| Unprepared for such transgressions, the sort of penances handed out by the confession booths suddenly seemed rather trifling. |
| Neighboring monks became upset with him over a theological dispute, and his health deteriorated under the rigors of his fasting and penances. |
| But that, he said, was really a political deal, shored up with appropriate penances. |
| Worldly attempts to change the state of one's soul through indulgences and penances were meaningless. |
| In the bitter cold of winter, the yogi undertook various penances which, it was said, gave him great powers. |
| His earlier life of self-indulgence had been unsatisfying, as was his six-year experiment with ascetic penances. |
