Real Asceticism

Honestly I don't know what is wrong with humans: we join things with very clear purposes and mess them up, not excluding religion. For example you can be an evangelical Christian and ignore pretty well everything Jesus talked about while obsessing about two things (guns and abortion) he never mentioned once. And what is with becoming a Catholic priest and expecting to have sex? Did you bother reading the job description?

Incidentally since the world depends on witches to tell the truth the only passage in the Bible coming close to referring to abortion is Exodus 21:22-25 which clearly indicates a foetus is not a person in the law so abortion is fine from that point of view and I think you will find it also tells you not to murder people and the worst thing about this is you all have this book but it took a witch to tell you it.

This human propensity for messing things up extends to asceticism, which didn't originally mean the self-abnegation it now does but meant athletic training. It had more to do with exercise than the monastery and certainly nothing to do with expensive minimalism. It may be related to Marie Kondo because of her urge towards joy. And there's nothing wrong with seeking joy.

In fact training really can only be directed to your heart's desire, because otherwise there is no point. Seeking your heart's desire is the ascesis, the training. It's a prioritisation. Without it we end up with more regrets than we need to have. For example if I had followed what inspired joy I would have kicked my mother out of my life twenty years before I finally did it. I regret the intervening years of having an influence in my life which did not have my best interests at heart.

Nonetheless I have now arranged my life in a more ascetic way. Regular readers will be surprised to hear that I do have a guru in this. It is John Waters and my life is arranged around a very Zen quote of his:

True success is figuring out your life and career so you never have to be around jerks.

 This ascesis is the training that I realise I need and something I work on on a daily basis. It is the yardstick by which I measure everything and honestly I wish I had had the wisdom and balls to do it thirty years ago. 

I have also been gifted a mantra by the universe which I chant regularly to ensure I am on track and it is my pleasure to share it with you now. It is:

Eat shit.

And feel the peace wash over you.