Asceticism

I have written elsewhere of the cross-cultural sweep of ascetic practices involving piercing or nailing -- examples would include the live crucifixions performed by Penitentes on Good Friday, but also the Lakota Sun Dance in the US and the Kataragama processions in Sri Lanka -- but this is the first time I have come across a description of a secular equivalent.

Interestingly enough, the Jesuit Avery Dulles, writing one of the more insightful pieces to come out at the time of Pope John Paul II's death, gives what is essentially a secular explanation for asceticism -- that it strengthens the will to endure, and thus grants a wider scope of freedom to its practitioners.

An important point, and one not often remembered in these days of comfort spirituality.