Fasting/Abstinence

Really? Then a Scotch-based concoction my man, if you will, plenty of Scotch, not too much other stuff. I'm on my way ...

Thomas
 
Bruce said:
"what has happened is that the human being has become the image of the gods
in the very organs which are normally called the organs of his lower nature.
The image of the gods has been debased in human beings as they are on
earth.The highest principle in human beings, the spiritual principle coming
from the cosmos, has become their lower nature....Our lower nature which is
due to Lucifer's influence, was actually destined to be our higher nature.
This is the contradictory element in human nature. Rightly understood it
will solve countless riddles in the world and life."
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What a great, thought-provoking quote, Bruce! I'm gonna have to agree. God made us and it was very good. He made our human nature, but because we allow ourselves to be subservient to our lowest base nature, we miss the highest that God wants for us. God invented sex, so sex is good, very good indeed. I will say there is a vast difference between just having sex, and making passion to someone you love. We tend to say gimme, gimme, gimme when in the heat of the moment, but if we slow down and share the moment with our lover and reach for their satisfaction, without ignoring our own, of course, it's just...Wow!
 
O.K, I'm 43, and I don't have a problem resisting sex. We're talking sex with the wife, right? Maybe it's just me, but sex is a friggin' chore half the time. Maintenance sex, that's what it is. Now I know, I know we men have to have our pride, but the fact is...it's women who want sex all the time. My wife would laugh her ass off if I suggested that I was giving up sex for Lent!
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I have the opposite problem. Wanna swap? (Just kidding, of course)

Seriously, I don't know where you get the idea that it's women who want all the time, but you are sadly mistaken. But I will say that there are times when she'll want it when I'm at my lowest energy level, usually when I'm just at the twilight of sleep, you know that moment just before knocking off and surrendering to the death of sleep, when your mind is teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness.

But then, I wonder if the reason we are together is to provide balance in the sex life. I mean, if we were both nymphomaniacs, then we'd probably burn each other out and nothing would get done around the house for we'd both be tired. On the other hand, if we were both frigid, the lack of intimacy might strain the relationship and our love for each other would grow cold.
 
hi tao,
Again its a bit of a generalisation and even then I do not mean more sex = more material success. Rather that those with a healthy sex life tend to be happier and more well rounded and balanced.
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you are right, i see what you mean. having sex does keep you sane as opposed to doing something stupid and breaking a few laws. i thought you meant you had to become some sort of male gigalo to be truly happy. my bad again.


Well I am not at all materialistic, wealth holds no attraction for me, I have few possessions and an old beat up banger for a car. I rent rather than own my own home. The 2 businesses I started were both more to do with trying out ecological initiatives than making a profit. Money never bought me anything really worth having and so I view it more as a necessity to meet my practical, limited needs than something to collect just for the sake of being rich. I have not found any religion / belief system that encompasses how I feel about creation so I walk alone. I do not believe the universe to be here by chance alone and I am in awe and wonder at the myriad aspects and infinite beauty of what I see. This is what I call my spirituality.
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thank you very much for your thoughtful and considerate reply, tao. it is always nice to be proven wrong about what one thinks of a certain person and then you get knocked on your arse because this person ends up being completely different from what previously thought. :D it is also nice when someone shares their personal thoughts about themselves. not unlike some people who are just "cold and calculating". thanks and God bless...
 
hey china, as always you make me laugh my ass off. don't stop!
Maintenance sex, that's what it is.
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maintenance, what do you mean by maintenance? geez i envy you.:D i have to struggle all the time with my self. man, you would make a better christian than me!
Now I know, I know we men have to have our pride, but the fact is...it's women who want sex all the time.
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WHAT! i don't believe this. either i am in the wrong part of the world or you are making fun of me and dondi.
My wife would laugh her ass off if I suggested that I was giving up sex for Lent!
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LMMFAO!:D

As one of a vanishing breed of slender people, I don't have the problem with gluttony (gasp!!!), that many of my peers suffer. I know, though, that's it's more complicated than that. But, being blessed with the ability to just say no to food, I can honestly relate the positive benefits of the occasional fast. It's good to be genuinely hungry when one eats, and I find that a day long fast, usually on a weekend day, helps me get back to feeling lean and mean if I feel sluggish. When my body is processing food efficiently I know it because I'm poopin' right. If you're not pooping right you know your body isn't able to keep up with what you're putting into it.
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BRAVO! China! BRAVO! control the self, not the self control you.thanks for the laugh, china. God bless...
 
Im on my second day of fasting right now.. food not sex :p I imagine that I know what the young Native American braves felt like when they fasted and purified before they went out on their spirit walks. I have a couple reasons for this fast... I need an answer from the Lord about what to do about a career choice and a friend of mines brother has a brain tumor and she asked for a group to come pray over him.

I have noticed that in depriving my flesh I am more attuned to my spirit... Its kind of awesome. Everything is more intense. The blessing you get from the sacrifice is amazing.
 
Thomas said:
I tend to look at this issue from a different viewpoint.

Fasting and abstinence is not because food is bad, sex is bad, this is bad, that is bad ... fasting and abstinence is a practical method of focussing and increasing willpower ... it's a means of practicing detachment, of taking control of your life.

+++

The physical aspects as ImpQueen mentioned are actual, and secondary, but are purely 'natural' — there's often more to 'healthy body/healthy mind' than meets the eye.

Spiritual development is like any endeavour, one has to train — Just because I'm me, it doesn't mean I can do or be whatever/whoever I want. So to think we can carry on with our self-indulgences, and yet aspire to the dizzying heights, is like assuming that 10 pints, 20 **** and whatever else we fancy will not impair our abilityt to run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds.

Thomas
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I agree.

But I don't like cocktails.

s.
 
One of the perks of my job is that I don't have to shave. I'm a carpenter, I go around repairing cabinets mostly. It doesn't matter what I look like so long as I turn out excellent work, and I do. The point I'm getting to is that I've restored the pleasure of shaving by doing it less often. I can wait until I can't stand the whiskers and then get a super tight shave that makes me look ten years younger. I kind of think of sex that way too. I want to want it when I do it. But sometimes it's political. Sex is the grease of marriage, and it ain't always about me and my "needs", dig?

Chris
 
I found an interesting verse that deal with both fasting AND abstinence. Here's what Paul had to say concerning husbands and wives:

"Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency." I Corinthians 7:5 (KJV)

Seems Paul is telling married couples to not only fast, but abstain from sex during that time. I didn't even remember this verse until just now.
 
Impqueen said:
Why is sex not good for your spiritual health?

I think fasting works rather like the drugs used in some shamanic cultures. That's not dismissing it - I see it as a technique for reaching an altered state of consciousness in which one is more open to spiritual experiences.... or hallucinations if you're feeling cynical. I don't use it because I'm a glutton and feel really horrible if I forget to have breakfast, or leave lunch a little late....:p
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Shamanic cultures? :/ Can find stuff like that in your very own culture lol.
 
Hi Dondi

Very interesting topic. I imagine you already know that Muslims fast for a month during Ramadan and at other times when we feel we need to.

The first couple of days are certainly the hardest, for me largely due to not being allowed water and living in Egypt it can be very difficult. We only fast from sun up until sun down. My biggest hurdle is the cigarettes, I am a heavy smoker and going without food or drink is no real problem but the cravings for a cigarette make me rather unpleasant to be around.

We are also not allowed to have sex during the fast but of course at night we break the fast. However, I sometimes visit my family for up to 4 months, without my husband. The first 2 weeks are always the most difficult but then the urges just fade away, after a while you don't even think about them.

Before my marriage I had been celebate for 2 years :eek: and sex just never even crossed my mind. So there goes Chris's theory that it is women that are gagging for it. It is all a matter of choice, you can choose to be ruled by your desires or not. But anything you abstain from, coffee, cigarettes, sex, food, becomes easier the longer you go without, so in the end you simply don't miss it.

Well that's my 10p worth anyway.
 
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