Porn Free for 90 Days

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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Ben
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Ben »

Alobha wrote:Next, people will make fun of others who want to refrain from telling lies. "Oh, bet you already have a very long nose! haha!"
or make fun of people who don't want to eat meat anymore "Afraid of some chicken huh? Bwwaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!"
And what about those who want to refrain from killing animals or humans? We can make fun of them too. Maybe they are not man enough to see any blood!

You may think that this is fun or eases up things, but you just show people that you don't take them and their issues as important, that they're essentially so irrelevant that we can make fun of them. Like their concerns, their issues, their problems, their goals and their pursuit for freedom from suffering are just jokes.

I feel ashamed to see how fellow buddhists mock right effort and make fun of the endeavor to make progress on the eightfold noble path and hope that the mods will close this thread.
Point taken.
I actually admire the people who have contributed to this thread and have been very open about their addiction to pornography and masturbation and have indicated their desire to overcome those difficulties. Your honesty, openness and efforts are very commendable.

But I am with Tilt - no one has been intentionally making fun of anyone else. If anyone feels that way, then I offer my sincere apologies.
kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
Buckwheat
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Buckwheat »

tiltbillings wrote:
Justsit wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:...sex... infinite possibilities for humor
Unfortunately, most often of the drudgingly predictable adolescent variety that was trite when Nixon was president... :zzz:
That is just the nature of the beast.
That's what she said.
Sotthī hontu nirantaraṃ - May you forever be well.
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Khalil Bodhi
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Khalil Bodhi »

Anumodana to those of you trying to overcome the flood of sensuality. I've had my own struggles and know how helpful such public determinations can be and that the support one can gain from it is truly invaluable. :heart:
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183

The Stoic Buddhist: https://www.quora.com/q/dwxmcndlgmobmeu ... pOR2p0uAdH
My Practice Blog:
http://khalilbodhi.wordpress.com
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Assaji
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Assaji »

Another good free tool for guarding the Internet doors is Norton DNS:

https://dns.norton.com/dnsweb/huConfigurePc.do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Monkey Mind
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Monkey Mind »

This thread has been inspiring for me, as well. I was inclined to believe that pornography was "no big deal" as long as all parties involved are consenting adults. But then I also used to think the same thing about alcohol consumption. I read the articles and watched the video on the website cited in the OP, I think they present a fantastic theoretical model for why "behavioral addictions" (e.g. gambling, watching porn) become such difficult habits to break. Bravo to the OP and other contributors for boldly discussing this topic. (And the humor has been fun, too.)
"As I am, so are others;
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.

Sutta Nipāta 3.710
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Moth
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Moth »

I'll join this challenge as well, I stopped watching porn awhile ago but I still struggle with celibacy. The way I stopped watching porn (and also taking drugs) was to make a solemn vow/promise to the buddha, dhamma, sangha, that I would never use it again, and I have not since (be it out of respect, fear of lying/bad vipaka, or both). I haven't been confident enough in my own resolve to make the same vow in regards to masturbation but after failing many time its becomes more and more clear how pointless and detrimental it all is. Hopefully none of you have given up yet.
May you be happy. May you be a peace. May you be free from suffering.
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ground
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by ground »

Just experience how disgusting bodies can be perceived ...

Or practice mindfulness instead of merely debating about it
[4] "Furthermore...just as if a sack with openings at both ends were full of various kinds of grain — wheat, rice, mung beans, kidney beans, sesame seeds, husked rice — and a man with good eyesight, pouring it out, were to reflect, 'This is wheat. This is rice. These are mung beans. These are kidney beans. These are sesame seeds. This is husked rice,' in the same way, monks, a monk reflects on this very body from the soles of the feet on up, from the crown of the head on down, surrounded by skin and full of various kinds of unclean things: 'In this body there are head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, gorge, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-oil, saliva, mucus, fluid in the joints, urine.'

"In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself.

[5] "Furthermore...just as a skilled butcher or his apprentice, having killed a cow, would sit at a crossroads cutting it up into pieces, the monk contemplates this very body — however it stands, however it is disposed — in terms of properties: 'In this body there is the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, & the wind property.'

"In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself.

[6] "Furthermore, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground — one day, two days, three days dead — bloated, livid, & festering, he applies it to this very body, 'This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate'...

"Or again, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground, picked at by crows, vultures, & hawks, by dogs, hyenas, & various other creatures... a skeleton smeared with flesh & blood, connected with tendons... a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood, connected with tendons... a skeleton without flesh or blood, connected with tendons... bones detached from their tendons, scattered in all directions — here a hand bone, there a foot bone, here a shin bone, there a thigh bone, here a hip bone, there a back bone, here a rib, there a breast bone, here a shoulder bone, there a neck bone, here a jaw bone, there a tooth, here a skull... the bones whitened, somewhat like the color of shells... piled up, more than a year old... decomposed into a powder: He applies it to this very body, 'This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate.'

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Aloka
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Aloka »

I found this article "The truth about the porn industry " which was orginally in the UK Guardian newspaper.

excerpt:

Dines is also a highly regarded academic and her new book, Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality, has just come out in the US, and is available online here. She wrote it primarily to educate people about what pornography today is really like, she says, and to banish any notion of it as benign titillation.

"We are now bringing up a generation of boys on cruel, violent porn," she says, "and given what we know about how images affect people, this is going to have a profound influence on their sexuality, behaviour and attitudes towards women."
another excerpt:
From studying thousands of porn films and images Dines found that the most popular acts depicted in internet porn include vaginal, oral and anal penetration by three or more men at the same time; double anal; double vaginal; a female gagging from having a penis thrust into her throat; and ejaculation in a woman's face, eyes and mouth.

"To think that so many men hate women to the degree that they can get aroused by such vile images is quite profound," says Dines. "Pornography is the perfect propaganda piece for patriarchy. In nothing else is their hatred of us quite as clear."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... ornography



.
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Alobha
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Alobha »

May that be of inspiration to those pursuing renunciation of sexual activies:

Blazing storm

Just like a storm of raging fire,
This is Lust and burning desire:
To follow is the hot temptation
for succumbing sounds yet amazing.
Dancing in glowing embers of these
the tortured mind will find no release.
This is the truth of the storm in that one dwelt,
for being on fire you smolder and melt.

Just like the soothing touch of water
is Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha the dorter.
Cooling down in eager refrainin'
there may still be a strong storm blazin' -
but you're safe through practice and virtue -
resting and tasting final breakthrough.
Topofdeehead
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Topofdeehead »

dhamma,

Congrats on your awareness and determination to cut out porn and masterbation. I am on day 414 today of being off both and it's certainly brought some clarity to my life in certain areas. I wish you the best and don't be too hard on yourself (no pun intended) if it takes a couple of tries. Prayer was a huge help for me during my first 90 days. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Congrats, sir.
dhamma_newb
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by dhamma_newb »

Hi Dhamma Wheel,

It's day 45 and I'm halfway through this process and I just wanted to post this to reaffirm my commitment. Reading all of your comments has helped me through the first half of the 90 days and I want thank you all for your support. It wasn't easy but with the Dhamma and the help of spiritual friends I've made it this far. If I reacted harshly to some of your comments I apologize and want to let everyone know that there are no hard feelings.

I may not post a lot on this site but I do consider Dhamma Wheel to be my Sangha. The wisdom that is shared here is unsurpassed and I feel blessed to have come across this site at the beginning of this difficult path the Buddha has laid out for me. Every day of study and practice is a reminder of how grateful I am to have come across the Buddha-Dhamma and how thankful I am that others who are further along the path are willing to share their knowledge and wisdom.

With Metta,
Don
The watched mind brings happiness.
Dhp 36

I am larger and better than I thought. I did not know I held so much goodness.
Walt Whitman
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Ben
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by Ben »

Dear Don,
I rejoice in your great meritorious efforts!
Well done, my friend!
with metta,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
dhamma_newb
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by dhamma_newb »

Thanks Ben :smile:
The watched mind brings happiness.
Dhp 36

I am larger and better than I thought. I did not know I held so much goodness.
Walt Whitman
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tiltbillings
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by tiltbillings »

dhamma_newb wrote:Hi Dhamma Wheel,

It's day 45 and I'm halfway through this process and I just wanted to post this to reaffirm my commitment.. . .
While puns arise in my thoughts, I'll restrain myself and wish you well and mindfulness in the remaining days that follow.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
dhamma_newb
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Re: Porn Free for 90 Days

Post by dhamma_newb »

tiltbillings wrote:
dhamma_newb wrote:Hi Dhamma Wheel,

It's day 45 and I'm halfway through this process and I just wanted to post this to reaffirm my commitment.. . .
While puns arise in my thoughts, I'll restrain myself and wish you well and mindfulness in the remaining days that follow.
Like I said, no "hard feelings." :tongue:
The watched mind brings happiness.
Dhp 36

I am larger and better than I thought. I did not know I held so much goodness.
Walt Whitman
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