In the endless darkness, cries of pain echoed, as if passing through the tunnel of time and space, touching the memory that was sealed by history.
It was the end of a tragedy and the beginning of a period of ascetic thought. I stand on the other side of time, looking back at the Western society shrouded in ** religious asceticism, countless innocent lives have been brutally destroyed under the distortion of faith.
Their suffering is not only physical torture, but also soul and spiritual destruction. In that dark history, the boundaries between the sacred and the profane, the soul and the body became blurred and distorted, and the power of faith was abused and became an instrument of oppression and **.
However, the roots of all this can be traced back to the formation of the idea of asceticism. This kind of thinking opposes the sacred and the mundane, separates the soul from the body, and believes that only by abandoning material desires can one pursue true sacredness and happiness.
This distorted belief has not only led to countless tragedies, but also profoundly affected the moral concepts, lifestyles, and value orientations of Western society.
Now, when we look back at that period of history, we can't help but wonder: Is the power of faith liberating the soul or binding the mind? Is the idea of asceticism really the only path to the divine? Perhaps, it is only when we re-examine these issues that we can truly shake off the shadows of the past and move towards a brighter and more inclusive future.
* The formation of the idea of asceticism can be traced back to around the 6th century BC, and its theoretical construction is deeply rooted in two main aspects.
First, the teachings of the religion itself emphasize the idea of innate dualism, in which the sacred and the secular are seen as two distinct subjects, existing independently and unrelated to each other. This dualistic understanding laid the foundation for ascetic thought.
Secondly, the religion also conducts an in-depth study of the relationship between the soul and the body. They believe that the soul and the body are not only separate from each other, but also hostile to each other, presenting a clear state of opposition.
Over time, the concepts of the sacred and the profane, the soul and the body, have undergone a process of merging and unification. The origin of religion itself is based on the distinction between the sacred and the secular, without which religion cannot arise and exist.
From this point of view, religion divides the mode of human existence into two types: one is divine and transcendental, and the other is secular and realistic.
So, what is sacred? In this regard, the Western scholar of religious studies, Milcea Eliade, once gave a possible definition: "The sacred is the opposite of the secular." ”
He believed that there was a great difference between the sacred and the profane, and that the sacred was detached from the world, with the qualities of immortality, spirituality, and supernaturalness. Germany.
* The theologian Rudolf Otto, in his book On the Holy, also pointed out that "the sacred is a shuddering mystery" that brings "awe" and "vitality" to the people, which the world cannot provide.
How, then, should one perceive the sacred? Western religions, in explaining "evil" and "good" in people's daily moral life, often introduce the opposition between spirit and matter, soul and body.
Western religions and churches believe that the spirit and soul are pure and unmlawless due to their proximity to God. And the "evil" of people in their daily moral life is because the material and physical bodies are polluted by the world in the process of pursuing **, which leads to depravity.
Medieval religion put forward a kind of "sex" is Satan's seduction, so in the 15th to 17th centuries launched the "witch hunt", hundreds of thousands of innocent women were accused of "heresy", "sorcerer", tragically died at the stake or other torture.
* The Church believes that in order to perceive the sacred, one must not pursue material and physical desires, but must constantly undergo suffering and torture in order to purify the spirit and soul, and finally perceive the happiness and glory of the "sacred".
Western religion not only believes that the sacred and the secular, the soul and the body are separated, but also gives this feeling to human emotions and feelings, making them hostile to each other and jealous of each other, and taking the victory of the divine and the soul as the final end.
Therefore, Western religion encourages people to completely sever their ties with the world, or to leave this worldly world completely, only in this way can they perceive the sacred.
This kind of ascetic thinking has become an important part of the ** religion and has had a profound impact on the moral concepts, lifestyles and value orientations of Western society.