https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=GYkOu1huuKE
Talk about the symbolism of saints who go to odd places to pray. Stylites, Saint Guthbert in the ocean, Saint Seraphim praying on the rock. So the, I mean it’s mostly understanding, let’s say, the symbolism of asceticism in general. The idea of removing yourself from normal life or removing yourself from the regular world in order to be able to pray. You know, and it’s, to be honest, I mean it’s no different than, it’s not that different than when you’re reading a book or you’re doing your homework or you’re working on something and you want people around you to shut up because they’re distracting you. You know, it’s mostly that. It’s that the world, if you’re trying to be on a path of, let’s say, of acquiring, of going up the the ladder of virtues, of ascending the spiritual ladder, there is one aspect which is that you have to be able to get rid of the distractions, get rid of the things that are pulling you apart so that you can truly become, you can truly enter into the heart, you could say. And so asceticism is mostly about that and extreme asceticism is an extreme version of that. And there’s also an aspect of asceticism which is that when you, it’s like fasting, it’s like when you fast, would you, would you’re doing is you’re revealing your passions because it’s like, you know, I mean it’s like someone who says, you know, I’m not, I don’t need to drink, like I could stop anytime, you know, until you take the drink away from them. Then when you take the drink away from them, then they realize that no, they can’t stop, that actually they’re hooked on this thing. And so one of the reasons for asceticism is that as well, you know, it’s like to reveal your passions and so the extreme aesthetics, they’re doing it in an extreme manner where even they, they’re trying to be able to not be distracted by pain, not be distracted by physical uncomfort, by hunger, by thirst, by all these bodily things that are not bad in themselves, there’s nothing wrong with them but they can be a distraction, they can be, they can pull your attention.