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I did a 10 day retreat and I abstained from "relieving myself" until day 8. Just mainly to see what difference it makes and they said to not divulge in sense pleasures.
To be honest I thought about sex a lot more, it was actually quite hard. I guess it becomes an attachment or habit which is why monks give it up.
I think it's a practical thing to do when training the mind but at the end if the day nature intended us to reproduce. And we are nature.
I can see the point though!
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited April 2015
"Nature" intended nothing of the kind. Nature is inanimate and can't 'make decisions'.
Our tendency as a mammal means we have a basic sexual instinct to procreate, but as Man (in general) has succeeded in suppressing many instinctual traits, this one is really no different.
Our tendency as a mammal also means we have a basic instinct to NOT be monogamous.
But infidelity and adultery are both frowned upon in most cultures.
I rest my case.
In all honesty though, males should ejaculate relatively regularly for health reasons.
Any kind of practice that suppresses that is unhealthy IMO.
Apologies if it offends anybody's sensibilities.......
Doesn't offend me.
"Frequent masturbation in young men is linked to higher risk of early prostate cancer, but it lowers prostate cancer risk for men in their 50s, a study shows." -- WebMD (and many other sources).
So it's your contention that monks do not masturbate?
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited April 2015
@thenovicemonk41 said:
Adultery is even frowned upon in Buddhism.
No it isn't. Sensual misconduct is frowned upon in Buddhism. we take it upon ourselves to include adultery. Of course, you may have specific literature that states otherwise, but it might be doctrinal rather than universal.
From the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta: sensual misconduct here includes adultery.
"He engages in sensual misconduct. He gets sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made impure in three ways by bodily action."
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Oh yeah, I forgot about that. :Sheepish: grin
Moses comes running down the Mountain:
"Hey guys! I got good news and bad news.... the good news is that I managed to get him down to ten!
The bad news? Adultery's still in....!"
If celibacy is the path that one chooses, then there are a couple of points to consider towards having that celibacy enhance rather than hinder ones path towards suffering's cessation.
When you can allow phenomena to freely arise and pass without trying to direct them, you can experience a space between those phenomena and your own conditioned tendencies to interact with them. The meditative practitioner who learns how to relax into that space as a practice, can then experience the full force of sexuality arising and departing without needing to embrace, ignore or reject any of it.
Where outside of that space, sexuality for a celibate can often appear to be a force of nature, inside of that space, sexuality can be seen to simply be the sum of uncountable binary choices that we have deliberately made towards the goal of bringing sexuality and ourselves, together.
@federica of course nature intended reproduction, how else would we be here?
Nature may not be capable of making decisions but studies are now showing neither are we.
Humans and nature are not separate. The earth created us, your intelligence is natures intelligence.
The reason we can't feel this us because of the illusion of separateness.
@lobster
Boxer briefs, lol.
Every monk I know wear socks.
Sari is what the ladies in India wear.
Haha, no. That's too much shaving for me.
Not anymore. Not since I was 14.
I never even had one.
HAHAHAHA. Oh lord, this question.
@thenovicemonk41 said:
And, Zen monks are allowed to be married and hold modern jobs!
That's true of Japanese zen traditions but not of other zen traditions. Non-Japanese zen monks are pretty much still standard traditional monks. No job, no family, no sex, etc.
@lobster said:
do you fancy Tara, even though she is on occasion green or heavily armed?
As a devotee of Green Tara, I have her picture everywhere, even in the kitchen.
Somehow, I love her smile in this picture in particular, which is my favourite.
Unfortunately, I can't bring my son to admire her smile, for he always has a comment apposite on her female attributes...
what's more interesting is the sign below it -- to beware of monks stealing things! In all probability, that temple was having a problem with fake monks stealing.
As far as the whale skull, lots of Thai temples will display any oddity hoping for more in the contribution box.
@vinlyn said:
what's more interesting is the sign below it -- to beware of monks stealing things!
As far as the whale skull, lots of Thai temples will display any oddity hoping for more in the contribution box.
Lol. Yea I thought it was pretty funny. I think it said monky (sic) till someone scratched out the y.
It's at Wat Tham Sua at Krabi where I went a number of times at your suggestion.
Comments
Thanks @thenovicemonk41 - I was hoping you wouldn't mind me asking.
See? @Bunks ? Told you so!
One time I replied, "Well, technically, we're all naked under our clothing"
Ain't that the truth....
To be honest I thought about sex a lot more, it was actually quite hard. I guess it becomes an attachment or habit which is why monks give it up.
I think it's a practical thing to do when training the mind but at the end if the day nature intended us to reproduce. And we are nature.
I can see the point though!
"Nature" intended nothing of the kind. Nature is inanimate and can't 'make decisions'.
Our tendency as a mammal means we have a basic sexual instinct to procreate, but as Man (in general) has succeeded in suppressing many instinctual traits, this one is really no different.
Our tendency as a mammal also means we have a basic instinct to NOT be monogamous.
But infidelity and adultery are both frowned upon in most cultures.
I rest my case.
Doesn't offend me.
"Frequent masturbation in young men is linked to higher risk of early prostate cancer, but it lowers prostate cancer risk for men in their 50s, a study shows." -- WebMD (and many other sources).
So it's your contention that monks do not masturbate?
No it isn't. Sensual misconduct is frowned upon in Buddhism. we take it upon ourselves to include adultery. Of course, you may have specific literature that states otherwise, but it might be doctrinal rather than universal.
oh goody ...
do you fancy Tara, even though she is on occasion green or heavily armed?
From the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta: sensual misconduct here includes adultery.
"He engages in sensual misconduct. He gets sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made impure in three ways by bodily action."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.176.than.html
Oh yeah, I forgot about that. :Sheepish: grin
Moses comes running down the Mountain:
"Hey guys! I got good news and bad news.... the good news is that I managed to get him down to ten!
The bad news? Adultery's still in....!"
If celibacy is the path that one chooses, then there are a couple of points to consider towards having that celibacy enhance rather than hinder ones path towards suffering's cessation.
When you can allow phenomena to freely arise and pass without trying to direct them, you can experience a space between those phenomena and your own conditioned tendencies to interact with them. The meditative practitioner who learns how to relax into that space as a practice, can then experience the full force of sexuality arising and departing without needing to embrace, ignore or reject any of it.
Where outside of that space, sexuality for a celibate can often appear to be a force of nature, inside of that space, sexuality can be seen to simply be the sum of uncountable binary choices that we have deliberately made towards the goal of bringing sexuality and ourselves, together.
Nature may not be capable of making decisions but studies are now showing neither are we.
Humans and nature are not separate. The earth created us, your intelligence is natures intelligence.
The reason we can't feel this us because of the illusion of separateness.
@thenovicemonk41 surely monks go to bed at some stage :P
Boxer briefs, lol.
Every monk I know wear socks.
Sari is what the ladies in India wear.
Haha, no. That's too much shaving for me.
Not anymore. Not since I was 14.
I never even had one.
HAHAHAHA. Oh lord, this question.
That's a 'yes' then....
It's a bed of nails of course.
Too late. Don't be-lieeeeeeve you!!
You had beds? You were lucky!
10 hours a day?! You were lucky, we had to meditate for 28 hours a day, and that was just on the days off!!
days off!! You were lucky.....!
That's true of Japanese zen traditions but not of other zen traditions.
Non-Japanese zen monks are pretty much still standard traditional monks. No job, no family, no sex, etc. 
Never say "never."
As a devotee of Green Tara, I have her picture everywhere, even in the kitchen.
Somehow, I love her smile in this picture in particular, which is my favourite.
Unfortunately, I can't bring my son to admire her smile, for he always has a comment apposite on her female attributes...
@DhammaDragon - Glad I'm not the only one with an image of her in my kitchen!
Here it is: her picture among photos and post-its in my kitchen, @Rowan1980...
I agree it can be a little distracting...
It's upside down... @federica!!!!!
Fede, please, help....
When discovered, Buddhism often turns one's life upside down.
Are there any stand-up comedian monks? To be the biggest success at it, all they have to do is just keep talking about sex!
This one came with a Dharma book cover I bought last year. An unexpected and most welcome surprise!
Well, she's more demure than mine, Rowan...
My Tara is totally sexy...
(** they're **)
I wonder why they have a whale skull at a monastery?
Calling @Linc... HELP! Photos are being posted upside down....!
what's more interesting is the sign below it -- to beware of monks stealing things! In all probability, that temple was having a problem with fake monks stealing.
As far as the whale skull, lots of Thai temples will display any oddity hoping for more in the contribution box.
Lol. Yea I thought it was pretty funny. I think it said monky (sic) till someone scratched out the y.
It's at Wat Tham Sua at Krabi where I went a number of times at your suggestion.
Whale skull at a monastery...?
Is it at this point that we note that monks blubber a lot ... or swallow Christian adventurers... or tell whopping fish stories?
I thought @lobster/ @anataman/ @SpinyNorman had the monopoly on awful puns....
Alas, it seems not!
Did you do the walk way up to the overlook?
Why can't you masturbate? Is it psychological or physical?
And now for the FUN Pun;
Is it because you are allowing Knowbody to take care of your everyday needs and desires...
...\lol/...
Laughing is one of the few things that's not on their no-no list.