The Two Kinds of Asceticism

The Two Kinds of Asceticism

The work explores two forms of renunciation that underpin the pursuit of art and spiritual truth. One involves a disciplined focus that rejects the distractions of everyday, fleeting experiences, enabling the mind to perceive eternal, unchanging realities. This asceticism is not marked by self-denial in the material sense but by a deliberate distancing from the transient passions and superficial interests of modern life. It is a commitment to seek, through art, the immutable truths that underlie all existence. The text posits that every emotion or spiritual state is inextricably linked to the images or symbols that evoke and encapsulate it. Art is seen as the medium through which permanent, transcendent experiences of life are expressed. The creative mind, akin to an imaginative writer or visionary, is more than a passive observer; it is an active participant that aligns itself with the eternal soul of the world. By identifying with this universal spirit, the artist accesses a source of profound insight and ecstasy, though at the cost of becoming detached from the particularities of individual experience. In contrast, the work contrasts this creative asceticism with a mode of renunciation more typical of the traditional saint, who strives for personal eternity by abandoning all worldly desires. The saint’s renunciation, however, is depicted as a turn inward—eschewing external, transient pleasures to cultivate an inner, static ideal. Whereas the saint seeks a fixed, eternal state, the artist dwells in the continual process of re-creating and re-discovering what is permanent within the flux of modern experience. A central tension addressed in the work is that the artist risks becoming overly critical if his attention shifts toward evaluating and scrutinizing the impermanent aspects of life. When the creative mind becomes preoccupied with modern experiences—the ever-changing details of daily life—it may prioritize a detached analysis over the vivid, dynamic intensity required for genuine artistic creation. This shift undermines the capacity to evoke the deep ecstasy associated with encountering the eternal—the sensation of engaging with those rare, sublime moments that reveal the divine within the ordinary. The work ultimately asserts that the true purpose of art is to awaken an internal ecstasy by reconnecting the mind with the eternal, recurring elements of experience. This involves a synthesis of both forms of asceticism: a disciplined withdrawal from the ephemeral distractions of contemporary life and a passionate, almost mystical, immersion in the timeless truths that persist through the ages. In doing so, the artist transcends mere criticism and active participation in the world of transient phenomena to create works that capture and communicate a deeper, universal significance. Thus, the text delineates a pathway for artistic creation that requires both a rejection of modern superficialities and an embrace of an inner, persistent vision. This dual approach is presented as essential for producing art that is not merely reactive to the impermanent concerns of its time but that resonates with the enduring, unchanging spirit of the human condition.

By W.B. Yeats · First published 1908 · Genre: Aesthetic Philosophy, Literary Essay, Art Criticism · 606 words

First lines

It is not possible to separate an emotion or a spiritual state from the image that calls it up and gives it expression. Michael Angelo's Moses, Velasquez' Philip the Second, the colour purple, a crucifix, call into life an emotion or state that vanishes with them because they are its only possible expression, and that is why no mind is more valuable than the images it contains. The imaginative writer differs from the saint in that he identifies himself -- to the neglect of his own soul, alas! -- with the soul of the world, and frees himself from all that is impermanent in that soul, an ascetic not of women and wine, but of the newspapers. That which is permanent in the soul of the world upon the other hand, the great passions that trouble all and have but a brief recurring life of flower and seed in any man, is the renunciation of the saint who seeks not an eternal art, but his own eternity. The artist stands between the saint and the world of impermanent things, and just in so far as his mind dwells on what is impermanent in his sense, on all that 'modern experience and the discussion of our interests,' that is to say on what never recurs, as desire and hope, terror and weariness, spring and autumn recur in varying rhythms, will his mind become critical, as distinguished from creative, and his emotions wither. He will think less of what he sees and more of his own attitude towards it, and will express this attitude by an essentially critical selection and emphasis. I am not quite sure of my memory but I think that Mr. Ricketts has said in his book on the Prado that he feels the critic in Velasquez for the first time in painting, and we all feel the critic in Whistler and Degas, in Browning, even in Mr. Swinburne, in the finest art of all ages but the greatest.

What this Textopian page supports

The Two Kinds of Asceticism is listed on Textopian as an essay by W.B. Yeats, dated 1908 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Good citation fit

Discussion starters

Similar titles

Genres

Tags

asceticism · spirituality · duality · renunciation · self-discipline · philosophy · mysticism · paradox · existentialism · inner journey · self-restraint · contemplation

More by W.B. Yeats