Orgasmic19 Posted February 27, 2017 Do you think porno is bad or good from a Taoist perspective? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted February 27, 2017 I'd say neither. Tao. Neutral. Beyond judgements and values. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[email protected] Posted February 27, 2017 Tao is neutral, but each of us is not. This means for me that looking porno etc. can direct you to a degradation lineage, while Tao will still stay neutral. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starjumper Posted February 27, 2017 (edited) Do you think porno is bad or good from a Taoist perspective? I saw a good scientific explanation of this: Porn is an addiction, the pursuit of which overloads the pleasure system in a person and makes them unable to experience pleasure, and I'm not talking about sexual pleasure, I'm talking about emotional pleasure. Therefore it turns off your ability to enjoy life and it prevents a balanced life. So, me being a Taoist and all, I say that from a Taoist perspective that it is bad. Watch this: Edited February 27, 2017 by Starjumper 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted February 27, 2017 Porn has never been of any interest to me. I opted for the real thing. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cold Posted February 27, 2017 Was it real or was it Memorex? I have often wondered from time to time... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seatle185 Posted February 27, 2017 Porn can be looked at in a non judgemental way. However most people who watch it constantly are pretty addicted to it. Not only that they fantasize that they are the ones in the video- taking themselves away from reality. when a kid starts watching porn by the time they do start having sex they have delusion. Just my thoughts personally Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mig Posted February 27, 2017 It is amazing at this time of age that people both women and men don't see that pornography today is all fake, it is all business. Moreover, I read sometime ago that back after 1995 (Windoze supremacy), porn addicts were men and today you have both genders as avid watchers of video clips. Also, big companies and even religious affiliations are involved in the big business, big bucks involved. It seems that thanks to porn, big part stream media was able to develop all new technologies as we see it today. It is also amazing to see big productions and all kind of stuff you can find and still is moderated. In the beginning of the internet you could see most of everything, today is much more regulated. Again, it is a business and has nothing to do with reality. As for Dao, reading some of comments as being neutral, it sounds to me "I wash my hands, Dao has no opinion on that". Indeed, it may be true about detachment though there are certain chapters that emphasize on avoid conflicts on ourselves. On the other hand someone here should know about sexual practices so something must have said about visual or graphical stimulation helps in their relationships. My 0.02 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Golden Dragon Shining Posted February 27, 2017 The Tao is not neutralThere is a right way and a wrong wayA way to health, to orderand to dis-ordera way to harmonyand a way to destruction 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mig Posted February 27, 2017 The Tao is not neutral There is a right way and a wrong way A way to health, to order and to dis-order a way to harmony and a way to destruction Where in the Dao it says is not neutral and where is right or wrong? I always wonder where everybody gets all the information from the original?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted February 27, 2017 Where in the Dao it says is not neutral and where is right or wrong? I always wonder where everybody gets all the information from the original?? The concept is scattered throughout the TTC. It's not spoken directly but it is there. Not so much in the Chuang Tzu. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Sternbach Posted February 27, 2017 Do you think porno is bad or good from a Taoist perspective? The question is how you would use it. If porn becomes your only source of sexual gratification and an addiction respectively, that is problematic. If, however, you watch it just occassionally for entertainment and perhaps even draw some inspiration for your sex life from it, you are using it constructively. In my understanding, Taoism teaches using things in a balanced fashion. Few of them are per se 'good' or 'bad'. 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idquest Posted February 28, 2017 If porn replaces viagra, then it's possibly good. If it replaces the real thing - it's just a surrogate - make your pick. If porn is an addiction - then it is not different from any other addiction being that alcohol or substance. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawei Posted February 28, 2017 The Tao is not neutral There is a right way and a wrong way A way to health, to order and to dis-order a way to harmony and a way to destruction I agree with this because tao is not a thing and thus cannot have a label about neutrality... although I know passages tried to describe it nonetheless.... Like a right way and a wrong way. They rely on dualistic thinking and labels. So porn has a right way and a wrong way... I think MS has practical advise on it use. Whether porn is good vs bad is just a dualist argument. We are better to see ZZ point that 'this contains that and that contains this'. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Golden Dragon Shining Posted February 28, 2017 (edited) Where in the Dao it says is not neutral and where is right or wrong? I always wonder where everybody gets all the information from the original?? It is written all around you It is written in your heart // What one consumes as an example, we see the examples of peoples choices daily in what is right action and wrong. What leads to vibrancy, vigor, longevity and what leads to the opposite. Edited February 28, 2017 by Golden Dragon Shining 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted February 28, 2017 The only problem is that people have different preferences. Your right could be my wrong. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted February 28, 2017 (edited) Yea, Marblehead nails it again... another thing to keep in mind with all the myriad 'should do this' and 'never do this' in life is we just do not know what another person's path should be. not all practices are beneficial at all points in life... things I engaged in as a 20 year old, that were beneficial then may well burn up my jing now things I regularly do now, I couldn't even comprehend, or begin to appreciate as a 20 year old. no one owns the truth... there is no one truth we are all fluid gems with many facets. edit to add: the question I ask is... how does porn affect me? Edited February 28, 2017 by silent thunder 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mig Posted February 28, 2017 I agree with this because tao is not a thing and thus cannot have a label about neutrality... although I know passages tried to describe it nonetheless.... Like a right way and a wrong way. They rely on dualistic thinking and labels. So porn has a right way and a wrong way... I think MS has practical advise on it use. Whether porn is good vs bad is just a dualist argument. We are better to see ZZ point that 'this contains that and that contains this'. I thought Dao was above everything. What passages talk about right or wrong? I wonder if there is something on sexual Daoism?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mig Posted February 28, 2017 It is written all around you It is written in your heart // What one consumes as an example, we see the examples of peoples choices daily in what is right action and wrong. What leads to vibrancy, vigor, longevity and what leads to the opposite. That is true as for the examples you give. Since this a Dao forum, I was wondering if what you say has been said in a Daoist text. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted February 28, 2017 I thought Dao was above everything. What passages talk about right or wrong? I wonder if there is something on sexual Daoism?? I can't recall anything in the TTC that speaks to sex nor in the Chuang Tzu either. Numerous times Chuang Tzu questions the concept of "right/wrong". Lao Tzu does speak to it though and acknowledges the dualistic mind. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawei Posted February 28, 2017 I thought Dao was above everything. What passages talk about right or wrong? I wonder if there is something on sexual Daoism?? I'm thinking about those that talk of 'losing Dao' which some will say implies Losing the Way. I prefer to see duality as along a spectrum where might may find yourself on different points at different times, but the spectrum is singular. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted February 28, 2017 I'm thinking about those that talk of 'losing Dao' which some will say implies Losing the Way. True. We can never lose Dao. But we can lose the (our) Way. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silent Answers Posted March 1, 2017 It was my porn/masturbation/sex addiction that led me to the spiritual path. One day I just snapped out of it, and saw myself doing these things from an outside perspective. I felt pretty pathetic that these feelings were controlling me so. I would analyse the thoughts behind my actions, and they were mostly rooted in control/domination /to punish and be needed. What's more, the women I was sleeping with were also seeking to be on the receiving end of such. I suppose this is quite common today, and perhaps could be argued as natural in a sense, but I decided that there was a major thing missing, LOVE. While my sexual encounters were always playful, respectful, passionate....I hadn't truly made love. Instead of playing roles of power and submission, I wanted to experience something purer. That meant masturbation and porn had to go, because love didn't stand a chance mixed in with those thoughts. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Golden Dragon Shining Posted March 1, 2017 (edited) Objective truths, self evident, scientific, experientialThere are only different degrees of misunderstanding or knowledge/wisdomWhen one aligns with natural laws serenity, happiness, clarity are obtained.A person will abuse alcohol, they suffer for this (unnatural behaviour), some will come to the understanding that what they are doing is causing suffering/misery and will make a correction - toward natural order/expression/intention/ the right way.the right way leads to harmonythe wrong way leads to disharmonydisharmony can cause a person to seek the right way Edited March 1, 2017 by Golden Dragon Shining 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liminal_luke Posted March 1, 2017 Some people say porn depletes jing. I think it`s like buying diamonds at Tiffany`s: if you have to ask, you probably can`t afford it. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
