Is Sex Incompatible With Spirituality?

Many cultures, perhaps most, see sex as incompatible to one extent or another with spirituality. Are those cultures onto something, or is that just nonsense?

If sex is incompatible with spirituality, then under what circumstances is it incompatible with spirituality? What about those circumstances makes it incompatible?

Is it wishful thinking to believe that it is not incompatible with spirituality?

Would you find it strange or wrong to have sex immediately before attending a service at a house of worship?

What if you were conducting the service? Would you find it wrong to have sex immediately before conducting the service?

If you went on a vision quest, would you have sex during your vision quest?

If you were fasting for spiritual insight, would you consider having sex during your fast?

Can sex ever be a path to spiritual insight? If so, how does one reconcile that with the wide spread belief that sex is, at least in some circumstances, incompatible with spiritual insight?

If sex is incompatible with spiritual insight, what is it about sex that makes it incompatible?

Last, is it true that Doppleganger is hell bent on being the first appeals lawyer from Texas to take a parking ticket all the way to the Supreme Court, or is that just another silly RF rumor that no one knows how it got started?

Sunstone said:

Many cultures, perhaps most, see sex as incompatible to one extent or another with spirituality. Are those cultures onto something, or is that just nonsense?

If sex is incompatible with spirituality, then under what circumstances is it incompatible with spirituality? What about those circumstances makes it incompatible?

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It will probably be no suprise that my answer to this is yes, always. Because it ties us to the physical.

Burchfam said:

It will probably be no suprise that my answer to this is yes, always. Because it ties us to the physical.

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So, for you, the physical is incompatible with spirituality?

Sunstone said:

Many cultures, perhaps most, see sex as incompatible to one extent or another with spirituality. Are those cultures onto something, or is that just nonsense?

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Nonsense; and I don't accept the first sentence as a fact. There is no spiritual without the physical, and most cultures promote the health of the first as necessary to the health or "purity" of the second. Sex is compatible with good health.

Hi all. I've been away for a while so I'll just jump in head first.

Sex is as spiritual as worship. In fact sex between (christian view) married couples is worship.

It could also be seen as a commandment by God.
Go forth and multiply.

Yes/No??

First, I am loathe to refer to anyone else's spiritual outlook as 'nonsense'. Different strokes for different folks.

Some people seek spiritual enlightenment by abstaining from sex, and while I don't think that's necessary for me, I can respect their view.

Since sex is the most common means of procreation, I echo Mystic-als's sentiments. I won't go into too many details since this isn't the Eros Room, but an intimate encounter can be a spiritual experience for many.

As for the questions...I wouldn't have sex DURING a worship service or IN a church, as IMHO, the appropriate venue would be the privacy of home. Personally, I don't see a problem with right before or right after, but I wouldn't recommend in the car on the way home.

As for doppleganer & the parking ticket...I didn't know anyone actually paid those. At least not in Hot'Lanta. I got 2 back in 1996, I think, that are unaccounted for.

I see the physical world as an expression of "God's love", so I would view sexual intimacy as a physical expression of God's love through us to each other. This is of course excluding instances where sexual intercourse is being used to express mental/emotional illness.

Sex is what you make of it - if you believe it can be a spiritual experience of part of worship, then it can be.

As for the questions...I wouldn't have sex DURING a worship service or IN a church, as IMHO, the appropriate venue would be the privacy of home. Personally, I don't see a problem with right before or right after, but I wouldn't recommend in the car on the way home.

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funny!
This has actually come up as a discussion topic in one church when a load of cross-dressers started attending and I was a bit put out by some of the talk and appearances which I had to explain to my then 7 year old....

Yes I think sex can be very spiritual but not public displays of sexuality!

Sunstone said:

So, for you, the physical is incompatible with spirituality?

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Yes. Absolutely.

jmoum said:

Huh, I'm curious as to how that works. Can you expand on that philosophy?

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The physical pleasures of sex keep us bound to the physical world. By avoiding them we can rise above it.

jmoum said:

But what about the concept that they physical world is full of experiences that lead to learning and personal growth, therefore spiritual growth? So does that mean that all physical experiences bound us to the world, or just sexual ones? And what if a person is able to exercise detatchment? Would the pleasures of sex still impede their spiritual progress?

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All sensual pleasures keep us tied us to the world, but sex is the most important of these. We don't regard the detachment you speak of as either possible, or desirable.

Sunstone said:

Many cultures, perhaps most, see sex as incompatible to one extent or another with spirituality. Are those cultures onto something, or is that just nonsense?

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I think the incompatibility between sex and spirituality is not in the sexual acts or pleasure of any kind, but in covetousness, idolatry, desire and as jmoum says, attachment. Many religions unfortunately take this much further and act as if they have a mandate to control personal sex lives. This is burning down the forest to spite the trees and shows a profound lack of faith in God.

Last, is it true that Doppleganger is hell bent on being the first appeals lawyer from Texas to take a parking ticket all the way to the Supreme Court, or is that just another silly RF rumor that no one knows how it got started?

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He's quite mad you know.

luna

you cannot seperate the human body from spirituality. life itself is experienced by male and female both at the image of god/love. enlightenment cannot come more strong than looking at a beautiful girl and finding she is the one. As for one day having sex with the one..is something i surely don't understand, i honestly don't know if its right or wrong.

marfeb06 said:

you cannot seperate the human body from spirituality. life itself is experienced by male and female both at the image of god/love. enlightenment cannot come more strong than looking at a beautiful girl and finding she is the one. As for one day having sex with the one..is something i surely don't understand, i honestly don't know if its right or wrong.

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Excellent post! Welcome to the Forum!

Sunstone said:

Many cultures, perhaps most, see sex as incompatible to one extent or another with spirituality. Are those cultures onto something, or is that just nonsense?

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I don't agree with it, but I don't think it's nonsense. I think it's just an attempt at getting closer to what one believes is spirituality. For example, Celtic religions (actually quite a few Pagan religions, I've just recently been studying Celtic) believed that the union between man and woman WAS spiritual. The act of sex became like worship, as it is reenacting what they believed created the universe. They believe that in the beginning there was a God AND a Goddess, and that the "Big Bang" had an entirely different meaning. From that "Big Bang" everything sprang forth.

Sunstone said:

If sex is incompatible with spirituality, then under what circumstances is it incompatible with spirituality? What about those circumstances makes it incompatible?

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I think doing it just for the sake of the act and not out of actual care for the other person, then it is incompatible.

Sunstone said:

Is it wishful thinking to believe that it is not incompatible with spirituality?

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It's not wishful thinking, it is narrow thinking

Sunstone said:

Would you find it strange or wrong to have sex immediately before attending a service at a house of worship?

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It depends on what you worship. As stated before, Pagan religions view sex as an ACT of worship. Sometimes it is even a part of the ritual (though of course, each couple goes off into their own little room or finishes at home )

Sunstone said:

What if you were conducting the service? Would you find it wrong to have sex immediately before conducting the service?

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Sunstone said:

If you went on a vision quest, would you have sex during your vision quest?

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Depends on what religion.

Sunstone said:

If you were fasting for spiritual insight, would you consider having sex during your fast?

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Depends on what you're trying to deny yourself. You can choose what to deny yourself when fasting, and usually I think of food.

Sunstone said:

Can sex ever be a path to spiritual insight? If so, how does one reconcile that with the wide spread belief that sex is, at least in some circumstances, incompatible with spiritual insight?

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One reconciles by not caring what others think because in YOUR religion it IS a path to spiritual insight?

Sunstone said:

Last, is it true that Doppleganger is hell bent on being the first appeals lawyer from Texas to take a parking ticket all the way to the Supreme Court, or is that just another silly RF rumor that no one knows how it got started?

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I think it depends on the individual, so I'll just speak for myself. For me sex is very spiritual as it allows me to become momentarily "one" with my lover. The feelings that come with that are so great that there's no way I could NOT see it as spiritual.

I just realized, what's with the thread revivals? lol

MoonWater said:

I think it depends on the individual, so I'll just speak for myself. For me sex is very spiritual as it allows me to become momentarily "one" with my lover. The feelings that come with that are so great that there's no way I could NOT see it as spiritual.

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So, uh... come around here often?

StripperClown said:

So, uh... come around here often?

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Back off, man. She's taken. :tuna: