Guest guest Posted November 3, 2004 Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 one good way to get over it is to simply remove all of the negative connotations from it I think its about time for Indians to stop absorbing and perpetuating 19th century Victorian morals, in which sexuality is a bad, dirty and disgusting habit that is only necessary for procreation masturbation is simply a way to explore one's sexuality, especially if when you have no willing partner to share with! for this age range, it all sounds perfectly normal to me, except that it is being done with shame and guilt so, ask them to do it with self-love and acceptance, its a way of connecting with and exploring their sexuality and vital energies if this is done, their perspective will change and it will cease to be a "problem" unless somebody keeps telling them its a "problem," i.e. the real issue isn't masturbation but the "issue" of masturbation other than that, there are lots of interesting hobbies... in my opinion there is no difference between the "issue" of masturbation and any other similarly "moral" issue, such as breast-feeding in public or letting little children run around on a beach without clothes on, two things i know from personal experience sometimes cause much consternation for others who have very confused ideas about their bodies and what is appropriate according to the 19th century text "King's American Dispensatory," a preparation of Black willow catkins, as a homeopathic remedy or tincture, is useful in "libidinous suggestions and lascivious dreams terminating in pollutions…" and in "…extreme forms of sexual perversion, satyriasis, erotomania, and nymphomania" King's is a great book, but like all texts of the day were infected with Victorian prudishness FWIW Caldecott todd www.toddcaldecott.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 > The first reason for this is lack of ojas- it is when ojas is > depleted that uncontrollable passions arise. how could that be? in the schemata of dhatu metabolism a deficiency of ojas is secondary to a deficiency of shulkla/andanu** a sure fire way to deplete ojas is excess sexual activity true uncontrollable, insatiable sexual passions would tend not arise in a deficiency condition most men achieve their height of sexual energy in in early adulthood, for women its a little later - at these times the sex drive will be strong, corresponding to an excess of the shukla/andanu dhatu the biological imperative to have sex or engage in sexual activity at this time is because it is then that a person has the best chance of conception, the best chance of passing along their genes without the damage or mutation that tends to occur with age these young men are simply expressing a relative excess of sexual energy, as most young men experience ** i prefer saying andanu (ova) over artava, since the ova are more reflective of the fertility essence than menstrual blood - menstrual blood may indicate ovulation (but not necessarily), but it is not a fertile fluid - a misconception in the ayurvedic texts > > Brahmacharya is best attained when it comes as an effect; meaning > that when hard work is engaged in, no toxins are present in the body > and with proper elimination, it comes naturally without any strain or > effort. the question is whether or not brahmacharya is an even valid lifestyle for most people aged 17-30 certainly this isn't supported by the concept of the four stages of life in which brahmacharya (sannyasin) is the LAST aspect of life, when we are old and that much closer to death, needing to free ourselves from attachment and concern brahmacharya seems to me to be an unnatural requirement for most young men > > start at early age relieving sexual tension, ayurveda believes that > one should find freedom from such habits. If practiced for long time, i wonder where it is written in ayurveda that masturbation is wrong? this from a culture that created massive monuments to sexuality, such as found at Konark and Khajuraho, that created the kama sutra, that in the tantric tradition represents gods and goddesses engaged in the sexual act? i'm not saying that these define Ayurvedic sexuality, but neither does brahmacharya - there are many instructional passages in the Ashtanga Hrdaya - the vaidyas on the list know well these R-rated passages... Ayurveda talks about preserving ojas, and yes masturbation and any sexual activity will deplete ojas (in men) if performed to an excessive degree (women i am happy to say are traditionally exempt from such restrictions) but then so will anxiety, guilt and worry - i suggest to an even greater extent for these young men masturbation is a way to connect with the sexuality - how will they have a satisfying sexual life - indeed, satisfy their partners, if they don't learn about their own sexuality? for concerns regarding premature ejaculation masturbation can be a technique they use to learn how to control the urge to ejaculate - something i am sure their future wives will appreciate - oh wait a minute, a woman's need doesn't count for much in modern indian society, so scratch that... > > deviation from the normal sex. The guilt feeling is the indicator of > departure from normality. We are not discussing morality here. guilt is a socially conditioned response - and this issue is very much an issue of morals - guilt is a totally useless emotion if it doesn't achieve a change in behavior - the positive aspect of guilt is remorse - guilt is chronic ineffectual remorse that achieves nothing the behavior isn't being changed here, and thus a more thoughtful approach needs to be taken if these young men can't/won't stop then their guilt is harmful and damaging - thus they may as well do it with self-love and compassion - in the final analysis they are not hurting anybody or themselves really, just like homosexuality or any other so-called "perversity" when will love rule our hearts? Caldecott todd www.toddcaldecott.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 Thank you for voicing these aspects of the topic. Much appreciated. In my opinion this is a much healthier and less damaging way of looking at such a natural thing as sexuality, in the form of masturbation, or otherwise. Radhika Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 far be it for me to be the poster boy for masturbation (a rather awkward visual image), since i have better things to do (and am married with three kids), but i did feel the need to address these points - can't help it, i have my sun/mercury in aquarius :-) ***the issue was masturbation in young unmarried men that can't stop themselves regardless of religious imperatives - thus points 2 and 3 are irrelevant as for point #1, yes there is an actual loss of reproductive fluids, however these fluids replenish themselves in less than 24 hours recent data suggests that men who ejaculate more frequently have a lower risk of prostatic disease, simply by clearing out the channels - most healthy men if they admit or not will have nocturnal emissions if they don't ejaculate regularly #4 sounds to me like a pretty big stretch - by extension i guess any act of visualization would cause this problem i understand the concerns - on the one hand there is a puritanical sex-negative view of the world, where sex is sin or dukkha (whether you are xtian or hindu), and on the other there is media-hyped in-your-face pubescent sexual hedonism; but between these extremes is loving yourself and your body, and having a healthy and positive view of natural sexual urges > > self-gratification has a depleting effect on the body for four reasons. > > 1. actual loss of reproductive fluids > 2. no opposite energy with which the pranas can balance, no polarity > is > created > 3. no emotional exchange between partners that has a harmonizing > effect on > the pranas > and 4. to stimulate yourself it is necessary to imagine a situation, > person > or action. This act of imagination causes an imbalance between the > prana > that resides in the head and the Apana Prana that controls the sexual > arousal of the genitals. > > Habitual self-gratification causes a lowering of overall pranic > vitality and > debilitates the kidneys with time and can in time cause a vata > imbalance. habitual (and excessive) sexual activity will cause this - its not self-gratification per se Caldecott todd www.toddcaldecott.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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