Is Sexual Abstinence Necessary For Spiritual Ascent?
By: Lanu Pitan
Tags: Religion And Spirituality, Spirituality, Sexual Desire, Lifestyle, Spiritual Secrets

‘’There will be far less unhappiness if people will only free themselves from the error of the merits of sexual abstinence.’’ Oscar Bernhardt

Photo by Stas Svechnikov on Unsplash

If we want to know about what matters to our individual's happiness and progress in the world, where do we look? Definitely not in the various religious empires of the world. Thousands and varied are their doctrines, and some are contradictory. Even within the so-called Christian denominations that I am familiar with, there are variants. We obviously look into the laws of Nature, which of course is the same as the Divine laws.

What Is Sexual Abstinence?

‘’Sexual abstinence or sexual restraint is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, financial, philosophical, moral, or religious reasons’’. Wikipedia

Here I want to talk about voluntary abstinence in pursue of spiritual ascent.

Abstinence And Celibacy Explained

Sexual abstinence is restraining for a period before sexual intimacy resumes. This can be for various reasons, as stated above and afterwards, the normal intimacy will resume.

Celibacy is refraining from any sexual contact with another during one’s entire life, including also NOT having a spouse or partner. Celibacy is usually associated with religious beliefs, notable are the monks in the Eastern Religions, the Catholic Fathers and nuns, some Islamic Clerics voluntarily chose a life of Celibacy, even though Islam Religion itself does not advocate it.

Few Reasons Why Some Chose Celibacy

Sex Can Cause A lot Of Pain

Emotional pain, that is. Justin Bieber said to Vogue Columnist early in 2019. He said he went through a period of then celibacy before deciding to marry his wife Hailey. He mentioned most often than not, people have sex for the wrong reason.

I Don’t Have Sex To Help My Mental Health

says Tatulah, 23, who chose celibacy because of previous difficult relationships, and afraid to start a new one, until she is really settled in her mind. Tatulah did not miss any man in her life, other than to cuddle up in bed alone. She agreed that celibacy has helped her focus on herself for the time being.

I Fear I Was Missing Out

Wondered Daniella, who at twenty-seven has never had sex. She promised herself to wait until marriage, but she often wondered if she was missing out on the fun. Daniella said sex is supposed to be a special bond between two people, which she does not take lightly, and she will still want to hold on to that. Daniella is a practising Christian but she said her decision to celibate is more of her faith than religion.

I Re-orient My Life Purpose

Craig at 31, had at a time been wild about sex, being indisciplined and hopping from bed to bed, without a care in this world, he said. Craig said he suddenly had enough of the wild lifestyle and decided to turn his life around. He ended all sexual relationships, and pour the energy on his career. Craig has been celibate for five years and just recently been dating. He insists they agree not to have sex until after marriage.

I Had Regrets About People I’ve Slept With

Gloria started having sex at nineteen, and always feel used afterwards. She believes all that concerned the men she had dated was to sleep with her. She decided she didn’t have to consent or make herself a sex-slave. She learnt to say no when she wasn’t ready, and to her surprise, the relationships fizzle out. She has been celibate for two years and decided to focus on herself and empower her skills, which she believes will help her in future relationships.

A survey of 34,000 UK citizens, especially the young, (aged 16- 44 years) are having less sex. They said they only have sex about once a week.

So why do some people believe that being celibate will help their spiritual ascent despite a survey that says sex is good for the heart?

The Lie Of The Original Sin

The lie of the original sin has all through the years been misrepresented to the people. The representation made people believe that sex in itself is evil or bad, unless within certain constraint. Clerics in Christiandom, for example, have erroneously thought the serpent’s answer to Eve, in the Garden of Eden, ‘’You shall not surely die, by eating the fruits of knowledge’’. He (God) told you this because He knows that once you ate from the tree, your eyes will open.’’ Genesis 3:4–6, KJV.

This eating of the fruit of the knowledge has been erroneously interpreted as sex.

Whereas this eating of the fruit of knowledge is humanity relegating intuition to the background in place of earthly knowledge and reasoning.

The result is over-development of the frontal lobe part of the brain, a curse to which all mankind now suffers from. The back of the brain (Cerebellum) contains that which connects man to the spiritual, man himself being a spiritual being, needs to be connected to the Spiritual for a life of bliss.

The cerebellum

The cerebellum, in the back of the brain, controls balance, coordination and fine muscle control (e.g., walking). It also functions to maintain posture and equilibrium.

For relegating the use of the back brain (which connects to the Divine), the back brain has stunted in growth over the course of years, (for not been used) while the frontal one has increasingly enlarged (due to overuse). The result is the chaos we witness all over the world. This is the original and hereditary sin.

Nature Will Instruct Us

Wherever one looks at the Laws in all Creation, there is a clear pattern. Suppression is against Nature. All that is against Nature is a rebellion against the Natural and thus the Divine Laws, which in this, as in all else, can never yield any good results. No exception is made on this particular point. The only difference here is that man must never permit himself to be controlled by the sexual impulse, must not become a slave to his instincts, otherwise, they will develop into a passion whereby what is natural and healthy will become a morbid vice.

This means in essence that abstinence is bad in its entirety.

‘’Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.’’ Albert Einstein.

It is erroneous to think that sexual abstinence will help their Spiritual ascent, it is indeed the opposite. This is because forced abstinence is in conflict with the natural urges, such that the struggles consumes a greater part of the Spiritual Powers, restricting and preventing them being active in other ways. The free folding of the spiritual powers is hindered, which can lead to a depressive episode, preventing joyful soaring that the spirit is meant to achieve.

‘’Everything in nature, including us, is geared toward the growth and fulfilment of its purpose.’’ Ellen Grace O’Brian

The Physical Body

The body is a gift which God entrusted to humanity, and it is his/her duty to take care of it. Just as he/she cannot abstain with impunity from satisfying the body’s needs of food, drink, rest and sleep, and of relieving bladder and bowels; and just as lack of fresh air and sufficient exercise will soon make him feel uncomfortable; so precisely the same applies to the healthy desire of a mature body for sexual activity, which he cannot artificially deny without harming himself in some way.

A person that fulfils a natural desire can only progress forward, not hindered in any way, otherwise, Creator would never have placed this desire in him/her.

This desire must not be artificially stimulated with pornography or anything of the sort. All excesses are bad.

The Spiritual harmony, which exists between a man and a woman extends to the natural physical consummation, and this perfectly normal and noble in the eyes of God. If there is no spiritual harmony, sexual relations, even in marriage is distasteful and immoral.

Chastity Is Purity Of Thought

Some people confuse sexual abstinence with Chastity. This not right. At best, sexual abstinence can be said to be ‘’decency’’ resulting from self-control, education and discipline.

Chastity is the purity of thoughts, which is a spiritual discipline in itself. And even within the satisfying of sexual desire, mutual purity of thoughts can still be preserved.

Conclusion

Sexual abstinence does not serve the spirit, as it is a natural desire in a man and a woman. Sexual union between a man and a women does not only serve procreation but also through the equally valuable and necessary intimate fusion and exchange of mutual current, greater energy levels are achieved.