Asceticism and solitude in the context of Orthodox anthropology: historical and philosophical context

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the understanding of the essential characteristics of asceticism and solitude of a Christian believer in the context of Orthodox anthropology. To achieve this goal, the methodology of hermeneutic analysis was applied to understand the essential characteristics of asceticism and solitude of Orthodox ascetics through the prism of Holy Scripture and the Lives of the Saints. In turn, the methodology of phenomenological analysis was used in the process of studying the life experience of an Orthodox believer in the context of solitude, seclusion, hermitage, and repentance.

The study found that asceticism, as understood by Orthodox ascetics, involves seclusion, celibacy, constant prayer, fasting, and the restriction of physical desires. At the same time, asceticism is not exclusive to the lives of monks; the life of a lay person should be no different from that of a monk. An Orthodox ascetic should not consider himself a saint while still alive; he should avoid despair and confusion, ignore his attempts at spiritual improvement as insignificant, and recognize himself a priori as a sinful living being.

It has been proven that the solitude of an Orthodox devotee is associated with metanoia as a special psycho-emotional and worldview state of a believer, which requires the permanent production of a repentant mood, humility, sorrow for one's own shortcomings, and hope for God's mercy in order to achieve deification as a fusion of man with the Lord. Repentance in Orthodox anthropology implies the rejection of everything worldly, spectacular, excessive merriment, exalted, unrestrained laughter. These tendencies are manifested primarily in the practices of Hesychasm, in ascetic monastic life, in the phenomena of seclusion and hermitage.