Spritual Discussion : On The Problem Of Sex + Are You In Love Or In Lust? (Compiled)

[Guest LightforAll]

*Do not read if you are easily offended by morality and idealism.

 

The following posts will be excerpts from The Coiled Serpent by C.J. Van Vliet. They are intended for those who, having dwelled, suffered and struggled enough in the dark alley of vice, hunger for something better, a happiness more lasting than the fleeting pleasures of sex, pseudo-love and the like. Those who, having hitherto sleep-walked through life, are now awakening to a higher reality. 

 

I am aware that many people will be terribly offended by the following words but please, if this thread is not for you why not ignore it and move on? I do not wish for this end up in the flaming room. Nonetheless, it will most probably die a fast death and I seek your understanding when I slowly post more to share. May we for once not debate or argue? Let us open our hearts to see if these words in fact ring true to the innermost sanctuary of our beings. Let us still our pathological urge to shoot off our mouths and restrain our tongues to gain the ability to listen to opinions and thoughts without reaction. As the saying goes: “the fool learns from nobody whereas the wise man may learn even from a child.”

 

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"There appears to be a need of some bold man who will say outright what is best...opposing the mightiest lusts and following reason only." - Plato, Laws, VIII, 835.

 

The Serpent

 

Caught in the mighty coils of the giant-serpent Sex, humanity is on the point of being crushed and strangled. That serpent, which in the beginning was intended to serve human evolution, was foolishly adopted as a pet and unduly coaxed and fondled. Being overfed and pampered and having its slightest whims complied with, the pet has grown into a monster that has overpowered its master, and now threatens to destroy him…

 

…man began to use the mind to stimulate the desires of the body. In this way he has indulged in the almost negligible sexual impulse which he inherited from the animal kingdom, until it has become a desire so strong that he has difficulty to control it.

 

 

Overstimulated by this unnaturally strong desire of his own making, man has looked for arbitrary ways in which to gratify it. Although reducing actual reproduction, he has discovered ways of unreproductive sexual action…

 

Evidently two pathways lie ahead: one leading up out of entanglement, the other down and deeper into it. Man must either climb toward the radiant, thought seemingly lonesome summit, or slide into the tempting shadows of the crowded lower path. The one path is the way of self-control, of mastery over sex, leading to purity and progress; the other is the road of self-indulgence, of enslavery to sex, of passion and resultant retrogression…

 

 

 

 

[Guest LightforAll]

“Men as you are today, half-men, half-beasts…Are you so satisfied with your bastard and imperfect humanity, with your animality scarcely held in leash?” – Papini, Life of Christ, 123.

 

Considerations

 

All statements made or quoted cannot be equally strong, and they are not expected to be always generally accepted. More likely than not even the most conclusive remarks would be rejected anyhow by the multitude which clings to its addiction to sensuous gratification. Evidently “least of all can I hope for approbation from those who are…under the power of passion.” “For he that lives at the dictates of passion will not hear nor understand the reasoning of one who tries to dissuade him.”2 “Passion seems not to be amenable to reason.” 3…

 

After all “each man can only prize that to which to a certain extent is analogous to him, and for which he has at least a slight inclination.”5 Therefore the thoughts expressed in these pages are intended mainly for those who have become already somewhat receptive to spiritual principles...

 

1 Schopenhauer. The World as Will and Idea

2 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

3 Same as 2

4 Plato, Timaeus

5 Same as 1

[Guest Guest]

Can someone translate it in English please?

[Guest LightforAll]

Can someone translate it in English please?

 

Sorry about the language. This is an old book so sentences are longer but more descriptive and vivid.  

[Guest LightforAll]

Desire

 

  Hence it is that “desire is insatiable and is always in want”3, and that “merely natural impulses…make more and more demands the more concessions one makes to them.”4 With it all, “no attained object of desire can give lasting satisfaction; it can produce merely a fleeting gratification”5, which only feeds and fosters the desire and makes it grope for forms of self-indulgence which grow ever more noxious.

 

  In most cases “the desire lasts long; the demands are infinite; the satisfaction is short.”6 And besides, “the satisfied passion leads [often] to unhappiness than to happiness”7;…Therefore, to do what the ultra-modernists seem to propound, namely “to make desire a final authority…is to invite chaos in the inner life”9…

 

  At the present time desire [such as lust] still may be the indispensable motive power for those backward ones who will not move or work without anticipating sense-satiety as a reward. [but] sooner or later one begins to see that desire for transitory things does not and cannot bring any permanent satisfaction; and also that “so long as our desires are in conflict with the universal law we suffer pain”11; that not only all “desire is accompanied by pain”12, but that desire itself is pain, and that there is “no pain like passion, no deceit like sense.”13

 

  Then, turning away from the tyranny of selfish sense-desires, one finds an inner spiritual longing for more lasting things, an unselfish aspiration for conscious cooperation with nature’s plans and laws which supplies an even more effective motive power for action than desire.

 

  … “our animal desires…have hidden from us our true life”14…Hence “the idea that man ought to liberate himself from the bondage of earthly desires is the conclusion of a contemplative mind reflecting upon the short duration and emptiness of temporary desire…”17

 

3 Sextus, “Select Sentences”; in: Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras

4 Foerster, Marriage and the Sex Problem

5 Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea

6 Same as 5

7 Same as 5

8 Same as 5

9 Brightman, A Philosophy of Ideals

11Tagore, Sadhana

12 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

13 Arnold, The Light of Adia

14 Tolstoi, Life

17 Russel, Mysticism and Logic

[Guest LightforAll]

The Pleasure Principle

 

  What a restless, pleasure-craving, pleasure-grasping crowd humanity has become! “The chief good is supposed by the multitude to be pleasure.”1 Pleasure is made life’s purpose, pleasure its single aim. Not purely recreation but self-gratification; not merely amusement in the form of harmless diversion, but such as is detrimental to the individual and to the race. And “closely connected with the pursuit of pleasure is the serious increase of sexual license”2…

 

  Not joy is being sought, not happiness, not gladness – but sensuous stimulation and gratification, impairing physical and mental health; for “who that is a slave to [bodily] pleasure is not in an evil condition both as to his body and his mind?”4 Such pleasure exhausts one’s powers, while joy increases them. Pleasure is usually followed by its opposite, grief…

 

  The mere sum of pleasures does not constitute happiness” 6; more often “people are unhappy…on account of pleasure.”7 In grasping pleasure they may “imagine that they are finding happiness whereas they are finding only a frenzied and incomplete oblibion.”8 For that is all that “pleasure is…a matter of momentary oblivion”9, a chasing of shadows, an utmost self-delusion…While imagining that they amuse themselves in the pursuit of pleasure, people frequently destroy if not themselves then at least their chances of perpetual joy.

 

   Well-considered, “pleasure is neither good nor useful.”12 It melts away the moment it is grasped, leaving naught but dissatisfaction and emptiness. “This void which we try to fill by the stimulus of sensations”13 calls ever for more of the unsatisfying pleasure.

 

1 Plato, Republic

2 Hardman, Ideals of Asceticism

4 Xenophon, Memorabilia

6 Sockman, Morals of Tomorrow

7 Seneca, On the Happy Life

8 Russel, Marriage and Morals

9 Same as 8

12 Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle

13 Aurelius, Meditations

[Guest LightforAll]

[LightforAll]

  If you follow your wishes, desires and whims, it is absolutely certain that you will fall flat on your face, because these impulses of yours are quite blind…by giving themselves over to pleasure they are sacrificing their most precious energies. To keep the fire going they have to throw in all their resources, and all their furniture, right down to the table and chairs. Sexual pleasure is the furnace which they have to feed with their very substance…To keep it flaming away each day at the same feverish pitch of excitement means they have to burn their quintessence, which is our most precious possession. Without realising it, each eruption takes away a little of their beauty, their intelligence, their strength…

 

  Morality is no longer respected because people do not realise that originally it was based on real knowledge. Blindly, stupidly, people follow all their whims without realising that they are galloping towards utter ruin…Never choose a path for the simple reason that it is pleasant and sweet tasting, because that way you will ruin yourself spiritually and physically as well.

 

-       Aivanhov, Sexual Force or the Winged Dragon

[EasleyLim]

I'm curious as to why you hope there won't be debates about this topic. Can't your argument withstand critical examinations to allow the readers to make their own informed judgments about the issues you've presented?

Edited July 21, 2015 by EasleyLim

[LightforAll]

I'm curious as to why you hope there won't be debates about this topic. Can't your argument withstand critical examinations to allow the readers to make their own informed judgments about the issues you've presented?

 

Cos that will be messy and more often that not, throw this thread into the flaming room. Also, for such subjects everybody can decide for themselves and make their own decisions without cluttering the thread with unnecessary points or diversions. Nobody can force an opinion on others, and certainly not in a forum like this. I just thought it would be more illuminating and useful if this thread remains clean, merely offering a perspective for consideration, and to those few who have reached the state where they can benefit from it. To all others I have to apologise for those excerpts; they must necessarily seem ridiculous, purist, and coming from a sex-starved prude. 

[LightforAll]

  Have you ever been in lust? Consider the case of Luke. He was "in love" with a colleague at work. Jake was a valuable member of his marketing team and he admired his mind, his attitude, his outlook on life, his ability to get things done, and his body. He was breathtaking and totally in command. Luke adored him and the latter knew it. They collaborated on everything and Luke trusted him more than anyone with difficult business projects. 

 

  Luke's boyfriend was also gorgeous. He was always supportive and understanding when it came to Luke's business pressures and long hours. He was the perfect boyfriend if there ever was one. Luke was distressed. He was in love (translate lust) with Jake. He had him under his spell. His text messages were cheeky and seductive and yet held no promises of satisfaction. Luke no longer felt sexually aroused by his boyfriend. He didn't know what to do. In his mind, Jake was now the only one who could fulfill his heart and desires.

 

  Luke's case is an example of sexual energy out of control. Lust alters our emotions and our behaviour. It can disempower us. We relinquish our personal power to whomever we are lusting after.

 

  But like all powerful emotions, lust can be transformed into productive energy. Becoming aware of this common human condition is imperative. Mistaking lust for love can lead us down a path of pain and frustration. It can take us on a journey of selfishness and destruction. It can destroy our focus and distract us from our purpose and aim in life. We lose our rational mind to the power of lust. 

 

  As we can see by Luke's example, symptoms of lust can easily be misinterpreted as love; and maybe we hope that our lust will be the catalyst for love. First we must recognise the difference between lust and love.

 

Symptoms of Lust

 

*Some are rather subjective but the principle holds true if you can draw the connections. 

 

1.     Being sexually aroused by the sight of a person, or even just the thought of them.

2.     Changing our normal behaviour and habits to have encounters with this person, even putting off prior arrangements with friends if an opportunity comes up to be with them.

3.     Our thoughts are consumed by this person.

4.     We feel cravings of intense desire and neediness.

5.     We have a photo of the person and dreamily look at it when we need a “fix”.

6.     The mention of the person’s name in conversation makes our heart skip a beat.

7.     We waste valuable time thinking about and wondering what life would be like with this person.

8.     We fantasise about the future and how life would pan out in their presence.

9.     We can’t see a single crack or fault in this person, and if we do we interpret it as a nice quirk in to their personality.

10.  We ignore our friends’ opinion of this person if it doesn’t fit our perfect picture. The object of our lust is on a pedestal.

11.  We start showing an interest in what they are interested in, even though it may never have occurred to us to like those things.

12.  Everything they wear, no matter how daggy, is sexy to us.

13.  The smallest piece of information about them becomes of vital importance, including the brand of underwear they wear.

14.  We endlessly obsess about calling them to say hello.

15.  The phone rings and we hope it is them.

16.  We look at the phone and tell it to ring.

17.  We start to worry about what we are wearing and whether we look good enough. This becomes pedantic especially if we think we may see them that day.

18.  We see things in them that aren’t really there. We impose on them personality traits that we hope they have.

19.  We base our “love” on very little knowledge of the person or their principles. We don’t even know what their principles are but we assume they must be good.

20.  We take to heart any advice they give us and act on it without a second thought.

 

 

Tearing ourselves from the grip of lust, especially if we interpret it as love, can be very difficult. But the following can be helpful. Become aware of what enters your life as lust. Lust is judgmental and superficial. It assesses and examines. Lust can certainly turn into love but first we have to remove the rose-colored glasses and see deeper into the object of our desire.

 

Whirlwind romances are generally base on lust, but with time and with an open heart and mind, lust can mature into love. But it can also turn the other way and bite us. That lustful dreaming can turn painful the minute you are disappointed or your expectations aren’t met. Heartthrobs can quickly become sources of resentment and anger…

 

From The Currency of Sexual Energy by Yasmin (some modifications have been made)

[EasleyLim]

Cos that will be messy and more often that not, throw this thread into the flaming room. Also, for such subjects everybody can decide for themselves and make their own decisions without cluttering the thread with unnecessary points or diversions. Nobody can force an opinion on others, and certainly not in a forum like this. I just thought it would be more illuminating and useful if this thread remains clean, merely offering a perspective for consideration, and to those few who have reached the state where they can benefit from it. To all others I have to apologise for those excerpts; they must necessarily seem ridiculous, purist, and coming from a sex-starved prude. 

 

While I have no doubt you're simply doing what you think is the best for the forum, your requests to discourage discussion is akin to promoting blind faith. Is it really unnecessary if said arguments could point out loopholes or flaws in this philosophy of yours? But you're right, all ideas and philosophies have the potential to be "illuminating"--even communism--until its flaws are revealed through debates. And if it can't stand on its own merits, is it really worth following?

[LightforAll]

While I have no doubt you're simply doing what you think is the best for the forum, your requests to discourage discussion is akin to promoting blind faith. Is it really unnecessary if said arguments could point out loopholes or flaws in this philosophy of yours? But you're right, all ideas and philosophies have the potential to be "illuminating"--even communism--until its flaws are revealed through debates. And if it can't stand on its own merits, is it really worth following?

 

The human mind is as yet enslaved by desire. The desire nature chains and masters the mind. Desire goes after all sorts of things, and the mind slavishly plots for their attainment. Such a mind fettered by desire cannot employ pure reason for it comes up with elaborate excuses and justifications for objects of desire, unable to see them in their true light and consider their nature. Arguments from such a mind only obscure the deeper sentiments from within. 

 

This is but one small (please ignore it and pardon me if I don't make sense) opinion and reason. Nonetheless the main reasons have already been listed in my previous reply so I hope that will not spark the futile cycle which I originally hoped to avoid (would indeed be an ironic spectacle if that happens). I hope you may consider those reasons and leave them as such. Whether others choose to debate or not is actually beyond my control and beyond my right to control, hence beyond my need to be concerned about. As you know I am not a moderator so I am merely offering a suggestion

[LightforAll]

The Pleasure Principle (Continued)

 

  Giving to the word ‘pleasure’ a wider meaning than that of indulgence of the body, it becomes necessary to distinguish degrees of pleasure, supplying either physical or emotional or intellectual satisfaction. And “when one gets higher than the intellect…one finds a state of joy in which all pleasures…even of the intellect become as nothing.”14

 

  Naturally “the pleasures derived from the higher faculties are preferable…to those of which the animal nature is susceptible.”15 “Pleasures of the mind are more considerable to one’s happiness than…pleasures of the body.”16 “Bodily pleasures…rightly are called slavish”17; they are undoubtedly the lowest of all.

 

  Not any person who knows a relatively higher pleasure would ever want to surrender it for a lesser kind. “Nobody would choose to retain the mind of a child throughout his life, even though he could continue to enjoy the pleasures of childhood to the uttermost.”18 Still less do they who have found true joy – of which there is within oneself an unconditioned and unlimited supply – long to go back to any form of pleasure the nature of which is to gratify the personality by limited means, conditioned from without. “They would not resign what they possess…for the most complete satisfaction of all desires.”19

 

  “To make pleasure the aim of life is a sure way to deprive it of all true joy.”20 “The moment that reason gets the upper hand pleasure is discarded.”21 This is why “the true philosopher…abstains from pleasures.”22 He sees that “pleasure is one of the chief things that beguile men from the higher path”23, because “it increases and intensifies the personality”24, which tenaciously holds on to the material side of life, thus barricading itself against the spirit.

 

 

14 Beck, The Way of Power

15 Mill, Utilitarianism

16 Shaftesbury, Characteristics of Men

17 Plato, Phaedrus

18 Same as 3

19 Same as 15

20 Black, Culture and Restraint

21 Philo, Allegories of the Sacred Laws

22 Plato, Phaedo

23 Weininger, Sex and Character

24 Besant, “Spiritual Darkness”; in: The Theosophical Review, XXV, 492

[LightforAll]

The Pleasure Principle (Continued)

 

  “If you seek pleasures…you are as far short of wisdom as you are short of joy”25; “for joy is an elation of the spirit; it can be attained only by the wise.”26

 

  The trouble is that in the pursuit of pleasure most people have conscripted the concrete mind to serve on the side of the emotions and the senses; and this rebellious triumvirate triumphantly sweeps aside all higher-minded and spiritual considerations.

 

  Each of these three alone – the mind, the emotions or the senses – could be confuted and induced to join the elevating evolutionary forces; but united, the three-in-one obstreperously hold on to their contemptuous, tempestuous reign of gross material pleasure. They thrive impelling man to snatch at passing pleasure, thwarting his acquisition of lasting happiness.

 

  Within each human entity, near the high mountaintop of one’s own spiritual being, there is a spring of purest joy compared with which all pleasure drawn from the outside is tasteless, drab and disillusioning.

 

  Not without some exertion can that spring be reached. It lies high above the valley of polar opposites; to reach it one must rise above all opposites – hence also rise above sex. But even though their crops of relative pleasure inevitably are followed by inexterminable growths of pain, most people prefer to remain down in the valley, rather than to make the effort to climb to the source of absolute joy.

 

  “The spiritual man feels spiritual joy which is superior to material pleasure, exceeding it a thousand times”28; “he looks upon the lower satisfactions of life as stranglers of the real joys.”29 When the elating joy from the inner source has been once tasted, mere pleasure “will become not only uncarved for but simply and literally repulsive.”30 Then all the childish pleasures of the world will fade away in the joy of the spiritual life; and they “who have cast away passion…will reach the highest joy.”31

 

25 Same as 5

26 Same as 5

28 Swedenborg, Conjugal Love

29 Same as 14

30 G.M., “The Elixir of Life”; in: Five Years of Theosophy

31 Sankaracharya, Vivekachudamani, 473

[LightforAll]

Those who have the eyes to see may see 

 

 

Forgive me for hurting your eyes, but those whose hearts are pure fear no taint from ugly sights, whereas the impure remain sullied in the midst of beautiful sights and sounds.

[LightforAll]

Some Food for Thought

 

 

There are myriad ways to master lust and sensuality, and such a meditation is but one way. 

[LightforAll]

[fab]

Lust is a form of greed.

It should be replaced by ignorance.

[Guest 72%dark]

Stringing together a series of gnomic pronouncements (cherry-picked and quoted out of context) may give the appearance of erudition but doesn’t actually make for a coherent philosophy.

 

No debate is possible, even if anyone wanted it, because the statements have essentially the epistemic status of (religious) dogma – prescriptive articles that are ‘handed down’; they’re not subject to scientific scrutiny because no falsifiable hypotheses are tendered (and no empirical evidence given), and are not even subject to philosophical debate because the statements are not conclusions arrived at by reasoning from axioms (or at least premises explicitly defined for present purposes). In fact, it’s in TS’s interest to sustain a degree of ‘mystery’ (in the religious sense) so that objections can simply be dismissed out of hand; anyone who demurs just doesn’t get it, or worse, is prevented from seeing the ‘enlightened’ perspective by the very thing that is denounced.

 

I would actually be sympathetic to a project that genuinely attempts to help people cope with (or perhaps even transcend?) our baser urges, but such a project would require a coherent philosophical framework as well as some practical suggestions. (For instance, a significant part of Buddhist philosophy and ethics concerns the cessation of suffering through the elimination of desire/craving, marrying theories of reality and the human condition with what are essentially guidelines for everyday living and mental/spiritual disciplines. It’s susceptible to the objections I made above, but at least it offers both internal coherence and praxis.) Or else, living as we are in the scientific age, it would seem to me more promising to look to psychology to help us understand and manage our desires (e.g something akin to the work that has been done in the area of positive psychology).

 

This thread denounces the pursuit of pleasure without actually elucidating the high-minded ideal(s) we’re supposed to be striving for instead (e.g. What exactly is “spiritual joy” in post #14?), let alone offering any concrete suggestions. (Perhaps we should all go for a regimen of chemical castration, don robes of sackcloth, sit on cold granite slabs to meditate on the rigorous beauty of number-theoretic proofs, while waiting for our Vulcan overlords to reach Earth and liberate us from our sordid human emotions??) And even if it did, its pretentious, sanctimonious and condescending tone is unlikely to win many converts.

[Guest Guest]

Lust is a form of greed.

It should be replaced by ignorance.

But the keyword of this thread is 'sex and more sex'.

[Guest Guest]

I'm trying hard to keep an open mind, but all I see is the lack of substantiation, at least for a significant portion.

[LightforAll]

Perhaps this is more helpful for some

http://yourbrainonporn.com/understanding_porn_addiction

[LightforAll]

While some of the information stated is inaccurate or even exaggerated, the general science of it may hold true if given enough consideration

http://davidpratt.info/sex3.htm#s6

Knowing that modern science contradicts some of tthe evidence provided, we may ask ourselves whether modern science is really pure science. Those in the medical, biomedical or food science industry perhaps would know the some of the fallacies of modern science and the limitations they have to work under (i.e. Pharmaceutical companies and doctors, milk industry pushing the consumption of milk when it actually causes leeching of calcium from the bones, etc). Scientists need sponsors to conduct their experiments and these sponsors are often multinational companies, hence the conflict of interest. Science is no longer pure science but often geared towards looking out for evidence that's favorable to certain businesses.

[LightforAll]

 

Stringing together a series of gnomic pronouncements (cherry-picked and quoted out of context) may give the appearance of erudition but doesn’t actually make for a coherent philosophy.

 

No debate is possible, even if anyone wanted it, because the statements have essentially the epistemic status of (religious) dogma – prescriptive articles that are ‘handed down’; they’re not subject to scientific scrutiny because no falsifiable hypotheses are tendered (and no empirical evidence given), and are not even subject to philosophical debate because the statements are not conclusions arrived at by reasoning from axioms (or at least premises explicitly defined for present purposes). In fact, it’s in TS’s interest to sustain a degree of ‘mystery’ (in the religious sense) so that objections can simply be dismissed out of hand; anyone who demurs just doesn’t get it, or worse, is prevented from seeing the ‘enlightened’ perspective by the very thing that is denounced.

 

I would actually be sympathetic to a project that genuinely attempts to help people cope with (or perhaps even transcend?) our baser urges, but such a project would require a coherent philosophical framework as well as some practical suggestions. (For instance, a significant part of Buddhist philosophy and ethics concerns the cessation of suffering through the elimination of desire/craving, marrying theories of reality and the human condition with what are essentially guidelines for everyday living and mental/spiritual disciplines. It’s susceptible to the objections I made above, but at least it offers both internal coherence and praxis.) Or else, living as we are in the scientific age, it would seem to me more promising to look to psychology to help us understand and manage our desires (e.g something akin to the work that has been done in the area of positive psychology).

 

This thread denounces the pursuit of pleasure without actually elucidating the high-minded ideal(s) we’re supposed to be striving for instead (e.g. What exactly is “spiritual joy” in post #14?), let alone offering any concrete suggestions. (Perhaps we should all go for a regimen of chemical castration, don robes of sackcloth, sit on cold granite slabs to meditate on the rigorous beauty of number-theoretic proofs, while waiting for our Vulcan overlords to reach Earth and liberate us from our sordid human emotions??) And even if it did, its pretentious, sanctimonious and condescending tone is unlikely to win many converts.

 

 

  I understand your first objection. In higher education we learn the right way of quoting from sources and in the light of that, the author's way of quoting isn't up to standard. Nonetheless, he has read those books and although the way he lifts from their passages is wrong, the gist of those sources remain intact and preserved (for some I can verify, though for most I can't). He merely takes a slice of it that relates to the particular ideas he is conveying. 

 

  I haven't gotten to the beauty of the ideals yet, and in fact I'm considering omitting it altogether. Everyone's ideals are different and I feel that to put forth any ideal here is to court contempt. Everyone has their own ideals and I believe they know, but whatever their ideal (if it is a wholesome one that leads to self-development), lust and sensuality are definite impediments. Hence there might not be a need to put forth any particular ideal.

  

  For instance, if one's ideal is love, true love that is, then one must eventually overcome lust or at least transmute it to a certain extent, for it one is not full of love and the capacity to truly love, how can one find love? If one's ideal is popularity and friends (not that I recommend it), then the ability to transmute sexual energy and channel it to exude sex appeal is also necessary. If one's ideal is worldly success, then overcoming our baser desires is paramount. Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich explains it all very well.  If one's ideal is spirituality and transcendence then the bar is lifted infinitely higher and absolute purity is necessary. While everyone has different ideals, it is not difficult to see that when we are enslaved by baser emotions and passions, we cannot make much progress in their attainment. 

 

  As this is an old book, its language reflects the era's way of speech and writing, and hence requires us to keep an open mind about the attitude of the author or take the era's linguistic forms into account. While it may seem to us pretentious or condescending, the author may not actually have much of that sentiment. I believe some of us may be able to see beyond the outer form of words and penetrate into the deeper meaning therein, although the inevitable alienation of the others is regrettable. I hope to remedy that in future posts or threads. 

[LightforAll]

Thank you very much for your input as it probably represents the sentiments of the audience here. 

[LightforAll]

The Senses

 

  If we compare the organisation of human nature with that of an army in the field, the physical senses represent outposts which report their findings to the central intelligence department. Successful progress depends upon the use made of the data received from the outposts. An army whose scouts are permitted to smuggle intoxicating and salacious supplies into headquarters and into the encampments is doomed to failure. So is human progress impossible when the senses are allowed to introduce questionable sensations into body and mind.

 

 

  …However, in most people the senses are not controlled by the mind but are allowed to dominate it. Thus, “the senses, having mastered reason, have led man into the pursuit of pleasure…and lust has become his second nature.”1 …the mind of the majority is made to serve the senses and to encourage these in a response to the coarsest vibrations. In this way mind and senses have combined to excite the passions of the body.

 

  …Generally “the senses have usurped a place beyond their station…and dominated an organism which is made for higher activities.”2

 

  …Under the sway of the senses “the whole keyboard of the emotions may be played upon by sensuous stimuli.”7 Their alertness to sex-stimulating impressions has been encouraged and overdeveloped by ages of licentiousness. As a result of the habitual sharpening of the senses in this respect, the sexual system has become artificially and unduly responsive to tactile and olfactory, to auditory and visual impressions, and thus “sexual excitement is furnished…from all sense-organs of the body.”8

 

  …Therefore “the wise ones tarry not in pleasure-grounds of senses.”17

 

  ...”To be immune to the attractions of the senses is to invite into expression the spiritual powers”20; and “the more the spirit increases in power the more it is detached from sensible objects.”21 Then it finds that “beyond all the [physical] sensations there is a bliss compared to which the pleasures of the senses are [like those of children’s] playthings.”22 Then it knows “the boundless joy that lies beyond the senses.”23

 

  But already long before this stage has been reached it becomes clear that “true happiness never comes to us through the avenue of the senses”24, and that even for the sake of simple happiness “the sense nature of man must be subordinated to the aims of the spirit.”25 “Man must lead a life above sense…rising till he touches the infinite region of spirit.”26

 

 

1 Pascal, Pensees

2 Underhill, Mysticism

7 Scott, The Sexual Instinct

8 Freud, Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex

17 Blavatsky, The Voice of the Silence

20 Mingle, Science of Love

21 Monilos, The Spiritual Guide

22 Ramakrishna

23 Same as 18

24 Gibson, The Faith that Overcomes the World

25 Eucken, Life’s Basis and Life’s Ideal

26 Black, Culture and Restraint

[Guest wozzit]

Can someone (not the TS puhlease!) enlighten me? Is there any real point being made somewhere in the reprinting of all these unconnected articles? Grateful if you will respond in 2 or 3 concise sentences. Thank you!

[LightforAll]

Intellect

 

  Even without looking for spiritual attainments the normal growth of intellect itself depends upon a strict limitation of sexual indulgence. For in individual development as in the evolution of the race intellectual power is a manifestation of the life force. Whatever amount of this force is trifled away in sex [or masturbation], is lost to the possibility of being transformed into intellectual energy.12

 

  Of old it has been know that “carnal pleasure…is at war with intellect.”13…

 

  That at least “a measure of sexual continence is the pre-condition…of mental energy”16 is beyond a doubt. For “all who have to do intense mental work feel…how continence increases their alertness and efficiency.”17 Especially if their continence is self-willed and freely chosen. For this reason “many eminent thinkers seem to have been without sexual desire.”18 They overcame it, realising that “the continent life gives…the greatest intellectual strength.”19

 

  This is not to say that everybody who refrains from sexual acts [or regulates it] can thereby become highly intellectual. Not everybody is born with the potential capacity out of which intellectual genius can be developed. Moreover, many who do not waste part of their life force in sexual activity fritter it away in petty personal concerns and in endless small talk.

 

12 The Deadlock in Human Evolution

13 Cicero, De Senectute

16 Huxley, Ends and Means

17 Gruber, Die Prostitution

18 Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex

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Soul Mates

 

  However, apart from doubtful soul-mate theories a strong attraction may exist between soul and soul, between souls similarly attuned and equally high-evolved. No greater boon can come to any soul than to be closely linked with another kindred one. But this “can only take place when purity has been established to such an extent that the soul no longer yearns for the seductive pleasures of the senses.”4 In a tie of soul with soul, sex plays no part.

 

  Sex attraction must be overcome before soul can know soul.

 

4 Mingle, Science of Love

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Love Versus Sex

 

  Evidently “an attraction that springs merely from sexual impulse cannot be love at all.”8…Instead of leading to love “the animal attraction of one body for another…ends in satiety and disgust”9 – proof of which can be seen in numberless divorces, in short-lived so-called love affairs, and in the discordant relation of many married couples. Only rarely is true love strong enough to survive the demands of sex unscathed. Sooner than to promote love “lust…readily passes into hate.”10 Therefore “love’s arch foe is lust.”11

 

  Sex desire, in order to make itself more acceptable, may disguise itself as love, and call itself sex-love. But the disguises cannot change its nature. Under all circumstances it remains true that “the indulgence of the sexual appetite can by no means be regarded as an expression of love.”12 It is only an expression of desire.13…

 

  Only a slender thread connects sex and love. It consists of nature’s secondary use of sexual reproduction as a means of laying the foundation of love.17…In uncountable cases “love has been slain upon the sexual altar.”18

 

  Those who truly love, will know that “sexual expression is…not so satisfying as spiritual afinity”22 The greater and purer their love, the less there remains of sex.

 

8 Kant, Lecture on Ethics

9 Corelli, The Soul of Lilith

10 Spinoza, Ethics

11 Jordon, The Strength of Being Clean

12 Armitage, Sex Force

13 Desire

17 Purpose of Sex

18 Bragdon, Eternal Poles

22 Carpenter, Love’s Coming of Age

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Life Force

 

  Whereas “premature sexual acts mean…shortened lives.”14 “Not that continence alone assures a long life, but…it is an evident contribution to longevity.”15 In every individual case the maximum length of life attainable undoubtedly depends very much upon the preservation of the life force. The amount of this force available in one individual or another may vary greatly; each one seems limited to whatever quotum fate has put at his disposal. But a misdirected spending of one’s energies will tend to shorten the physical existence and reduce the balance on which to draw for other essential and beneficial purposes.

 

  A point deserving special attention is that “the sexual…is in closest connection with the cerebral system.”16 “The immediate effect of sexual desire upon the brain…is sometimes very marked.”17…

 

  “The brain and sexual organs are…great rivals in using up bodily energy.”21 “When the reproductive organs make demands…they can be satisfied only at the expense of the brain.”22…

 

  But as soon as youth yields to the sordidness of sexual expression for self-gratification, or to indulgence in erotic thoughts, the splendid enthusiasm disappears, often to make place for a cynical materialism. So much of the life force is then wasted on the sexual level that none can be transformed into the higher energy on which aspiration and idealism depend. Thus “continence…is connected with ideal aspirations no less than with physical vigor”29 and with mental clarity…

 

14 Kirsch, Sex Education

15 Surbled, Celibat et Mariage

16 Lombroso, Crime

17 Lydston, Genito-Urinal, Veneral and Sexual Diseases

21 Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex

22 Popenoe, Problems of Human Reproduction

29 Hastings, Encycl. of Religion and Ethics

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A Physiological Dilemma

 

  Yet, one of the greatest modern authorities admits the possibility of conditions under which “the highly vital fluid…is, partially at least, reabsorbed and acts as a tonic to the entire system.”1 Others too are still convinced that it is feasible that “the secretions…are reabsorbed, partly at least, by the rich plexi of lymphates which surround the canals.”2 Apparently the question is not definitely settled. Most likely the absorption is neither impossible, nor always possible for the entire amount secreted. It seems that anyhow “in the continent person…the semen is partly reabsorbed.”3

 

  That there is repeated mention of only partial absorption is not surprising. That nearly always “whatever absorption takes place…is less than what is produced”4 is to be ascribed to the circumstance that in almost every case there is an unnatural overproduction which overtaxes the capacity of whatever apparatus for absorption exists.

 

 

  In present humanity the sex glands have a tendency to form external secretions in larger quantities than are needed for reproduction…They have been inured to yield an unnatural reproduction, just as the lactic glands of the dairy cow have been trained to yield an abnormal overproduction.

 

  “Under conditions of right thinking and right living the seminal fluid would be produced only when there is a demand for propagation.”5 Formation of reproductive fluids at times when there is no question of propagation is as unnatural and abnormal as the formation of milk when there is no question of motherhood.

 

***********************************************

 

  Once formed, the accumulation of reproductive fluids is apt to cause some discomfort, even strain. This tension is usually mistaken for a manifestation of the reproductive impulse. But almost without exception the formation of the fluid by the sex glands results as little from the natural reproductive impulse as the flow of saliva at the thought or sight of a delicacy results from a natural hunger…“A man accustomed to abstinence will not suffer from any accumulation of secretions”6, and “the longer the period of continence the less of the irritation and discomfort will be felt.”7

 

  The tension of the accumulated external secretion has given rise to “the view met with among the ignorant…that this fluid might be noxious if allowed to accumulate [modern science demonstrates that people who frequently masturbate are less at risk of prostate cancer. Of course, given the continual arousal caused by all sorts of media and erotic thoughts, causing the prostate gland to be filled with fluids.]. It is regarded as an excretion to be got rid of like those of the bladder and the intestines.”8 This view of the supposed necessity of expelling the reproductive fluid is supported by the new theory of non-absorption. But “everything relevant that is known in biology and physiology indicates that nothing could be more false and pernicious.”9

 

 

  The external secretion of the sex glands is “a vital fluid representing far greater potentiality than the same quantity of blood.”10 “It is not a waste material”11, and one “positively and directly gains by the absorption of that secretion.”12 “This is evidenced by increased muscular action, a diminished sense of fatigue and enhanced recuperativeness.”13…

 

  Of greatest practical value is that the formation and accumulation of these external secretions is avoidable. Even the inherited tendency to their overproduction can be overcome if it is not reinforced by ever new excitations. The infallible way is to lessen the erotic stimuli. As a result of this it becomes possible to utilise the vital elements of the blood constantly for the formation of the inner secretions16, which enhance the development of greater physical and mental and spiritual power.

 

1 Robinson, Sexual Problems of Today

2 Hall, Adolescence

3 Surbled, Celibat et Mariage

4 Galloway, Biology of Sex

5 Armitage, Sex Force

6 Atkinson, Regenerative Power

7 Armitage, Sex Secrets

8 Same as 2

9 Same as 2

10 Hall, Love and Marriage

11 Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex

12 Saleeby, Health, Strength and Happiness

13 Gruber “The Hygienic Significance of Marriage”

16 Glands and Secretions

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  Repulsive to all of us is the custom of those ancient Pompeians who used emetics at their dinner parties. After eating all that the stomach would hold they promptly emptied it in their ‘vomitorium’ in order to be able to eat again. They did not eat for the natural purpose of preserving the body, but for the satisfaction of their unnatural appetite. They ate exclusively for the pleasurable sensation of tasting and swallowing food, for sense-gratification…

 

  [What is the purpose of sex intended by nature? No, there is nothing inherently wrong with homosexuality, but sex purely for gratification. While indeed a vast lowering of ideals is required in this day and age, where the aberration of sex for gratification is allowed for to a certain extent, one cannot help but to lament the damage that pornography has done to the moral, mental and emotional nature of humanity.]

Edited July 22, 2015 by LightforAll

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[LightforAll]

    ‘Man has fallen to so material a level that it is impossible to suppress sexual passion, but its exaltation is manifestly his ruin. . . . The apotheosis of passion, from the bitter fruit of which man has everlasting need to be redeemed, is the surest sign of moral degradation. Liberty to love according to the impulse of the senses, is the most profound slavery. From the beginning nature has hedged that pathway with disease and death. Wretched as are countless marriages, vile as are the man-made laws which place marriage on the lowest plane, the salvation of free love is the whisper of the snake anew in the ear of the modern Eve.’

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    ‘If a man is taught that he is but a more evolved beast, a higher species of ape, and that when he dies that is the total end of him and of all of him, he naturally says to himself: “Why not enjoy life while I have it? Why not use every function that nature has given to me in the manner that is most pleasing to emotion and passion?” . . .

 

    ‘Sex in the present human physical vehicle really serves two purposes: (a) first and most important, the continuance of the human family; (b) second, the strengthening and building up of the human body as a whole, and of all its tissues and organs as particulars, by the retention therein of the vital sex-essences. . . .

    ‘It is perhaps too much to hope in these days of nervous tension and moral slackness that the sexual function will be used solely for the purposes for which nature has evolved it . . . ; so that possibly for ages hence the function will be misused even in marriage for purposes of merely sensuous gratification; but . . . abuse of the function . . . is apt to bring about disease, both psychological and physical . . .’

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The Art of Sexual Transmutation

 

It can propel us towards success and fulfilment, or it can preoccupy us and create lust and neediness, making us feel empty and incomplete. In this state, we reach for external stimulation through pornography and recreational and socially acceptable drugs to make us feel good. Fetishes may develop…

 

Sexual transmutation is the transformation of sexual energy into action, creativity and inspiration. If you are looking for ways to alleviate pain and depression, increase your general energy levels, regain mental acuity and focus, then sexual transmutation will help you achieve these goals. Become empowered and in command. Take control of your sexual energy instead of allowing it to control you.

 

From The Currency of Sexual Energy by Yasmin

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From The Currency of Sexual Energy by Yasmin

 

  Sex and sexual energy is an amazingly powerful tool. It can turn your whole world around, turn your entire frame of mind around, and it can empower you. 

 

  Active sexual transmutation is the conversion of energy into action. Sexual energy gives you drive and enthusiasm. Sexual transmutation involves harnessing this sexual energy and using it to achieve your goals.

 

  Wherever your focus goes, your energy flows. Your sexual drive can be channelled into creativity and productivity, and can become enormously inspiring and motivating. Once you infuse your life with this energy, you will feel supercharged and alive. In fact, the art of active sexual transmutation is a skill that most successful people do unconsciously.

 

  When writing his book Think and Grow Rich about the science of success, Napoleon Hill conducted interviews and studies over a period of 25 years. He found that successful people have a high sex drive and can focus their sexual energy on productivity and achievement. The transmutation of sexual energy into creativity appears to be a key element in those who have attained great success.

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The Vicious Cycle

 

  Aren't we sick and tired of going round and round in the meaningless cycle of life, or simply the choices we make? Coming here, meeting someone, falling in love, falling out of love, coming here, meeting someone...Or coming here, meeting someone, finding him unsuitable, coming here, meeting someone again, finding him unsuitable too...Or coming here, meeting someone, getting rejected, coming here, meeting someone, getting rejected again. Or masturbating to porn, getting depressed, truly wanting to find love instead of being addicted to porn, then masturbating to porn again, getting depressed again, etc. 

 

  If we continue being "trapped" - only we can trap ourselves - in this vicious cycle, then we are not truly and utterly sick and tired of it all, and then go through it again we must. If we continue doing all these despite ourselves, then we are not ready to break free. Unfortunately this cycle will have to continue until from the innermost centre of our being there arises a consciousness, a stirring to awaken to a higher and truly free life. When this happens there can be no wallowing in vice and what we call freedom to follow all our whims and impulses - that is the deepest imprisonment. 

 

  When this happens we learn the lesson and move on. However, for many of us we have years or even decades of the same lessons to go through until we finally learn. But can't we at least know what the lesson is? One of it may be:

 

  What we call “love” runs the gamut from the coarsest form of it to the most refined, universal state of being. Only the highest form of love is everlasting and gives true bliss and happiness – joy that is born of eternity hence beyond the ravages of time. One can only reach it step by step, but the goal is more than worth all the pain and suffering we will ever go through, once we have even glimpsed it we know that without a doubt. Of the higher steps nothing can be said, but onto the lower steps of the stair of love some light may be thrown:

 

  The coarsest, lowest, basest form of love is lust – physical attraction. It often disguises itself in emotional or higher love because the emotions and mind are under the dominion of the senses, hence the allure of physical beauty causing us to believe we are emotionally and mentally attracted to the person, when all is but a feast of the eyes and a surge of pride and possession. Know this – lust “exhausts itself as soon as it is satisfied”. Seawater escapes the grasping hand, and the little of it that can be drunk aggravates thirst, which cannot be quenched by it because it is for something else – the pure waters of love. This mere physical attraction is “shared also by atoms and molecules”, not to mention plants and animals. In humans it is intensely selfish and cares not for its object: underneath the gentle caress and soft, sweet words is a self-indulgence that almost seeks to devour its object. 

 

  A higher form of love is the emotional, reciprocal love. “I love you if you love me too, and you owe me something for loving you”; a very bitter pill to swallow, but nonetheless true of all our human relationships if we can think about it objectively. This, although the highest love that many people can attain, a love that may last a lifetime if tirelessly and faithfully renewed, “holds within itself the seed of its own death.” It is also liable to turn into hatred depending on the degree of selfishness in it.

 

  The third form already borders on the spiritual and is a little difficult for men to achieve and so must generally be learned. “This is to love the beloved that we desire only his highest good and in his own terms. Such love is immortal and the ages cannot quench it.”

 

  “Love in its highest sense is purified of egotism and many a heartbreak, many a loss, is to teach the soul this supreme secret. Immortal love is as the sun, shining upon the world because he is light, and asking nothing back. Possessiveness is an unexpurgated impurity, and so the heavenly bliss of true love cannot yet come, for only to the ‘pure in heart’ opens the Divine Vision in all its wonder.”

 

-       Quotes are from The Creative Power by Clara Codd

 

 

  In light of this what can we do now, we who are steeped in what we feel to be an inescapable morass? We may slowly but surely wean ourselves from the coarsest aspects of lust and gradually replace it with higher and more refined desires, knowing that in so doing we are closer to achieving love, true love. There are innumerable ways to do that and each must find his path, but all paths eventually lead to the one goal.

Edited July 23, 2015 by LightforAll