Re: Masturbation:A sensitive topic( need more discussions)!
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:40 am
If you practice "letting go" masturbation will cease.
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i love this postMr Man wrote:If you practice "letting go" masturbation will cease.
Sounds like the person doing the answering had good intentions etc, but they misunderstood something. Regarding the part I bolded (I will be a bit explicit here): if a person is masturbating with their body in arousal, then lust is already present. The pleasurable sensation leads directly to delight in that sensation (ie to desire / lust). He was however correct in that it's not mandatory for a layman to give up masturbation; but it's still a good idea to at least be heading in that direction (which you said is your intention). So my Buddhist answer would not be 'to go ahead with it' but rather to work towards bringing it under increasing control, and, eventually, to complete elimination. But much patience & self-forgiveness will be required along the way, because the overcoming of lust is long-term work for most.Question:
I am a male who wishes to kick a long habit of masturbation. My efforts have resulted in cutting down from daily to weekly. Still, the habit continues. I find I am most vulnerable to fall into the act when my I am not fully conscious, i.e. when I am going to sleep or upon waking up.
What would you suggest to prevent my thoughts from becoming lustful and for kicking my undesirable habit altogether.
Answer:
I am going to start off by asking you why is it undesirable? Believe it or not, Buddhism doesn’t condemn masturbation, unless you’re a monk, which I doubt is the case.
The physical aspect of masturbation is harmless. That being said, that may not be the case where karma is concerned. Desire (more specifically in this case, lust), as the Four Noble Truths tell us, leads to suffering. A Buddhist’s main desire is to eliminate suffering.
This is a very debatable topic, and I hope someone will address it in the comment section below, but in my opinion, the real question is what goes on in your mind while you’re doing it. If you can do it without lust, then my Buddhist answer would be to go ahead with it.
Thanks for your advice and well you basically opened up my mind I always tauhgt that masturbation without lust is the way to go . But it didnt work. As you said, theres still pleasure behind it. I would really be honoured if you would read and commend on my guide once its out . For the tiem beeing , i hope this forum is not dead yet, but would like to thank the moderator from merging this two topics as it provides quite additional and good information for memanas wrote:Hi vicimba,
by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, one gradually gets more control over one's thoughts, speech and actions. Keeping the five basic precepts for laypersons helps alot too (they are implicit in the Path itself, but we do need to pay particular attention to them as a set).
I followed the link you provided, and thought I had better bring something to your attention:
Sounds like the person doing the answering had good intentions etc, but they misunderstood something. Regarding the part I bolded (I will be a bit explicit here): if a person is masturbating with their body in arousal, then lust is already present. The pleasurable sensation leads directly to delight in that sensation (ie to desire / lust). He was however correct in that it's not mandatory for a layman to give up masturbation; but it's still a good idea to at least be heading in that direction (which you said is your intention). So my Buddhist answer would not be 'to go ahead with it' but rather to work towards bringing it under increasing control, and, eventually, to complete elimination. But much patience & self-forgiveness will be required along the way, because the overcoming of lust is long-term work for most.Question:
I am a male who wishes to kick a long habit of masturbation. My efforts have resulted in cutting down from daily to weekly. Still, the habit continues. I find I am most vulnerable to fall into the act when my I am not fully conscious, i.e. when I am going to sleep or upon waking up.
What would you suggest to prevent my thoughts from becoming lustful and for kicking my undesirable habit altogether.
Answer:
I am going to start off by asking you why is it undesirable? Believe it or not, Buddhism doesn’t condemn masturbation, unless you’re a monk, which I doubt is the case.
The physical aspect of masturbation is harmless. That being said, that may not be the case where karma is concerned. Desire (more specifically in this case, lust), as the Four Noble Truths tell us, leads to suffering. A Buddhist’s main desire is to eliminate suffering.
This is a very debatable topic, and I hope someone will address it in the comment section below, but in my opinion, the real question is what goes on in your mind while you’re doing it. If you can do it without lust, then my Buddhist answer would be to go ahead with it.
A normal person? And you know this how?Vlcimba wrote:A normal person, after masturbating, always feels empty and guilt, and this causes other physcological problems, and they are eager to quit after that.
I merged your "The science and karma of masturbation" into this thread. We do not need numerous threads covering the same ground.Vlcimba wrote:http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=13214
Did some research on masturbation and this is what i got
Some random sources like yahoo answers and theres actually a website for it . will check that out for you.tiltbillings wrote:A normal person? And you know this how?Vlcimba wrote:A normal person, after masturbating, always feels empty and guilt, and this causes other physcological problems, and they are eager to quit after that.
Have you read through this thread? I suggest you start here:Vlcimba wrote:Would need more help getting the facts in guys.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patikulamanasikara" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is the meditation way of stopping it