The Goal of Monastic Asceticism

"Your goal is freedom, but freedom may only be acheived through discipline. In the studio you learn to conform, to submit yourself to the demands of your craft so that you may finally be free."
--Martha Graham

"Therefore we intend to establish a school of the Lord's service. In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard love. Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God's commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love."
Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue 45-49