Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

If you practice "letting go" masturbation will cease.

Mr Man wrote:If you practice "letting go" masturbation will cease.

i love this post
Would like to hear more from ya '

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:

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.

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.

manas 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:

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.

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.

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 me

Like the topic states, after doing some research , i found out that people who masturbate are most likely to have 34 percent less chances of getting prostate cancer. Well , heres the irony, an average men has only a 16 percent chance of getting prostate cancer in his life, and thats fairly low. Furthurmore, 98 percent of men who get prostate cancer doesnt die, and quite a number of them recover without treatment at all. Masturbation reduces high sex drive, reducess stress, puts your into sleep easily, and so on.

But heres the question, budhhism states that lust causes suffering, which i believe in too. A normal person, after masturbating, always feels empty and guilt, and this causes other physcological problems, and they are eager to quit after that. This is definately scientifically proven, as our brain finds out that masturbating isnt real sex after ejaculation. There are many ways to reduce prostate cancer, like aerobic excercices, reducing it through diet and so on. And through buddhism we can actually reduce our high sex drive, reduces our stress, and of course food aids and meditation helps sleeping too, So Is masturbating needed in our lives? for me my answer is no , how bout yours?

Sources:
http://www.askmen.com/sports/health_400 ... ancer.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.google.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Please note that the facts and figures above are all from trustable sources and are sciencetifically proven. The numbers may not be completely accurate but are all near. Statistics may not be a trustable source but it does prove something.

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=13214" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Did some research on masturbation and this is what i got

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.

A normal person? And you know this how?

Vlcimba wrote:http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=13214

Did some research on masturbation and this is what i got

I merged your "The science and karma of masturbation" into this thread. We do not need numerous threads covering the same ground.

tiltbillings wrote:

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.

A normal person? And you know this how?

Some random sources like yahoo answers and theres actually a website for it . will check that out for you.

Ps: could not find it , but i remember scrolling through it somewhere

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

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

Have you read through this thread? I suggest you start here:

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 20#p185112" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and continue reading.

It is good to speak openly about an "issue" that is burdensome to all serious practicioners... especially if they spend a longer time for example on retreats or even more if they ordain and live a celibate life.

It is often discussed how hard it is to overcome the craving for food on such occassions and through my time in thailand there was happily quite an open atmosphere to talk to an elderly monk about the other BIG sensual dukkha, sexual lust, that one experiences in a celibate community.

I appreciate your posting OP and hope a lot will find guidance by it.

I have gotten rid of my previous post here. I will just say that overcoming sexual lust is a long-term challenge for most, but one we must eventually face up to if we desire to gain liberation from Samsara.

with metta.

I once heard this saying, forgot where.

The definition of puritanism: the fear that someone somewhere could have fun

Sexuality is an essential part of our existence. To overcome lust if you're celibate or to transform it into something more wholesome if you live in a relationship so you don't cheat on your partner... well it's not that easy for some if not most. So it's great to read in this forum about this topic even if it's just that profane porn level. Actually I found the neuroscience aspect in those videos very interesting.

I am joining this endeavor, so I might as well put it into writing here. Porn annihilates my mindfulness, so it's been obvious that I need to give it up. I'm also giving up caffeine while I'm at it, as it seems to cause heedlessness in me.