Asceticism of the Mind
Book description
Asceticism is founded on the possibility that human beings can profoundly transform themselves through training and discipline. In particular, asceticism in the Eastern monastic tradition is based on the assumption that individuals are not slaves to the habitual and automatic but can be improved by ascetic practice and, with the…
Why read it?
1 author picked Asceticism of the Mind as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Early Christian monks in the eastern Mediterranean chalked up many of their mental struggles to demonic interference—and yet their approaches to the problem of attention share some striking similarities to modern psychology.
Graiver makes the case that monks’ talk of demons was not a superstitious diagnosis but a pragmatic one: it helped monks try to strike a balance between monitoring their thoughts and thinking too hard about them, deal with unwanted thoughts before they became all-consuming, and figure how to keep it together when their thoughts were all over the place.
I love that this book takes early monks and…
From Jamie's list on medieval brainiacs.
Want books like Asceticism of the Mind?
Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Asceticism of the Mind.
Browse books like Asceticism of the Mind
5 book lists we think you will like!
Interested in self-control, Christianity, and presidential biography?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about self-control, Christianity, and presidential biography.