Masturbation
Overcoming Masturbation - a Christian
perspective, very useful
Masturbation:
Up to No Good (cf Persona Humana, element 9)
The Pastoral Problem
of Masturbation (Catholic)
Wasting
Seed / Birth Control (Jewish presentation)
Articles
on Masturbation and Islam
Here is a classic example of a person who thinks that the euphoric sensations found in sex are actualy spiritual. This page is worth reading to see the motivation of lusty persons in action, totally absorbed in the bodily misconception of life and aggrivating their sexual energies through Tantric Yoga in charging the sexual energy up the spine through the chakras without ejaculations as the primarily goal of sex and other masturbation techniques, and thinking it's all spiritual.
Friends Threat to Marriages
How a devotee I know nearly ruined his marriage through developing
an "on-line friendship"
There are organizations out there to help you.
Cyber Sex Chat Addicts Anonymous™ CyberAA™
Helping Cyber Addicts find the power to come clean forever...
Restoring our faith;
Restoring our families;
Restoring our lives.
Cyber Sex Chat Addicts Anonymous exists as an online resource for people who have become addicted and realize the harm this addiction has caused in their lives. Composed of recovering addicts and those just now seeking help, we come together to help each other break this addiction and come clean forever.
Cyber Sex Chat Addicts Anonymous is most importantly just that: Anonymous. The privacy of those who come seeking help is of the utmost importance. DO NOTgive out your real name or your real e-mail address in any of the discussion boards or forums that exist here.
Definition of “Cyber”
“Cyber”
in this context is a verb. It refers to the act of “having cyber sex,”
which in it’s shortest and most explicit definition is, “a combination
of communication and masturbation.” It is a selfish gratification of one’s
sexual desires while sharing one’s most intimate thoughts and fantasies
with someone else. It is nearly identical to phone sex, the only difference
being the method of communication. As computer networks become ever more
sophisticated and voice chat more common, even this distinction fades.
The newest problem comes in the form of video conferencing, which adds
visual images making the activity even more addictive.
Is this adultery?
Allow us to put this way; Yes. For a married person to engage in this activity
constitutes a form of adultery. From a legal viewpoint, a moral one and
a religious one, it is clearly cheating. Legally speaking, it is a gray
area, but only because the courts haven’t caught up with the times. Some
courts might define it as adultery. Others might define it as abandonment,
but virtually all would consider it grounds for divorce. Morally speaking,
if a married person does this in secret, attempting to fulfill themselves
while abandoning their spouse, they are clearly engaging in a most selfish
form of cheating. Religiously speaking, placing anything in life before
God is a form of worshipping idols. Placing anything other than God in
front of your spouse is a form of adultery.
So what’s the harm?
The harm comes not so much in form of what we have been doing, but rather in the form of what we have not been doing. As addicts we spend ever-greater amounts of time feeding our addiction, taking us away from our spouses, away from our families. As we turn to this fantasy world to make our intimate connections, we lose the ability to connect intimately with our spouses. We lose the ability to be intimate with our spouses on both emotional and sexual levels. As we attempt (unsuccessfully) to fulfill ourselves in this fantasy world, we leave our spouses totally unfulfilled. This unfulfilled need causes other problems for couples, in time leading to the inability to communicate fairly on even the most superficial of subjects. Eventually the marriage is destroyed. The family is destroyed. We become so addicted we neglect the things in life that were once the most important of all. Through this neglect we hurt our spouses, and we hurt our children. The children suffer most of all.
Is this a problem for singles?
Retreating into this fantasy world and depending on it for intimate relationships
severely handicaps our ability to develop intimate relationships in the
real world. It hurts us, and it hurts someone else. Out there, somewhere
is a person that perhaps we haven’t even met yet. This person is living
an unfulfilled life, suffering from loneliness because we are their soul
mate. They are the person that we are supposed to share our life with,
which we are supposed to share our joys with and bare the burden of our
heartaches together with. Our addiction is keeping us from meeting them.
This person will continue to suffer, as will we as long as we continue
to feed our addiction.
Coming clean
Many of us think of this addiction as “our dirty little secret.”
Therefore “Coming Clean” is logical phrase to describe breaking the addiction.
“I have been clean for....” however long is something that we commonly
say as we recover. “Coming Clean” means more than just abstaining from
cyber sex. It means becoming clean, in our bodies, our hearts and our minds.
The eleven steps described in this web site are
the road to coming clean. Not only can we break our addiction, but we can
start a new life in which we are proud of who we are and of the things
that we do.
Higher power
As addicts, we realize that we do not have the power within ourselves
to quit. If we did, we would not be addicts. Therefore, there must be a
higher power or else there would be no cure. Each of us has our own concept
of what or who this higher power is. Even for those of us who are atheists,
there must still be a higher power. Perhaps in this case our higher power
is simply our own subconscious mind, and calling on this higher power is
merely autosuggestion training our subconscious mind to direct our conscious
activities. Whatever our individual beliefs may be, calling on this higher
power is necessary to bring about the healing that we seek.
Before we can call on this higher power, we must
be at peace with our own beliefs. If we are atheists, and we have no doubts
or fears about our beliefs, this may be fine. However, if we have uncertainty,
doubts or fears, then we are not true atheists. These doubts and fears
cause our lives to drift without direction. It is this lack of direction
that may have caused us to drift into this addiction to begin with. Finding
this direction is necessary to guide us out of addiction.
If we do not have spiritual peace, then we must
find it. We must find God in our own way, as we understand God to be.
“Why is prayer part of the steps?”
Prayer is an important part of any deep personal
change. It is believed to bring help from God, but even if it doesn’t,
it brings a belief in ourselves that with this help we can and will change.
Regardless of our religious faith, or lack of, prayer is important. Prayer
unites us in our common struggle. It brings us together and helps us to
share our experiences in a way that simple discussion cannot. Prayer is
a cornerstone in our search for healing.
Cyber Sex Addicts Anonymous does not endorse any
particular religion over another. However, it is the experience of many
that overcoming this addiction requires help from more than the just latest
self-help book. We need help from God, in whatever form we believe God
exists.
1) We admit to ourselves that we are powerless over our addiction. We
admit to ourselves that we are not in control.
Sometimes we must verbally and consciously admit the truth.
2) We come to believe a Power Greater than ourselves can restore us.
As we realize we are powerless over our addiction, we must seek a higher
power.
3) We make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care
of God as we understand God.
There is help available, but we must consciously make a decision to
accept that help.
4) We make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
The time for kidding ourselves is over. We must face who and where
we are before we can move on.
5) We admit to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact
nature of our wrongs.
We must face the darkest defects of ourselves.
6) We humbly ask God to remove our shortcomings.
We want to come clean.
7) We make a list of all the people we have harmed and become willing
to make amends.
We accept responsibility for our actions, for the things we have done,
and for the things we have failed to do.
8) We make amends to all we have harmed, except when to do so would
cause more harm.
We must remember we do this to help them, not just ourselves.
9) We continue to take personal inventory and when wrong, promptly admit
it.
We not only accept responsibility for the things we have done, but
also for the things we do.
10) We seek through prayer and meditation to improve our contact with
God as we understand God. We pray for knowledge of God’s plan for our life
and for the power to carry it out.
We seek to not only stop doing wrong, but to accomplish things for
the good of all.
11) We reach a spiritual awakening. When possible, we carry this message
to others who need it. We practice these principles in all our affairs.
We come clean, forever.
We make amends to all we have harmed, except when to do so would cause
more harm.
As we make a list of the people we have harmed,
it almost always includes our spouse and our kids. Sometimes it includes
relatives, if they have been the shoulder our spouse leaned on, if they
have had to share in the pain. It is very important for us the reveal the
exact nature of our wrongs to our spouse. It is not necessary to reveal
the “exact nature” to our kids or anyone else.
In the case of a man, it would be important for
him to say to his kids, “Your mom and I have been having problems. I’m
sorry you’ve had to witness us treating each other the way we have. It’s
mostly my fault. I have neglected her. I have failed to take the time and
put in the effort to make her feel special they way that I should. I’m
sorry. I understand what I’ve done wrong and I’m going to make it right.
We both love you. We love each other, and we need to make sure you see
us treating each other that way.”
As stated in “Definition,” the harm comes not so
much from what we have been doing, but from what we have not. Making amends
means making a commitment to do those things we should have been doing
all along, and making good on that commitment.
Many times when making the list of people we have
harmed, we find a former cyber partner on the list. Perhaps we have harmed
this person. However, “We make amends to all we have harmed, except when
to do so would cause more harm.” Staying in contact with a former cyber
partner can only do more harm than good. The best way to make amends to
this person is to deny them the activity that has been harming them, much
as we deny this to ourselves. Staying in contact is just too much temptation
for both.
Discussion:
This is probably the most important area of the site.
This is where we communicate with each other, sharing our struggles and
our triumphs. There are rules. There are not very many, but they are important.
DO NOTgive out your real name, your real e-mail or any information
that would identify you.
DO NOTask anyone else to do so.
Most of us use our real first names, but no last names.
DO NOTattempt to contact another recovering addict by any other means.
Especially, but not limited to inviting one of us to a chat room. Some
of us may have relapses, but we must not drag someone else down who came
looking for help.
DO NOTgo into any details of your cyber experiences.
The words cyber, sex and masturbation are permitted, but going into
any further detail is not. Such details might fuel the fantasies of another
who is weak. We came here to help each other, not make things worse.
DO NOTget into arguments over religious beliefs.
If your religious faith has been helpful in your recovery, please feel
free to share the details, but be respectful of others who have very different
beliefs. These arguments over religious differences have been going on
for thousands of years and will continue to go on as long as mankind lives
on this earth. Such an argument would only serve to divide us. We have
far too much in common to allow that to happen. We all struggle with the
same addiction, and we all came together to help each other. We can disagree
on many things, and still treat each other with respect and help each other
overcome this addiction.
DOstart your posts with “My name is (name). I have been clean for (however
long)...” Then post a question, answer someone else’s question or tell
your own story of recovery.
DOask yourself, “Does this post belong here?”
The message board is monitored, and any questionable posts will be
removed.
Click the link below to enter:
The CyberAA
Discussion Board
Q: I spend many hours a week online in cybersex activities, and I enjoy
every moment. How do I know if I am a cybersex addict?
Q: The cybersex activities I most often engage in are masturbation
with pornography. Can this be a part of sex addiction?
Q: If alcoholics and drug addicts define "being sober" by not drinking
or using mind altering chemicals, how does a cybersex addict define sobriety
--abstaining from sex altogether?
Q: My wife caught me several months ago in online cybersex/romantic
chats and porn viewing. Although I've gotten help for my problem and have
not acted out sexually since that time, she continues to be distant, critical,
angry, and mistrustful.
Q: I have a larger sexual appetite than my partner, so for years to
satisfy myself I've involved in affairs, both online and offline, use porn,
and regularly receive sensual massages. Is this really a problem?
Q: I am a married woman and my time online is mostly spent in sex and
romance chats. I've had brief offline affairs with some of these men. I
am afraid and embarrassed to ask for help. Yet I think I am a sex addict
and I really struggle with this.
Q. My partner and I haven't had sex in months. I suspect he's spending
nights viewing pornography online, and maybe even meeting people for sex.
I asked him about this, and he denied it. I'm sick at heart, but I just
don't know what to do.
Q. After the intensity and novelty of cybersex, can sex with an ordinary
long-term partner ever be just as good?
Q: I spend many hours a week online in cybersex activities, and I enjoy
every moment. How do I know if I am a cybersex addict?
If you repeatedly spend more time on cybersex activities than you intended,
if you continue despite significant negative consequences in your life
(if you are risking your relationships, your job, your health, or your
legal status), and if you are obsessed or preoccupied with these activities
when you should be focused on other aspects of your life, then you are
likely a cybersex addict. Research suggests that cybersex addicts spend
at least 11 or 12 hours a week on the Internet, and often it's double or
triple that amount of time.
Back to top
Q: The cybersex activities I most often engage in are masturbation with
pornography. Can this be a part of sex addiction?
Yes. Compulsive masturbation with or without pornography and compulsive
viewing of porn with or without masturbation both present long-standing
problems for many cybersex addicts. Whether it is through cybersex, phone
sex lines, videos, porn magazines, or simply through fantasy, sex addicts
can lose hours daily to the isolating activities of fantasy and masturbation.
Loss of control, continuation despite negative life consequences, and preoccupation
or obsession with the activity, are the characteristics of any addiction.
Back to top
Q: If alcoholics and drug addicts define "being sober" by not drinking
or using mind altering chemicals, how does a cybersex addict define sobriety
--abstaining from sex altogether?
Fortunately no. Sobriety for cybersex addicts consists of avoiding
the sexual and cybersexual activities that cause the addict to feel shameful,
hold secrets, or which are illegal or abusive. Cybersex addicts may also
have to avoid nonsexual activities -- such as surfing the Web or just spending
lots of time alone with the computer which can lead them back to cybersex
activities.
Back to top
Q: My wife caught me several months ago in online cybersex/romantic
chats and porn viewing. Although I've gotten help for my problem and have
not acted out sexually since that time, she continues to be distant, critical,
angry, and mistrustful.
Most partners feel betrayed and emotionally abandoned by their spouse's
online sexual activities, even if a real-life affair has not occurred.
Rebuilding trust takes time, many months. Give your partner space and understanding
to express his or her hurt and anger without trying to avoid, dismiss,
or make it different. In time things will improve. Consider couples counseling,
or attending a couples' support group to help work through the rough times.
Back to top
Q: I have a larger sexual appetite than my partner, so for years to
satisfy myself I've involved in affairs, both online and offline, use porn,
and regularly receive sensual massages. Is this really a problem?
Part of what determines whether someone is a sex addict is not just
looking at the person's sexual behaviors, but also at how he or she is
living his or her life . Many sex addicts constantly lie to their partners,
keep sexual secrets, and find ways to justify their sexual behaviors. How
does your current sex life affect your sense of integrity and your own
personal values or belief systems? Have you risked your marriage or primary
relationship, your job, or your health, in order to maintain access to
your sexual activities?. Try not having sex at all for 30 days. If you
cannot maintain this commitment to yourself, you may have a problem.
Back to top
Q: I am a married woman and my time online is mostly spent in sex and
romance chats. I've had brief offline affairs with some of these men. I
am afraid and embarrassed to ask for help. Yet I think I am a sex addict
and I really struggle with this.
There are many women sex addicts. Unfortunately, while our society
often rewards men for excessive sexual behavior, it simultaneously punishes
and devalues women for the same activities. No wonder it is so difficult
for women to come forth and admit they have a problem. About 60 years ago
or so when AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) was getting started, most of those
meetings were male dominated. Alcoholics were assumed to be males, usually
found drunk in back-alleys and half-way houses. Of course, now we know
there were many women alcoholics. Increasingly, Twelve-Step sexual addiction
recovery programs are welcoming women. It is essential that women in sexual
recovery seek out and find the fellowship of other recovering women to
share their stories and reduce the stigma of being a woman with this problem.
Back to top
Q. My partner and I haven't had sex in months. I suspect he's spending
nights viewing pornography online, and maybe even meeting people for sex.
I asked him about this, and he denied it. I'm sick at heart, but I just
don't know what to do.
Whether or not your partner is indeed engaging in cybersex, your relationship
is in trouble.. Go together to see a couples counselor, preferably one
who is knowledgeable about how the Internet can affect relationships. If
your husband is unwilling to go, then it is very likely that he is hiding
some behavior. In this case, it would be helpful for you to see a counselor
alone in order to sort out your options. You might also consider joining
an online support group for partners of sex addicts. The only requirement
for membership is that you are being affected by someone else's sexual
behavior. These days, cybersex addiction is a major topic of discussion
on the online support groups.
Back to top
Q. After the intensity and novelty of cybersex, can sex with an ordinary
long-term partner ever be just as good?
Cybersex gives the participant a concentrated dose of those early intensity-based
days of sex in a new relationship. But cybersex has many drawbacks as well,
and the price can be exorbitant. Alone with only the computer for company,
cybersex participants are in fact isolated from real human contact. Cybersex
objectifies the participants. They are often reduced to body parts. Real-life
sex with a committed partner can evolve an intimacy that makes it much
better than sex with one's own hand and a picture on a screen.. But real
intimacy takes dedicated work, communication, and play.
It's a TRUE story (ed. note: Just like all Urban Myths. This is from
an e-mail I received recently.)
THE DEFINITION OF EMBARRASSMENT
Normally when I hear embarrassing stories about my friends I sort of
chuckle a little and let it pass, however when my friend at CU Boulder
wrote me this letter telling me about her embarrassing experience, as sick
as it was, I could not help but become hysterical. I know with the sick
sense of humor my friends have, that ya'll would appreciate this as well.
I asked, my friend if I could write it up. She didn't mind as long as I
didn't use her name, so here it is.
An anonymous girl, lets call her Jen, is a junior in college attending
school in Colorado. Like all college students, she is wrapped up in the
partying and the wildness college life has to offer. Jen being the computer
science major that she is does, however, have a lot of work to do on her
computer. So when she's not out having a good time, she's working her butt
off designing computer programs and installing software.
One day, soon after she had broken up with her boyfriend, she was home
alone on a friday night for the first time in the three years since they
had been dating. She was sad, alone and depressed, so she decided to make
a new homepage. She was playing on the net when she decided to get onto
a chat channel, being the wild psycho that she is she decided to get onto
a sex channel. So Jen got onto a sex chat and started playing around on
it. On the channel, she met a guy who identified himself as Jeremy. She
started playing with him. She gave a false name, saying her name was "Katie"
and started getting into detail about what she would like to do to him
with her tongue. He responded by telling her to picture being naked while
his hands ran over every square inch of her body. Soon they were having
cybersex. This went on for awhile, and then she got off the channel agreeing
to meet him back on the computer the following night.
Saturday night rolls around, and Jen is on the line with Jeremy again,
they become even closer this night, so they continue like this for a week.
At the end of the week, they started talking about other things, and got
into very intimate issues and feelings. They became close, exchanging their
lives. Jen didn't tell Jeremy that she was in college, because she was
afraid of sounding like an immature college girl. She felt guilty, but
after a few weeks, she really liked this guy. This went on the two of them
like this for months, and months turned into a year. By the end of the
year they had exchanged the most intimate thoughts, and yet had never even
spoken on the phone. They were afraid of ruining the mystery. They had
done everything sexually possible over the net, they were affectionate
as well, waiting for the day that they could some day be together.
They finally decided they had had enough. They wanted to meet each
other. They were in love and they had to meet. They didn't care about age
or looks or anything but each other. Jeremy told Jen he thought she could
be his next wife. Jen was wary at first but decided she didn't care how
old he was or how ugly, she loved him. He was the only one she could feel
comfortable with.
So...they planned a trip to meet in Vail, Colorado. They were going
to spend the weekend together and finally meet. Jen didn't want the hassle
of having to find him, so she said, why don't you just get the room and
we'll meet in the room that way there will be no mistake. Jeremy agreed.
Jen showed up at the resort first, and checked into the room telling the
desk lady to hold the key for the next party, so she went into the room.
She wanted things to be special so she lit some candles, put on some music.
She stripped naked and climbed into the bed under the covers, deciding
to surprise Jeremy when he got there. The time soon came the lights were
out, the mood was right, and she heard a key in the door, she heard someone
walk in and around the corner, and she whispered, "Jeremy"? Jeremy said,
"Katie?" (this was the false name she had given him.) Yes she said, so
he fumbled for the light, and turned it on to see Jen on the bed naked
before him.
Then next thing heard around the world were two blood curling screams.
Jen covered herself up, and with her most humiliating voice said, "Dad?"
and Jeremy said, "JEN!!!"
Think of what you would do in this situation.. now realize this really
did happen. Their lives will never be the same.
ed. note: Except this sounds like a typical Urban Myth. If you know
this to be true, or can document any of the myths on my page, please email
me.
Uncle Ken
uncleken@ix.netcom.com
Then there are those who do similar and find themselves raped by several men, and or even murdered.
AN 18-year-old Singaporean woman has reportedly been jailed for two-and-a-half years in a cybersex scam in which she stimulated men who were then blackmailed.
Norhafizah Raziki "got intimate - short of sex" with the men, the Straits
Timessaid. She met two men in an internet chatroom and agreed to meet them
privately.
A group of male friends later accused the victims of having sex with
a minor and told them to pay up to $S30,000 ($31,000) "for the shame inflicted"
on her family.
Raziki's lawyer argued she was not the mastermind of the operation
and did not receive any money.
But while Judge Malcolm Tan acknowledged that having to stimulate the men was "very denigrating" for the young woman, he added "the crux of the matter is she did this act with her eyes open".
Of six men also involved in the extortion, two were jailed for five years and given six strokes of the cane, one received a 30-month jail term and three have yet to appear in court.
Agence France-Presse
.....and there are thousands of cases like this every week.
Ayurvedic Anatomy and Physiology:
http://www.nzhealth.net.nz/ayurveda/dhatus.html
Dhatus.
Dr. Satish Kulkarni.
We discussed in the previous article that the three basic constituents of the body (treedoshasi.e. vaat-pitta-kafa) are created by five supreme powers i.e. Earth (pruthvi), Water (aap), Divine Fire (tej), Air (vayu) and Universal Space (aakash). Amongst these powers, Divine Fire (tej) is the precursor of pittaand body fire (agni) is the successor of pitta.
Agniplays a vital role in the creation and maintenance of body tissues (dhatus). The human body is made up of seven basic tissues or vital substances called dhatus. The meaning of the sanskrit word dhatuis ‘that which binds together’. Dhatuis the element which constructs our body. Dhatuis the base of growth and survival. Dhatustake different forms in our body to maintain life. Different organs (sharir avayavas) and different body systems (strotasas) are made out of dhatus.Our nourishment and development is fully dependent on dhatus.
Ayurvedabelieves that there are seven dhatusin all. They are: life sap (rasa),blood (rakta), muscles (mansa),fatty tissue (med), bones (asthi),bone marrow and nervous tissue (majja)and semen and reproductive system (shukra). Each dhatuhas its own agnii.e. dhatu-agni. Our food intake is converted into life sap by agniof rasa dhatuand rasa dhatuis produced. Likewise, agni of rakta dhatuprepares raktaout of rasa and so on. Every dhatuis a precursor of the next dhatu. Rasais transformed into rakta, raktaprepares mansa, mansais further transformed into meda, medais used to make asthi, asthiforms majjaand majjaproduces the ultimate dhatui.e. shukra.
Ayurvedaresearchers must have observed that food is the starting point of life. Food enters the body from the inlet— the mouth and the end products come out of body through the outlet— the genitalia and anus. The second important observation must have been that any living creature (including human beings) survives and grows with food and dies without it. They must have seen that starvation retards growth of the body and destroys the body in the end. Thus, this theory of dhatus must have arrived from these observations.
Dhatusprotect our body from external encounters. They are responsible
for our immune mechanism. If there is wasting (kshaya) of dhatusthen the
body construction collapses and ultimately life ends.
Ayurvedarecognises shukraas the most important dhatu. It states that
one needs a hundred drops of blood (rakta) to produce one drop of semen
(shukra). Shukrais the essence of all the body tissues and is that creation
of mother nature which has the capacity to produce new life. In any case,
it should not be wasted without substantial reason (i.e. reproduction).
Disorder in doshas (vaat-pitta-kafa)affects dhatus. These affected or defective dhatus hamper the quality of life. Proper diet (ahar) and proper life style (vihar) help in maintaining the balance of doshasand in producing healthy dhatus.
To summarize, dhatusaccount for the ayurvedic explanation of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Our body processes consumed food and transforms it into life sap, which in turn creates a chain of further body tissues i.e. dhatus. Their gain gives quality to our life and their loss destroys life.
Semen Loss / Semen Value
Dhat Syndrome: Northern India
http://www.virtualcity.com/youthsuicide/semen/04-semen-loss-value-india.htm
"Ayurveda itself teaches a physiology of the production of sperm, based on the central idea that there are seven essential constituents of the body (the seven dhatus: chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen) produced through a cycle of successive internal cookings and transformations. The ultimate distilling, the most concentrated and hence the most precious, is semen" (Bottero, 1991: 306).
"The present study indicates that the attitudes toward semen loss constitute an organized belief system... [more common in] low-education and low-income groups... Semen is considered a precious material formed by the distillation of blood. Forty meals gives rise to one drop of blood. Forty drops of blood give rise to one drop of bone marrow. Forty drops of bone marrow give rise to one drop of the elixir of life, semen. One ejaculation of semen will lead to wastage of a wealth of energy. This belief can be traced back to the holy scriptures (Sushruta Samhita, 1938; Charak Samhita, 1949; Gandhi, 1957; Kuma Sutra, 1967).
It is being propagated by the lay and pseudoscientific literature (Mishra, 1962; Chand, 1968) and has fascinated many scientific investigators..." (Malhotra and Wig, 1975: 526).
"Celibacy improves the condition of your semen. However much semen you are able to retain, you will receive in that proportion greater wisdom, improves action, higher spirituality and increased knowledge. Moreover, you will acquire the power to get whatever you want. (Yogacharya Bhagwandev 1992: 15)"[Alter, 1997: 280]
"If semen remains in the body, it is the essence of vitality, and many
writers spare no hyperbolic in their descriptions of a body glowing with
energy of semen.
Semen! What a beautiful, sparkling word! When reflecting on it one's
mind is filled with grand, great, majestic, beautiful, and powerful emotions.
[Shastri n.d.[a]:10]" [Alter, 1997: 284]
[Abstract] "A large segment of the general public from all socioeconomic classes believe that semen loss is harmful. Seminal fluid is considered an elixir of life in the physical and mystical sense. Its preservation guarantees health, longevity, and supernatural powers"(Malhotra and Wig, 1975: 519).
"Nocturnal emission, or svapna dosh(dream error), is given special consideration by all authors. Kariraj Jagannath Shastri devotes his whole book to the subject, and because of its 'involuntary' nature, calls svapna dosh the worst of all 'personal diseases'"(Alter, 1997: 287).
SOME FACTS
Archibald Hart wrote a book entitled The Sexual Man(Waco, Texas: Word,
1994). His book contains surveys he conducted on the subject of masturbation.
When asked how married men feel about their masturbation, "almost all (97
percent) said they did not feel guilty. Only 2 percent said that it was
shameful, and 8 percent that it was abnormal. But on the other hand, only
13 percent said they felt normal about masturbation. So what does this
mean? Either they genuinely don't know how they feel or they have a lot
of ambivalence about their feelings. On the one hand, 97 percent said they
don't feel guilty, but only 13 percent said it felt normal."
I think these results show that a rationalization has taken place in
our society. In spite of what society and books and "sex experts" tell
us -- in spite of what men say they believe -- men still don't feel right
about masturbation. Many of the married and unmarried men I have spoken
with agonize over their practice of masturbation.
FIVE IMPORTANT TRUTHS
Sex is good and right and pure. It was created by a loving, imaginative
God for procreation and pleasure. God created sex to be ENJOYED, but only
within the right context: marriage.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them.... God saw all that he had made,
and it was very good. Genesis 1:27, 31.
Masturbation is not mentioned in the Bible. So we have no clear commandment in the Scripture regarding masturbation. In the absence of a clear command, we must always be careful of creating condemnation where God never intended it. Little boys and little girls explore their bodies. Touching their sex organs feels good. This is not sin. It is normal curiosity.
However we do have a clear command, concerning the lust of a woman who
is not your wife. Jesus says this is essentially the same as the sin of
adultery.
"Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery
with her in his heart."Matthew 5:28.
Therefore, if you are masturbating and in your masturbating you are
lusting after a woman that you are not married to, then your masturbation
is a sin. If you are using pornography or imagination to lust after a woman
who is not your wife, then you are "missing the mark" (the meaning of one
of the Greek words for sin). You are committing a form of adultery. You
are involved in something that is unhealthy for you and for those around
you.
In spite of what some single people imagine, masturbation does not stop magically when you get married:
Archibald Hart in his book The Sexual Manclaims "61 percent of all marriedmen
surveyed masturbate."
Sex in marriage has its interruptions and boring times.
Thought control does not get easier; it gets harder after marriage
since you know what sex is all about.
The key to self-control in masturbation is control of your mind by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit
is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit
to God's law, nor can it do so.Romans 8:6-7.
Your mind controls your sexual arousal. Your most important sex organ
is your mind.
THE EFFECTS OF A LONG-TERM HABIT OF MASTURBATION
We dream up wild fantasies in order to masturbate. Wild fantasies become
the only way to physically excite you. They are not at all like the physical
relationship in marriage. This will put a strain on your marriage.
They cause guiltfeelings which make it hard for you to relate to other people. Sin blunts your feelings toward God.
Fantasizing in your mind makes you want to enact your fantasies -- worse sin, big trouble.
Your lack of self-control may make you susceptible to unfaithfulness in your marriage.
The guilt you feel can be transferred to thinking that all sex is dirty and wrong.
Because of the concentration on your own orgasm or release, it can train
you to be selfish in marital sex. It is also common for masturbation to
create a problem with pre-ejaculation in your marriage.
TOOLS FOR OVERCOMING A CHRONIC HABIT OF MASTURBATION
Scripture Memory - Get these Scriptures into your head and heart. Quote
them when you get up in the morning and whenever you are tempted. They
will help you to renew your mind and teach you to think differently.
Romans 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,
and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Romans 8:6 "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled
by the Spirit is life and peace."
John 8:34,36 "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins
is a slave to sin. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons
of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against
the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient
to Christ."
Work on victory only one day at a time:
Neverthink about getting victory for the rest of your life.
Here is the way to think: "The guys are all out of the apartment. Lord,
just let me get through this one afternoon."
Remind yourself how long it's been since the last time you masturbated.
"I've had victory for a whole week. Praise God! Now do I really want to go through that guilt again just to start over again? NO, not today!"
Remember and review the long-term effects of masturbation.
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and
the Lord for the body. 1 Corinthians 16:13
If you sin, it's a little bit easier to sin the next time; but the opposite
is also true -- resist and it will make you stronger.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.James 4:7.
Resist the devil, standing firm in the faith, because you know that
your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.1
Peter 5:9.
Engage in some type of strenuous exercise. Go and burnout and it will
lessen the desire. One guy would go and do chin ups until his arms felt
like they would fall off.
Therefore, I do not run like a man aimlessly; I do not fight like a
man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after
I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.1
Corinthians 9:26-27.
Avoid any situation that tempts you personally. Avoid it. Change it.
Expose it. Remove anything from your home that causes you to want to sin
sexually -- books, magazines, videos, etc.
Flee from sexual immorality.1 Corinthians 6:18.
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love
and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.2
Timothy 2:22.
Find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless
deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.Ephesians 5:11.
Be accountable to another Christian brother. Call a Christian friend
with whom you can fellowship during this time of temptation.
He who trusts in himself is a fool.Proverbs 28:26.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies. Let a righteous
man strike me--it is a kindness; let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it.Psalm 141:4-5.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you
may be healed.James 5:16.
Change your habits of thinking. This is also the area that will take
the most work. Quick and easy victory is unlikely. This is a war, not just
a battle.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve
what God's will is. Romans 12:2.
Ask the Lord to show you why you have wrong desires. Give some serious
thought to figuring out why you masturbation. A chronic habit of masturbation
is usually a emotional substitute for something. It's like a drug we use
to anesthetize our emotional pain. Are you using masturbation to overcome
sadness, feelings of rejection, or fear of failure? If so, then you are
confusing psychological/spiritual issues with sex. Masturbating isn't going
to help you mature emotionally. It will only keep you childlike. Take some
time to really figure out what masturbation is being used for in your life.
Then separate out the psychological issues from God's gift of sex. Ask
God to reveal any burdens or anxieties you are carrying, then give them
back to Him.
Get in the habit of praising and thanking God for the way you are, including
your sex organs. Thank Him for making you a sexual being and ask Him to
help you control yourself so you can enjoy sex in its proper context.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Psalm 139:14.
If you yield to the temptation, confess as soon as possible, and don't dwell on it. You will feel guilty because you have given in to your flesh and have obeyed it desires, but don't keep punishing yourself about it; instead rejoice in the cleansing, forgiving power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Renew fellowship with God and again reckon yourself dead to sin.
Grow spiritually. Don't stop serving or learning. Sometimes guilt makes us feel like we are not worthy to serve in the church or associate with other Christians. That is Satan's trap to keep you away from God's grace (Romans 8:1). Don't run from the streams of God's grace. Stay involved and active. Becoming more like Christ in other areas will help you in this one.
For more on weapons to use in your battle against lust see Weapons for the War.
THE PRESS, Christchurch, New Zealand - Tuesday, May 7th 2002 - page 25.
Male-female friendships outside marriage are a form of adultery, says Gary Neuman, a Miami Beach psychologist. While that might seem an extreme view, even his critics agree that marriages can be harmed, writes PETER JENSEN.
Are you a woman who shares secrets with a male friend? Are you the kind
of man who reviews his weekend plans with a female co-worker? Do you go
out for drinks with a colleague of the opposite sex?
If you are married and answer yes to any of these questions, then therapist
Gary Neuman has a word to describe your behavior: unfaithful.
“We can’t fool ourselves into believing that we can have intimate relationships
at work and still have a great relationship at home,” says Neuman. “My
message is that if you want to infuse passion and have a buddy for the
rest of your life, you have to keep that emotional content in your marriage.
Otherwise, it’s not going to happen.”
Neuman, a Miami Beach psychologist, has raised hackles in the marriage
conselling field with his recently published book, Emotional Infidelity
(Random House). It says male-female friendships outside marriage are a
form of adultery.
The funny thing is that while Neuman’s views might seem extreme, even
his critics say his central premise – that friendships between members
of the opposite sex can harm marriages – is probably valid.
“It’s a concern,” says Shirley Glass, a Maryland psychologist and longtime
researcher into marital infidelity. “Many love affairs begin just that
way.”
Marital infidelity, the sexual kind, is hard an uncommon phenomenon
in contemporary America. Nor does it show any sign of abating. According
to a 1998 survey by the University of Chicago, about 25% of married American
men and 17% of married women admit to have being unfaithful.
Glass suspects those numbers are too low. Her own research suggests
it is probably closer to 25% of women and 40-50% of men.
How many married men and women might admit to an emotional infidelity?
Probably 55 to 60%, she says. She thinks numbers are growing.
Her own definition of emotional infidelity is more cautious then Neuman’s.
Glass thinks a friendship between members of the opposite sex must have
three traits to be an infidelity: emotional intimacy that is greater than
that within the marriage, sexual tension, and secrecy.
“Friendship becomes a problem when it becomes a replacement for
a marriage or takes place outside a marriage,” says Glass.
Hamit Aizen, 38, says she used to think that opposite gender
friends were fine for married couples. After nine years of marriage she
no longer feels that way. Instead, she puts a greater priority on preserving
intimacy with her husband.
A married father of five, Gary Neuman, 37, belives society generally
underestimated how harmful these emotional infidelities can be. He has
counseled too many couples not to have noticed that marriages suffer when
men and woman seek intimate relationships outside of home.
Even if the relationship doesn’t escalate to sex, it can be debilitating
to the marriage.
Consider, he says, the husband who gripes about work with a female
co-worker and then comes home and doesn’t really want to repeat his complaints
all over again with his wife. The result? She is isolated from the significant
part of his life.
Or what about the wife who flirts with other men? Will she feel better
or worse about her marriage when she compares their reaction to her husbands
behavior? He might seem much less fun and exciting. In his book, Neuman
refers to research that shows it’s where most extramarital affairs get
started – perhaps as high as 78%, according to one study.
He sees the opportunities for inappropriate behavior behind every
lunch, every trip for drinks after work, and every business trip where
men and women are thrust into prolonged social contact without their spouses.
Modern “team building” retreats where male and female co-workers
climb walls or abseil down cliffs? Neuman would like to see them end.
“We can’t fool ourselves into thinking we can have these intimate relationships
at work and still have a great relationship at home.”
Gary Neuman admits his views are unconventional, but in the three months
since his book hit the shops, the volume of hate male he has received has
surprised him. Many of those letters are from women who angrily accuse
him of condemning the presence of educated women in the work force and
rekindling a kind of Victorian attitude towards them.
Even Glass thinks he overstates the harmfulness of a friendship.
“It’s fine as long as it’s not a replacement for marriage. You just have
to ask: If you say or do things you wouldn’t want your spouse to see or
hear then you need to take a few steps back.”
But Neuman insists that he has not overstated the destructiveness –
if only because marriages can be such fragile things that get neglected
and too easily reduced to “kids and bills”. He points to the Internet as
an example of how men and women can have emotional entanglements without
physical contact. He has heard stories of people who have spent hours on
the Web sharing secrets with people they’ll probably never meet, in the
process of denying their spouses the same intimacies.
Marlene Maheu, author of Infidelity on the Internet (Source Books),
agrees that such relationships can be a “serious disruption” to a marriage.
Susan Townsend, another psychologist, says that it is usually
the emotional intimacy that develops in affairs that devastates marriages,
not the fact that one partner has had sex with another. Whether that develops
over the Internet or from direct contract doesn’t seem to matter. “People
can end up feeling isolated and lonely in their marriages,” she says.
Barry Glazer, a 57-year-old lawyer who is a student in Townsend’s
class, says he has never believed married men and woman should have close
friendships outside marriage. Mother Nature, he says, just doesn’t work
that way.
“It’s way too complicated. I worry why it would be open to something
more,” says Glazer, who is in a long-term relationship. “Maybe that’s not
fair, but when you try to make nature fair, you’re banging your head against
the wall.”
Townsend and other therapists say such male-female friendships
are possible when both parties understand their boundaries. One of the
first steps toward “affair-proofing” your marriage is simply to make sure
a couple spends some time on the weekly basis having a meaningful conversation.
“The more a couple knows each other, the better off they are,”
she says. “If you strengthen the bond between the couple, there is not
so much temptation to look elsewhere.”
Glass suggests that friendships become a problem when there’s
some attraction involved. If you sense that chemistry, she says, that’s
when it’s time to put the walls up – maybe avoid some social situations
that “create a more male-female situation”.
- Baltimore Sun
How to stay true
Here are 10 rules for avoiding emotional infidelity:
- Keep it all business in the office
- Avoid meetings with members of the opposite sex outside the workplace.
- Meet in groups
- Find polite ways of ending personal conversations.
- Take particular care not to have regular (perhaps daily or even weekly)
conversations about your life outside work.
- Don’t share your personal feelings
- Be unflinchingly honest with yourself
- Avoid cordial kisses and hugs, or dancing with members of the opposite
sex
- Don’t drink in mixed company
- Show your commitment to your spouse daily.