritual friends seek to overcome alienation and otherness not in each other, like ordinary worldlings do, but in aiding each other in their sole direction towards and focus on the Good and turning from this world. They aid and support each other in seeking their joy and self-sufficiency in the One Alone, not in each other per se and in the things and emotions of this world.)
Vegetarianism or veganism is another absolutely essential aspect of the contemplative ascetic, renunciant life and practice. It is another absolutely essential requisite of any sort of higher spiritual life and true contemplative practice. The Good is just that, good. It is completely transcendently good, the source of all good. It is completely transcendently just and righteous. It is completely transcendently love. It is completely transcendently benevolent. It is perfectly good, just, righteous, love and benevolence in a way far beyond and transcending any way that good, justice, righteousness, love and benevolence can be conceived of phenomena. The vegetarianism or veganism and non-harming of the contemplative ascetic and renunciant reflects, at the level of individuated sensate existence, the perfect good, justice, righteousness, love and benevolence of the Absolute. To kill, to murder, to take away the lives of non-human fellow conscious souls and fellow travelers on the wheel of birth and death, to slaughter our friends and partners, the animals, totally unnecessarily, for no reason than for perverse deluded greed to eat their flesh and confused, deluded and evil custom and habit is unspeakably heinous and evil and completely the exact opposite of the goodness, justice, righteousness, love and benevolence of the Good and removes the cannibalistic flesh-eater very far from It. In his vegetarianism or veganism and general practice of non-harming, the contemplative ascetic and renunciant is the expression in this world of the transcendent goodness, justice, righteousness, love and benevolence of the Good Itself.
Teetotalling, complete abstinence from alcohol and intoxicants of any sort, is another absolutely essential part of the contemplative ascetic, renunciant life and practice and another indisputable essential requisite of any sort of higher spiritual life and any real attempt at the practice of contemplation. The One is complete, perfect, transcendent knowing, consciousness and awareness. It is the one Source of all knowing and consciousness and awareness. It is knowing and knowledge and consciousness and awareness in a completely transcendent way far beyond the limited knowing, consciousness and awareness of individual souls and minds. By completely avoiding and never dreaming of taking alcohol or any sort of intoxicants, by never doing anything to deliberately dull his conscious knowing and awareness, the contemplative ascetic and renunciant reflects the knowing, conscious and awareness of the Absolute in this world. To drink alcohol or use intoxicants is to deliberately and purposely, and horrifyingly, dull, destroy and limit one's awareness and consciousness and knowing and intelligence. It is to deliberately and purposely put oneself for a time into a lower and even sub-human rebirth. It is exactly the complete opposite of the transcendent knowing, consciousness and awareness of the One and of the contemplative path of developing or coming into union with the One's transcendent knowing in oneself. In his complete teetotalling and abstinence from all alcohol and intoxication, the contemplative ascetic and renunciant is the expression at the level of individuated sensate existence of the transcendent knowing, consciousness and awareness of the One.
The contemplative ascetic and renunciant is, of course, always completely honest and truthful and never lies or takes advantage. Certainly, this is indispensably required for the Path of Wisdom. The One is complete, perfect transcendent Truth and completely, perfectly, transcendently True. It is True and Truth in a way far beyond and transcending that in which we can conceive any phenomenon or phenomena to be true. In being completely honest and truthful and righteous and sincere, the contemplative ascetic and renunciant reflects at the level individuated sensate existence in space-time the transcendent Truth and Trueness of the Absolute. To be dishonest, to lie, cheat or deceive for the purposes of alleged personal gain is the exact opposite of the Trueness of the One, and is completely removed from It. Dishonesty is a horrific transgression of the principle of truth and painful even to imagine for one seeking truth. The complete honesty, truthfulness, sincerity and trustworthiness of the contemplative ascetic and renunciant is the expression of the Truth and Trueness of the Good in this world.
Voluntary poverty, not seeking and not wanting to have more than is just necessary to maintain the psycho-physical organism while pursuing the Path, is also an essential part of the contemplative ascetic and renunciant life and practice. The One is completely, perfectly, transcendently Self-sufficient and Whole and Complete and seeks and wants nothing outside Itself. The voluntary and joyous and freeing poverty of the contemplative ascetic and renunciant is the reflection in this world of the transcendent Self-sufficiency, Wholeness and Completeness of the Absolute. Seeking and having money, possessions, things and property beyond what is absolutely necessary to survive, greed and material desire, is the negation of the Self-sufficiency and Wholeness of the Good. It is seeking the wrong way, in the multiplicity of sense experience and alleged pleasures. It is burdensome and bondage and removal from the Good and Its transcendent Completeness. In happily living in what the world considers voluntary poverty and not wanting or seeking more than is necessary, the contemplative ascetic and renunciant expresses the Self-sufficiency and Wholeness of the One in this world.
The contemplative ascetic and renunciant avoids worldly entertainments, television, movies, theater, fiction, popular music, etc., which, besides wasting the essential time needed to practice the Path, are harmful to the soul and fill it with the passions, desires, defilements, thoughts and images of the world. The One is complete, perfect, transcendent Unity, Knowing, Consciousness, Awareness, Self-sufficiency and Wholeness. In avoiding and not caring for or seeking worldly entertainments, the contemplative ascetic and renunciant reflects these transcendent facets of the Absolute in this world. To engage in worldly entertainments is, like using intoxicants, to dull the awareness and knowing of the soul and mind and fill it with defiled passions. It is also to be insufficient in one's soul and to seek and want in additional sense experiences and alleged pleasures and plunge deeper into the multiplicity of the senses and the realm of repeated birth and death. Thus, pursuing and engaging in defiled worldly entertainments negates the Unity, Knowing, Awarenss and Self-sufficiency of the One. The abstention of the contemplative ascetic and renunciant from worldly entertainments is the expression at the level of individuated sensate existence in space-time of these transcendent attributes of the Good.
The contemplative ascetic and renunciant is, of course, devoted to the practice of contemplation to attain direct knowledge of and re-union with Nous and, ultimately, the One. He also pursues ancillary study and learning to aid in this end. The One is perfect, complete, transcendent Intelligence, Knowing, Consciousness and Awareness. In pursuing singlemindedly and wholeheartedly transcendent wisdom and direct contemplative knowledge and, along with it as a help, spiritual learning, the contemplative ascetic and renunciant is the reflection at the level of individuated sensate existence of the transcendent Intelligence, Knowing, Consciousness and Awareness of the Absolute. Ignorance of the transcendental realities and truths and of the way things really are is part of the bondage and condition of continued birth and death and becoming and the negation of the transcendent Intelligence and Knowing of the Good. So is willful ignorance of spiritual facts and knowledge and understanding and the unwillingness to try to learn these things. Along with the pursuit of direct contemplative knowledge, the ancillary spiritual study and learning and understanding and interest in and concern for such of the contemplative ascetic and renunciant is the expression in this world of the transcendent Intelligence and Knowing of the One.
On the whole, the true contemplative ascetic and renunciant is concerned with the soul not the body, is concerned with the higher hypostases not this world and the things of this world. He is singleminded and wholehearted in his otherworldliness and world-denyingnes, focused always on the Beyond and paying attention to this world and the things of this world only as much as is necessary to maintain his psycho-physical existence while he is still here and until he can attain release. In this, and in the various other specific aspects of his life and practice in addition to the specific examples given above, he is the very reflection and expression in this world of the Unity, Self-sufficiency and Knowing of the Absolute Itself. Thus, this is the true way, and the only way, to live as a true emissary of the One in this world and life. Strive on—it's the only way to go!
© 2016 Eric S. Fallick
