Masturbation as a spiritual experience

Seeing as the discourse surrounding masturbation often revolves around the dichotomy between masturbation and religion (especially if said religion views masturbation as a sinful act, like some Christian denominations do), I was wondering if anyone here has come to see masturbation in a completely different light - as an act with spiritual significance, or even as a fully fledged religious ritual?

As someone with a conservative religious upbringing, I've been titillated by the juxtaposition between something considered to be profane and carnal, such as an erect penis being masturbated, and something exalted and sacrosanct, like a church service. No wonder that such a taboo as masturbation, which Catholic dogma considers to be inherently disordered and perverse, would soon come to be seen with mischievous curiosity, before becoming a guilty pleasure and then finally turning into a genuine obsession.

Many religions have viewed fertility as an integral facet of the divine, especially those that appeared earlier throughout history - from a theological perspective, it makes sense why sexual intercourse, a necessary prerequisite for the miracle of conception further exacerbated by orgasmic joy, could be seen as a rite worthy of religious devotion.

It is therefore also obvious that the phallus and the vagina - instruments essential to creation itself - may themselves be seen as sacramentally important, and ought to be idolatrously worshipped as worldly manifestations of a transcendental power - and masturbation could definitely be understood to represent an ideal sacrificial offering.

Did you find it challenging to reconcile your love of masturbation with the tenets of your faith, past or present? Has masturbation influenced your religious worldview? If you are a spiritual person, does masturbation also provide you with spiritual fulfillment - in addition to the overwhelming pleasure ?

 

Hey Scout. I appreciated your reply to my post a while back, and I’ll try to give a thoughtful response here. My family is conservative and Christian, but we’re non-denominational and haven’t gone to church frequently. I go back and forth on masturbation as I grow up. I think it depends on context. To me, when I masturbate to stimuli like pornography, I feel dirty. I get angry and resentful towards myself and the society that encourages such overwhelming proliferation of illicit content. On the other hand, when I masturbate to my own thoughts of the girl I love, I feel better. Still a little creepy, but then it’s more of an expression of desire, a passion and wish to make love with a specific person. Porn is just…a product. It’s bad for kids, and I was one of the kids who figured out how to access it and was too dumb to think about the consequences.

I think you’re on to something about the sanctity of sex. I crave the experience of true, passionate sex. It still may not come to me for many years, or not with the girl I love, but I want it so badly. It’s inherent, biologically and spiritually. I was reading one of Jordan Peterson’s books, and he talks about the psychology of the characterization of falling in love as finding “your better half”, or the feeling of completeness that comes from a genuine loving relationship. I found that quite interesting. I don’t think Christians are generally expected to never masturbate and only have sex to have children. God wouldn’t have made it so appealing if he didn’t want us doing it. But I think it’s important we do it responsibly. The use of pornography is a sin, one I’m all too familiar with. It can also influence you to turn to increasingly perverse types of material, and genres that can venture all the way down into the hellishly depraved. You and I have talked about my proclivity for foot fetish porn. That’s as far as I’ve allowed myself to go, but even within that genre my libido is now more difficult to satisfy. Sometimes I’ll look up incest related foot fetish or multiple people involved in foot fetish. Some people enjoy BDSM, which is more extreme. Some people enjoy more serious incest content. That’s not even the deep end of the pool. Down the line you can get to things like child pornography and bestiality. The slope is too slippery to allow anyone to traverse any longer.

I’ll close this out by saying that I have even masturbated on this forum before, not just in the masturbation-centered questions. Barefooting, nudism, love and sex, questions like Open Masturbation in the Home, they really get me going, and thats part of what I’m talking about. It’s a slippery slope, and it always leaves me feeling drained, pun intended. Many of your own posts have been the subject of my…activities. I find your exploits as a younger man very erotic-the idea of being barefoot and nude openly and masturbating in a muddy field is crazy to me, although I admire the boldness and in a not-insignificant capacity, I wish I was doing it too.

 

I have discussed this with my wife and we both agree that sex done properly is a divine and sacred act. It is holy to us certainly, and is our form of worship. Its carnal and erotic and involves plugging into life forces, as well as each other.
Going further we practice meditation as mastubation when we are apart and try to totally get into our bodies and inhabit our genitals in all their glory and beauty. They are wonderfull bits of equipmnt and we should cherish them. We are both working on just the lightest of touch. She can already make herself cum with no movement, and Im working on it. As she pointed out " i didnt make myself cum, I just made myself available to cum and let nature do the rest" Amazing.
I think that I still have some residual guilt about masturbation - its hardwired into most of us. But Itts slowly going away.

 

Wow! That's a wonderful way of looking at things! You're lucky to have found someone who cherishes your body (and their own) in such an exalted manner! I also love your idea of seeing masturbation as meditation - I think you're completely right about nature intending this to be the way things should work. There's a rhyme to it, and certainly a whole lot of reason, as well! Guilt about masturbation is only something that is imprinted onto us by religion and culture. Every time you ejaculate, a part of that guilt is cast away from your body and soul - and there's no better invitation to just keep on masturbating, more and more and more!

 

Thanks for your earnest and thoughtful reply! You've made me think what even constitutes a "sin" and why. Why would masturbation ever be thought of as sinful? Sexual desires, just like many other things in life, can be used to harm others. Pedophilia, rape, bestiality - those are some examples of a sexual desire that is being far too overindulged in. But again, if those things remain in the realm of the mind, without manifesting themselves as anything other than a harmless relationship between my own penis and my hands, then why should I (or anyone else) consider masturbation any more sinful because of it? I suppose our own libido has some similarities with a religion - if we become far too invested into a religion, we might become fanatics, and likewise we might descend down that "slippery slope" of depravity if we choose not to restrict our own desires at least somewhat. However, one might be a true and devout believer even without becoming a fanatic, without losing a sense of kindness and understanding for others - and we should explore our sexuality in the same way. I find masturbation to be a responsible action in and of itself, and pornography is merely yet another distraction from the moment of true divinity that masturbation really represents - an expression of love for your own self, a lustful ritual offering of love presented to your own body and your wonderful genitals that bestowed upon you the pleasure of orgasm!

I've never had much need for pornography, at least in its strict sense - I have a vivid imagination, so my fantasies are often enough to provide me with powerful orgasms. I also get turned on by things I see everyday, either online or outside of the virtual world, as well as things that I remember from my own past - and I see no reason why I should feel guilty about masturbating about any of them. It's my own business, my own kind of worship. Heck, I'll sometimes masturbate about masturbation itself - because I'm turned on by the thought of just grabbing my erect penis and masturbating about whatever! Pornography may be exploitative, it may set unreasonable standards - but does masturbation exist to cater to the product of this industry, or was pornography just one consequence of humanity's innate desire to pursue sexual gratification? Regarding your early contacts with pornography - as a kid, nobody thinks of the consequences, because that's what being a kid is all about, I guess. Yet, you've made your choice - your body made that choice, as did your subconscious mind. Because all humans are sexual beings, and one cannot deny themselves the pleasure of satiating your own carnal lust. Something's gotta give eventually, and I know from my own example that it is much worse for your own wellbeing to deny yourself the right to seek out ways to satisfy your natural desires, than it is to accept your own sexuality (and all that comes with it) with an open heart and mind.

A man masturbating about one thing is indistinguishable from a man masturbating about something else entirely. Masturbation hurts no one, so if there is a perfectly acceptable way for us to channel our innermost desires in a healthy way, masturbation certainly fits the bill! If something gets you going, masturbate about it! I find masturbation to be quite therapeutic - if something that turns you happens to be illegal or socially unacceptable, then it's best to think of masturbation as something you can channel your lust into without a chance of actually hurting others. Finally, if the stuff that I've been doing and talking about turns you on, then you shouldn't feel guilty or apprehensive about it in any way. I am happy to be doing those things, and I'll masturbate without any remorse - because it makes me feel happy. If it makes you happy as well, there's nothing that I'd love more than you to masturbate about it, as well!

 

Thank you Scout. I still feel a little weird about it-this whole communication about sexual topics-but I also find some strange sense of solace in it. Maybe it’s the taboo or something, but man…here I go again. I’m naked and reaching…Cheers, I guess.

 

No problem! We've all been there (or some of us, at least) - facing the doubts, the questions, the self-loathing... Keep on stroking!

Masturbation may be considered a taboo, or at least a faux-pas, that's not exactly a welcome subject of a polite conversation, and even I can see why. But if there's a place to have a discussion about it - whether a more intellectual one like we're having or just a soapbox from which we can shout "yeah, I'm doing it - and I like it!" - I suppose a forum that's literally about open-minded people masturbating is as good of a safe space to have a talk about the joys of masturbation.

Thought, I suppose that all sexuality is taboo one way or another, whether it's something innocuous like masturbation or stuff that's a bit more "out there", our culture simply seems to demand we repress it. There's very few cultures and religions that seem to hold a positive outlook towards even the most basic human sexuality - and I guess that's why I've discovered such an allure in the thought of elevating the forbidden, the filthy, the depraved (and I guess masturbation fits the bill, according to my upbringing, no matter if it's actually reasonable or not) into an act that is the exact opposite - something pure, holy, and magnificent!

Remember, nothing stands in the way between you and orgasmic pleasure - except maybe your underwear! So, why would it be such a big deal for you to just seize one of the rare opportunities to have a "free lunch" in life? Whether you're a sinner or a saint, young or old - if you have the urge and the means to masturbate, then why not just do it? Why should you have to answer to anyone for such benign actions that do not concern them in the slightest? You only have to account to your own self by setting (reasonable) limitations as you see fit - you don't have to answer to your friends and family, to the public, or even to a higher power. You were made the way you are, and you simply need to satisfy a biological craving of yours - one that certainly provides a most welcome benefit!

And maybe, instead of having to fear about causing strife to other people, some folks will find it flattering that you're fapping thinking about them...

 

Sorry about the long post, but this was a spiritual moment for me.

Masturbation is of course something we're not supposed to do or certainly not admit to, despite the fact that everyone does it.

I was always shy and short for my age. (Not penis-wise)

At a swing club years ago I walked into a room, wearing only a t shirt, mostly exposed but partially covered and barely hanging on I was so embarrassed and feeling like I should run away.

Most of the people were clothed, some half naked. In one room I saw two completely naked guys facing an audience, stroking their cocks.

My girlfriend coaxed me to join them and in a moment of recklessness I pulled my t shirt off and stepped onto the slightly raised place they were standing.

I was already erect and breathing heavily. There was no distance between us and the audience, I was hearing every comment and every giggle. The comments were positive, the giggling was hard to take but very liberating in the end.

The guys of course were taller, and I felt they were more handsome. Their cocks were bigger by two to three inches. I felt amazed that anyone was looking at me at all. Not just women but guys were looking at me. I felt extremely uncomfortable but also powerful, oddly enough.

The other guys had started before me and they finished first as well. I watched as they came, spurt after spurt, as they moaned and the audience cheered for them.

Then they were done, they both turned towards me, the entire audience was watching me as I masturbated, stroking myself wanting to cum and wanting to hide at same time.

I moaned out loud surprising myself and was making eye contact with complete strangers as my orgasm rushed over me, I felt like part of the group like we were connected somehow.

When I finished I remained naked, the audience was talking to the guys and i. The comments were positive, the experience was positive.

The next time I was naked I front of people all the same feelings of embarrassment and humiliation flooded over me but I went through with it because I knew how I would feel later.

 

Wonderful! Masturbation can be truly empowering, and your experience really shows how easy it is to topple all inhibition and taboos just by letting an erect cock take center stage - and let it do what it does best!

It seems that it is the psyche of individual people that carries such preconceptions such as shame or embarrassment - and once a critical mass of such individuals was reached, they were firmly cemented in our society as a whole, as if some sort of mass hysteria took place. Our biology, however, seems to be calibrated slightly differently. The emotion that fuels our sexuality is lust - and it can use other sensations such as fear or shyness to further enhance one's pleasure. To our genitals, our most worrisome hang-ups seems like mere frivolities - and when they are used as mere fodder to further fuel our arousal, the mere moment of orgasm can become a true epiphany!

It's an awesome revelation to witness the act of masturbation as it truly is. A masturbating human being, one proud to display its bodily perfection in full view of like-minded folk, can indeed be described as a transcendent sight! And as we worship our flesh with religious exuberance, it seems quite appropriate to offer our inhibitions as a sacrifice to the godlike glory of magnificent masturbation!