What is an ascetic monk?

There are many types of ascetic monks... anyway, they are interested in ascetic monks.
When it comes to what kind of things they do for... in a nutshell, it's probably to make them realize their own enlightenment and others. To put it bluntly, is it to make myself and everyone happy?

Incidentally, I'm a member of the Jodo Shinshu sect, so I don't have any ascetic practices that seem like ascetic practices. There are also denominations like that. Buddhism is also diverse.
Please do some research. See below.

A day in the life of an ascetic monk (cloud water) at Eiheiji Temple, the head temple of the Soto sect
https://matome.naver.jp/odai/2143938717416547501

Too harsh... the reason why monks do [strict ascetic practices]
https://matome.naver.jp/odai/2142825208317981801

Three things that only 2 people achieved in 1300, and that Oahari learned from penance risking his life
https://globis.jp/article/2705

Training experience - Koyasan Jokiin Homepage Why don't you experience Koyasan World Heritage Site
https://www.jo-kiin.com/修行体験/

Hello.

Our lives are full of things that don't turn out the way we want them to. There are plenty of things that don't go the way you want in various other situations, such as being born (even if you want to be born smarter, more faceless, and taller), getting older, getting sick, and dying. And how do you settle your feelings? In response to that, Buddha discovered the answer 2,500 years ago. We monks imitate the Buddha's way of life and practice trying to live a better way of life by knowing how to think. Of course I don't keep it all to myself. Many people are similarly striving to lead a settlement method against this world that does not go the way they want. It was also a feeling of trying to save others before myself.
As for the question “who is an ascetic monk,” monks at the head temple etc. are not the only “ascetic monks.” I think every temple is an “ascetic dojo.” All monks are ascetic monks who practice ascetic practices at ascetic dojos.

One is someone who practices zazen-like ascetic practices in order to fix their own suffering. (I will teach people how to do something about suffering when they become a full person.)
The other is people who walk on fire, commit atrocities, and penance in order to take the place of social suffering.

The former is Zen Buddhism, the latter is Nichiren Buddhism, and hybrid is esoteric Buddhism. It's just my image, so I'm sorry if I made a mistake. In particular, the monks of the Nichiren sect don't meet easily, so they haven't been able to listen to their stories...

It's just from my own experience.

For today's monks, ascetic practice is a “curriculum.” It's like a driving school to get a driver's license. As in the old days, it's not possible to eat just by living a monk's lifestyle, so a certain degree of systematization is unavoidable unless it adapts to the times.
It's the same as a driving school, and what you learn there has a lot to do with the skills of the monk at the start. It's a simple story, and if the training period is long and the content is substantial, of course, your driving skills are high when you get a license. If the period is short and the details are laid-back, then when you've just got your license, you'll drive absurdly. lol
The important thing is after getting a driver's license. Of course, driving will remain rough for a long time if the driving school doesn't teach you the rules properly, but even so, if you go out on the road every day, you'll be better at driving; conversely, even if you learn at a proper driving school, you'll get worse and worse at driving if you're a paper driver all the time.

After thoroughly learning the basics, I will improve my skills and knowledge by driving every day. This is why ascetic practices are similar to driving schools.

Now, I think the essence of this ascetic practice is “repentance.”
Repentance is “remorse+improvement.”
The Buddha “reflects” on his own life as a royal family and the world where people turn their eyes away from sickness and death due to discrimination, and begins ascetic practice. Then, I question the “unrepentant ascetics” at the time who simply left the world and practiced for no reason, and look back at why they practice.
Then, in the end, I gained enlightenment by objectively looking at all of those points of reflection and making improvements.
The first step in ascetic practice is to first be aware of “what is bad about yourself.” The next step is to search for specific ways to improve it.

We Buddhists are lucky because the Buddha and the religious founder of the sect give us that hint. That's because the Buddha found them all himself.

In that sense, any person is an ascetic if they seek “reflection and improvement” every day.
You don't have to be a monk.

What's more, repentance makes it easier to maintain motivation, isn't it?

It's the same as being able to maintain motivation by dieting rather than just doing weight training.

Somehow, for example, I'm sorry for being disappointed. lol

In Buddhism, the cause of worry and suffering is thought to be distress.
So, in order to control and reduce anxiety, they do ascetic practices.
In other words, it is to control and reduce worries and suffering.

If you know tips to reduce your own worries and suffering, you should be able to teach them to others.

Therefore, in order to reduce the worries and suffering of myself and others, I practice ascetic practices.

Precepts (practice of observing lifestyle rules),
Meditation (practice of concentrating the mind),
Wisdom (ascetic practice of observing things and understanding the truth)
The three types of ascetic practices (the three sciences) are the basis of Buddhism.

However, in a sect called the Jodo sect, for example,
It's difficult to practice the three sciences in this world, so in the next life
Practice the three sciences called the Pure Land of Paradise
So that you can be born in a place where it's easy,
I will focus on ascetic practices to pass away in the Pure Land of Paradise.
The center of the Jodo sect's ascetic practice is the practice of putting Namu Amida Buddha and nembutsu in the mouth and hoping that people will pass away in the Pure Land of Paradise with the power of Amida Buddha.