Tag Archive for: chastity

You are here: / chastity

Posts

A Bit on Moral Purity

/0 Comments/in /by

What is purity?

Much like “truth”, purity is another word which often is hijacked and convoluted by society and/or organized religion. In a religious context, purity is most often associated with innocence, virginity or sexual abstinence.  The suggestion by religion often is that one who is “pure” is one who has not been “corrupted” by sin, forbidden sexuality or “Babylon” or the wicked world. I believe that although these colloquial definitions can be related to moral purity, they essentially miss the mark on a concept which is vitally important to one’s personal progression.

More properly, purity is defined as a state of being “unmixed with any other matter” (see webster’s dictionary). Gold is said to be pure if it is not mixed with other substances. A music note is pure if it is unmixed with other sounds. A musical chord is pure if it contains only the desired notes in perfect harmony. A color is pure by the same definition. And perhaps most importantly in our present context, an intention is pure if it is directed toward a single goal without being convoluted by conflicting ones. In this light purity is indeed a “straight and narrow path” to a goal. Thus personal purity in thought refers to a personal belief system that is not convoluted by conflicting, unharmonized or unbalanced ideologies.

At the heart of personal purity is a lack of conflict. In this light we see how purity is related to peace, harmony and balance. “Pure” white light, is light in which the whole rainbow spectrum is perfectly balanced. A “pure” natural environment is one which is in harmony and balance, and its purity is lost when elements are added to that environment which mix up that balanced environment. A “pure” individual is likewise one who is not mixed up or filled with inner conflict. Their inner and outer selves are at peace and in harmony. Their beliefs and actions are harmonic, and are in accord with their goals of what they want to do and who they want to be.

purityA traditional Christian religious definition of purity is certainly true in a sense, but what many fail to realize is that organized religion plays just as big a role in corrupting or convoluting the “pure” as the “wicked” world does. The great masters of this world have come to earth to show what’s possible. In nearly every case they defied the religious mores and regulations of their day in order to pursue a pure path to their chosen missions. One of the problem with organized religion is that they then often tend to block the “pure” path to obtaining desired experiences by their laws, standards and mores. For example, Christ was excommunicated for rejecting Judaic moral law and blaspheming their holy temple. In just about every case, the “true” prophets though history have shown their purity by rejecting or going against the mainstream political & religious systems of their day. They showed that purity is indeed following an unwavering path toward a god given desire in your heart regardless of what the present social or religious norms are.

In regards to sexual purity, we see it is related to innocence and virginity but not bound by these attributes. Historically speaking, in LDS or Biblical doctrine is it obvious one could be sexually pure regardless of whether they are virgins, monogamously married or indiscriminate polygamists. Sexual purity is our unwavering and unconvoluted, balanced path toward a specific sexual goal. So then we must firmly know our sexual goal in order to practice sexual purity. In Mormonism this sexual goal is encouraged to be marriage as a virgin in the temple to a “worthy” person. But the problem with trying to “teach” or instill a goal in someone is that if it conflicts with pre-existing deep seated desires or goals which lie in the heart of individuals it often throws them out of balance and destroys their purity. There are many “worthily” married LDS couples who are actually not “pure” because by trying to be “righteous” (by their perception of Mormon standards) they create conflict with their true inner desires, throw their inner harmony off balance and become miserable people who are not progressing upward toward their goals. Their goals become mixed and convoluted and so do their paths; and their lack of purity (finding a harmony which true to themselves as well as others) sooner or later manifests in extreme depression or divorce. The New Testament speaks often on the “deadness of the law” or the inefficient manner of teaching people how to “progress” through rules, regulations, standards and dogma. Truly the only way to achieve true happiness and the purest way to progress is to “live by the spirit”. We best help others do this by “teaching correct principles and then letting them govern themselves” which often means teaching idealistic social standards without strong expectations of individual outcome. (Which is a difficult task, and impossible without real love for, and personal relationships with, those we teach!) We help them form definite goals which achieve their true desires and then let them plot out their own course while following their inner voice. To lead others to a path of sexual purity is to help them form a sexual goal that harmonizes with their true inner desires, and then help them see which actions lead directly to that goal and which actions will lead them through a convoluted or conflicting round-about path. Any other path which does not truly respect the free agency of the individual will lead to the very pain which the teacher may be hoping to help the learner avoid.

In the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ much is taught about purity. In the opening pages Mary and Elizabeth are taught by a Jewish Egyptian sage in Egypt about the destined missions of their sons. Elizabeth is taught that John has come as a living archetype of Purity, which prepares the world for Jesus, who will be the archetype for true love; and that purity is essential for love.

21 The only Savior of the world is love, and Jesus, son of Mary, comes to manifest that love to men.
22 Now, love cannot be manifest until its way has been prepared, and naught can rend the rocks and bring down lofty hills and fill the valleys up (balance the inequalities) , and thus prepare the way, but purity.
23 But purity in life men do not comprehend; and so, it, too, must come in flesh.
24 And you, Elizabeth, are blest because your son is purity made flesh, and he shall pave the way for love.
25 This age will comprehend but little of the works of Purity and Love; but not a word is lost, for in the Book of God’s Remembrance a registry is made of every thought, and word, and deed;
26 And when the world is ready to receive, lo, God will send a messenger to open up the book and copy from its sacred pages all the messages of Purity and Love.
27 Then every man of earth will read the words of life in language of his native land, and men will see the light, walk in the light and be the light.
28 And man again will be at one with God.

The relationship between purity and love is an interesting one, and something that I believe the current christian religions of the world teach poorly. As mentioned in the above verses, the world knows little of purity and love. The degenerate aspects of society do not even try to understand or achieve these ideals. The religions of the world strive toward them, but just like the Jewish culture to whom John and Jesus were sent, they miss the mark. They think purity and love comes through the law (or religious standards like the law of chastity, etc). But purity and love are not found in keeping moral strictures. They are in the balanced and harmonic use of gods energy or spirit; and this is not something that can be easily taught. A harlot can often be more full of purity and love than a high priest. This should be evident to a Christian by the fact that apparently harlots recognized and followed Jesus, while the High Priest (Pope or Prophet) and the Sanhedrin (ruling elders) of the Judaic religion rejected and had Christ murdered. And unfortunately this is a scene that plays over and over especially among the youth of Christianity. Because the religiously active “good” kids in the schools do not understand purity and love, they wrongly judge and despise the “bad” kids in school. Adversely, many of the rebellious kids in school do the same to the “goody two shoes” religious crowd. Neither understanding that love and purity are not determined as much by your behavior, but by the harmony between your actions and your beliefs. The balance between your inner and outer selves or how true you are to your inner voice and highest light (In LDS terms, one’s obedience to personal revelation, over organizational rules or worldly fads). Sexual abstinence does not guarantee sexual purity, nor does sexual promiscuity preclude it. In reality neither makes much of a difference, what matters is that you stay true to your own personal inner beliefs and let the free flow of God’s energy manifest in unselfish and unconvoluted ways.

This idea of following our inner light is taught well in the following dialogue,

15 And then the people asked, What must we do that we may make our bodies fit abiding places for the king?
16 And Jesus said, Whatever tends to purity in thought, and word, and deed will cleanse the temple of the flesh.
17 There are no rules that can apply to all, for men are specialists in sin; each has his own besetting sin,
18 And each must study for himself how he can best transmute his tendency to evil things to that of righteousness and love.
19 Until men reach the higher plane, and get away from selfishness, this rule will give the best results:
20 Do unto other men what you would have them do to you.

Another great dialog teaching the principles of purity and love is given in Chapter 8 of the same book. In this excerpt Mary and Elizabeth are taught concerning the higher and lower selves. It is by listening to and following our higher or spiritual self that our lower or carnal self is conquered. The carnal self follows after the philosophies and religions of the world. The higher or spiritual self follows the path god has laid out for us in our hearts. The difficulty in achieving purity is learning to listen to that higher inner voice and learning to differentiate it from our lower carnal voice or the voices programmed into us by society or earthly religion.

AGAIN Elihu met his pupils in the sacred grove and said,
2 No man lives unto himself; for every living thing is bound by cords to every other living thing.
3 Blest are the pure in heart; for they will love and not demand love in return.
4 They will not do to other men what they would not have other men do unto them.
5 There are two selfs; the higher and the lower self.
6 The higher self is human spirit clothed with soul, made in the form of God.
7 The lower self, the carnal self, the body of desires, is a reflection of the higher self, distorted by the murky ethers of the flesh.
8 The lower self is an illusion, and will pass away; the higher self is God in man, and will not pass away.
9 The higher self is the embodiment of truth; the lower self is truth reversed, and so is falsehood manifest.
10 The higher self is justice, mercy, love and right; the lower self is what the higher self is not.
11 The lower self breeds hatred, slander, lewdness, murders, theft, and everything that harms; the higher self is mother of the virtues and the harmonies of life.
12 The lower self is rich in promises, but poor in blessedness and peace; it offers pleasure, joy and satisfying gains; but gives unrest and misery and death.
13 It gives men apples that are lovely to the eye and pleasant to the smell; their cores are full of bitterness and gall.
14 If you would ask me what to study I would say, yourselfs; and when you well had studied them, and then would ask me what to study next, I would reply, your-selfs.
15 He who knows well his lower self, knows the illusions of the world, knows of the things that pass away; and he who knows his higher self, knows God; knows well the things that cannot pass away.
16 Thrice blessed is the man who has made purity and love his very own; he has been ransomed from the perils of the lower self and is himself his higher self.
17 Men seek salvation from an evil that they deem a living monster of the nether world; and they have gods that are but demons in disguise; all powerful, yet full of jealousy and hate and lust;
18 Whose favors must be bought with costly sacrifice of fruits, and of the lives of birds, and animals, and human kind.
19 And yet these gods possess no ears to hear, no eyes to see, no heart to sympathize, no power to save.
20 This evil is a myth; these gods are made of air, and clothed with shadows of a thought.
21 The only devil from which men must be redeemed is self, the lower self. If man would find his devil he must look within; his name is self.
22 If man would find his savior he must look within; and when the demon self has been dethroned the savior, Love, will be exalted to the throne of power.
23 The David of the light is Purity, who slays the strong Goliath of the dark, and seats the savior, Love, upon the throne.

Purity is following your higher self. It is overcoming the law and lower priesthood and learning to walk by the spirit. Purity is not being tarnished or convoluted by the doctrines of others (be they religious or worldly)–it is following the Spirit as it guides you personally. This is why John the Baptist, the archetype of purity lived alone in the wilderness away from organized religion and society. Purity is being true to yourself by living your inner beliefs or the direct personal revelation that God puts into your heart. The following section from Oahspe 9 does a great job of explaining the importance of personal revelation and the difference between direct and indirect inspiration.

34/9.1. Man I created with capacity to distinguish My direct from My indirect inspirations, says Jehovah.
34/9.2. And My angels gave him rules, by which he could make manifest the difference between the two.
34/9.3. Man has said: Behold, any man may say: Thus says Jehovah! || One kills his neighbor, saying: I was thus inspired by Jehovah. Another practices all goodness, and his words are wisdom and comprehension, and he says: I was inspired by Jehovah!
34/9.4. I say to you, O man: In this I also gave you liberty; therefore, judge for yourself as to which came from Me, and which from his surroundings.
34/9.5. You shall be your own judge in all things.
34/9.6. Behold, I sent My God to judge you; but you shall also judge the judgments of your God; and afterward, you shall judge yourself in the same way.
34/9.7. I created you a perpetual judge, not only to judge yourself and all the world besides, but you shall judge Me, your Creator.
34/9.8. I have given you many sacred books, and I said to you:
34/9.9. Unless you judge them, you shall be caught in a snare; I charge you, you shall accept nothing from men, angels, or Gods.
34/9.10. But you shall rely on your own inspiration from your Creator.
34/9.11. Such is My word which I speak to your own soul.
34/9.12. What comes to you from a man is indirect inspiration; what comes from an angel is indirect; and what comes from the Gods is indirect.
34/9.13. No direct inspiration by Me can come to you from a book, or a sermon, or from anything in all My creations, but only from Me, your Creator.
34/9.14. Though one man receives direct inspiration from Me, and he writes it in a book, yet, when it comes to you, it is indirect inspiration, and is not binding upon you, except only so far as My direct inspiration upon you moves you to receive it.
34/9.15. Yet, I did not create all men with the same clearness to perceive Me, and to frame My wisdom in words.
34/9.16. Only a few will turn away from the inspiration of the world, and come to Me.
34/9.17. Many profess Me in words, but they do not fulfill My inspiration in practice.
34/9.18. My words come easily to the pure in heart; and My wisdom shows itself in the frame of their speech.
34/9.19. For I give them words, just as I give inspiration to the animal, to do perfectly and wisely the parts for which I created them.
34/9.20. Behold, I show the dumb spider how to weave its geometrical net; is it a greater wonder for Me, to give words of wisdom to a righteous man?
34/9.21. Or to put him in the way of receiving My revelations?
34/9.22. Or to show him the harmony and glory of My creations?

Sexual purity is an extension of the same concept–having sexual relations with those that your heart (your personal inspiration) says you are in harmony and compatible with. This is the meaning of “true marriage”. It is not just getting married as a virgin in the temple by a priest and then being “faithful”. Faithfulness is true love which is an unselfish love that gives (sexually and physically) instead of takes. It is a balanced love that gives but at the same time doesn’t give too much by playing the martyr; it does what is wise, balanced and most harmonious for all. It is true appropriate action untarnished by what others “say” you should do.

This is explained well in the following excerpt attributed to Jesus,

2 Now, marriage in the sight of law is but a promise made by man and woman, by the sanction of a priest, to live for aye in harmony and love.
3 No priest nor officer has power from God to bind two souls in wedded love.
4 What is the marriage tie? Is it comprised in what a priest or officer may say?
5 Is it the scroll on which the officer or priest has written the permission for the two to live in marriage bonds?
6 Is it the promise of the two that they will love each other until death?
7 Is love a passion that is subject to the will of man?
8 Can man pick up his love, as he would pick up precious gems, and lay it down, or give it out to any one?
9 Can love be bought and sold like sheep?
10 Love is the power of God that binds two souls and makes them one; there is no power on earth that can dissolve the bond.
11 The bodies may be forced apart by man or death for just a little time; but they will meet again.
12 Now, in this bond of God we find the marriage tie; all other unions are but bonds of straw, and they who live in them commit adultery,
13 The same as they who satisfy their lust without the sanction of an officer or priest.
14 But more than this; the man or woman who indulges lustful thoughts commits adultery.
15 Whom God has joined together man cannot part; whom man has joined together live in sin.

These are interesting concepts and point to the difficulty in achieving the deepest levels of purity, or being true to our highest light. I believe the definition of “lustful thoughts” in these verses is thoughts full of sexual desire which seeks to possess or be possessed of another without love (harmony & unselfish giving). It is taking from someone instead of giving to them. Common sense should reinforce the lessons here that religious or civil marriage do not make sexual union “loving” or righteous. Nor do lack of religious or civil marriage make sexual union “unloving” or unrighteous. Righteousness is interrelated with purity which is being in harmony with our higher spiritual self which teaches us to love others selflessly. Religions and Societies constantly try to use ritual and rigid laws to keep order and teach people the higher ways; always with the same poor results. Additionally, in both cases selfish individuals always eventually end up heaping more and more laws on the populace to control them for their own ego-filled reason of power or self-righteousness. It is from these laws that Christ came to free both the Jews and us.

18 The Hebrew prophets, seers, and givers of the law, were men of power, men of holy thought, and they bequeathed to us a system of philosophy that was ideal; one strong enough and good enough to lead our people to the goal of perfectness.
19 But carnal minds repudiated holiness; a priesthood filled with selfishness arose, and purity in heart became a myth; the people were enslaved.
20 The priesthood is the curse of Israel; but when he comes, who is to come, he will proclaim emancipation for the slaves; my people will be free.
21 Behold, for God has made incarnate wisdom, love and light, which he has called Immanuel.

This is what I believe Joseph came to give, and the eventual future of Mormonism if it stays “pure”. To offer freedom or emancipation to the slaves of corrupted religion and sin. However, currently we are not pure. Not because we are too lascivious or sexualized but because we are not true to our inner voice. And we are not true to our inner voice because we have allowed ourselves to be corrupted by the polarized maelstrom of medieval Christianity (teaching sexual prudery) and popular western culture (teaching no sexual restraint). I believe a large Part of true purity comes through sexual emancipation balanced by wisdom & love. For too long has sex been held hostage by the prudery of the dark ages. Joseph Smith’s ideas on morality and sexuality are, even today, too free and liberal for most LDS members to accept. Additionally, much like the children of Israel at mount Sinai, it would seem that from the early days in the Church the people have been too selfish to handle the kind of freedom god would like to give them. They thirst for regulation, idols and lower laws written in stone—likely because they know they are not unselfish enough to handle the freedom of the higher law. I believe self-righteousness has caused many LDS church presidents to follow the historical trend of heaping additional moral laws upon their people for self-righteous reasons; and that these strictures have cause a large amount of unneeded division among the people. But the balance between unconditionally loving others and following the “law” exists for important reasons, and to each who would strive for purity and love; the spirit is ever present to guide individuals to transmute the laws written in stone into laws written on the fleshy tablets of our hearts. I also believe in this generation the spirit is being poured out in great measure in all the churches trying to free them from the pitfalls of organizational “orthodoxy” which cause division; and lead them to a more free and loving condition. Much like a young innocent and virile teenager… a more pure condition.

Personal Note:
In light of these definitions, I personally like to think of purity in light of pursuing a path to salvation, which I define as balance and harmony with ALL that IS through service to others by directing each action purely to that course following the steps of self realization. At face value, these concepts seem to contrast irreconcilably with the usual Mormon and Medieval Christian concepts of focusing on controlling the self above all else. But I believe Christ came to show a better way of focusing on finding love, understanding, and forgiveness in our experiences instead of punishment, control and retribution. In application this means not trying so hard to fit a rigid mold of how you “should be”, or spending your mental emotional energy controlling yourself as a dictator would his people. But instead spend your energy living life and finding the love and meaning in the experiences God sends your way (be they good or evil by social standards). Let the experiences come as they may, and as they come go through these steps to progress through the experience; first, consider all experiences, relationships and desires in relation to our own personality then to its effect on and relationship to society, then find unconditional love & acceptance through it so it can be used to enhance free communication which serves others, then through interpersonal interaction the well understood experience will facilitate active energy exchange to occur with others, and eventually sacramental unity (atonement) with the divine. All without getting sidetracked into paths devoid of purpose.

In my personal life I have found only pain by following the “mosaic” approach of focusing heavily on self-control, measuring up, and retribution. But in time I finally came to the realization that it was too much focus on these attributes that caused the Jews to not recognize and crucify Christ. Christ did not fit “the mold” that these Pharisaical Jews had built to define righteousness. And because their personal and religious focus was on control instead of acceptance and love, they simply could not recognize their own king when he came. They were too busy controlling the “imperfect” aspects of themselves and others to love themselves, and so they naturally did the same to Jesus and others. This is why they were so angry and miserable, and sought to kill Jesus–because they could not repress and control his “imperfections” (by their perception) as was their habit. Christ came to free people from the law by showing them love, acceptance and forgiveness–which is actually the true fulfillment of the law anyway. When I found love within myself, I found Christ and that allowed me to let go of the law, and find happiness and joy. In a symbiotic way I believe it is love which allows us to be pure (which is acting true to your inner conscious, or the light of Christ within)—and it is purity which helps us to find love in all the experiences of our lives.

Related Articles
When ‘Do Unto Others’ Meets Hookup Culture

A Discussion on Sexual Media and Pornography

/0 Comments/in /by

What to do about Porn.
The advent and spread of internet pornography is a radical, polarizing social experiment whose impacts are just now beginning to be widely pondered, studied, discussed and learned from. What are we to make of it? There are literally tens of millions of people out there dealing with the effects of this issue and many are screaming what are we going to do about this?! My experience with porn comes from an environment of strong religious biases, so you’ll see that my remarks are targeted toward helping those in similar circumstances. In my experience it is those who are “deeply religious” who have the biggest psychological issues with pornography and its my hope these ideas will help give some balance to those who find themselves on edge. My purpose in this article is not to justify or demonize sexual media, but to help people (especially religious people) understand that one’s polarized black & white emotional response to this issue (one’s belief of whether its good or bad) is a huge aspect of why pornography is so alluring and addictive to so many.

What’s the big deal about porn anyway?
The issues surrounding porn really are the same issues surrounding sex in its most general sense. They are really issues revolving around human sexuality, and these issues affect different people in different ways. In fact they affect the same people far differently depending on what stage of life they are in. It’s interesting to note how my views on sex (and pornography) have changed through time. Perhaps differently from other young men, when I was an adolescent sex was not a big deal at all. I rarely thought about it, and never engaged in it. It never brought me any pain or pleasure. It was a side-note I heard about from society, but had no personal experience with. I never really had access to pornography, so my experience with it was as limited as my experience with sex. Today after 10 years of marriage I can again say that sex and pornography are just not that huge of a deal, even though I’ve now had a good amount of experience with both. The older I get the less interesting porn is because it is so shallow compared to true healthy sex. But its crazy to remember back just a few years when I was 25 to 30 and think about how huge of an issue it was in my life. At that point, sex & pornography were the single biggest issues on my mind. My life was in turmoil. My parents got divorced at 18, my dad died the same year. I started dating and kissing for the first time at 21 and got married at 24. As soon as sex entered my life, all the issues buried within became manifest in sex and pornography. And I believe this is why some people “make” such a big deal out of it, because those people (or those close to them) are hugely unbalanced and that unbalance is manifesting in the sexual aspects of their lives. I made a HUGE deal out of both sex and porn when my life was hugely unbalanced, and I blamed it on those things because they were so closely intertwined. But in retrospect I see that porn or sex or marriage or fights or even death aren’t the root causes of pain in our lives, they are simply the catalysts which manifests & exacerbates the true issues which lie in our hearts (our emotional psychology). In fact, in my life I came to realize that I was using porn as an excuse to dealing with my real issues. The real source of emotional pain is the imbalance between our desires, belief systems/values & actions (see my article on Moral Purity); and the traumatic events in our lives act as catalyst to show us those imbalances. Similarly I see how the desire or inclinations for things like sex, relationships, anger, power, drugs, money or pornography are outward manifestations of an inner need to feel whole and balanced. We do best to recognize this early and address the roots of the problem, rather than glorify or demonize the symptoms or outward manifestations.

The function of a catalyst
The function of a catalyst is to increase in the rate of a chemical reaction. Heat can be a catalyst, as can many other substances. Just like a fight or argument often explosively brings many issues out in the open which may have been silently simmering in the minds of the participants, so do all catalysts or “trials” bring to the surface hidden issues & weaknesses. But also just like a fight or argument, sex or pornography can create more and larger issues if the conscious choice is not made to use this catalyst to bring about constructive communication, understanding, forgiveness and acceptance. Next to death and its grieving response, sexual responses are perhaps one of the strongest catalyst we face in our lives; and catalyst/trials are many people’s most powerful means of personal growth and self discovery. (It may seem strange to compare the pleasure of sex to the pain of the death of a loved one, but in my experience both of these extremes can surface the same strong emotions—emotions which catalyze us equally to action and self discovery.)

Demonizing/Shaming porn keeps problems it manifests from getting better.
By “demonizing” something, I mean that you shame it or give it a label or stigma such as “it is evil”, or “its forbidden and thus you are bad for doing it”. I think it is very unfortunate that religion is usually the worst at creating harmful stigmas, although society does it too especially though legal systems (prohibition and illegal drugs are a good example). This is actually one of the harmful effects of sexualized depictions in media; that by showing an image of a ‘beautiful’ person, those who do not fit this mold can be made to feel demonized or shamed because they don’t ‘measure up’. This has the tendency of holding them into a mold of inadequacy and leads to all manner of unbalanced behaviors. But exactly the same is true when religions say something is ‘evil’. By calling porn or pre-marital sex or whatever behavior ‘sinful’ or unlawful, they consequently cause perpetrators to self-label themselves as ‘sinners’ and ‘bad’; having the same effect of isolating them in a mold which divides them from the group and traps them into psychological behaviors. …… This paradoxical tendency of written law or moral code to divide and negatively subjugate units of society has been long understood by philosophers and religious leaders. It is built into the Bible’s garden drama or the ‘tree of good and evil’ and was extensively lectured on by Paul in the New Testament. He often repeats the idea that “the letter [of the law] killeth” (when it is carved in stone such as the ten commandments), “but the spirit giveth life” (2 Cor 3:6); A couplet pointing to the idea that the best way to help people to grow and progress is not to give them dogmas, commandments and codes, but to lead them by the hand and lovingly help them in their particular circumstances to understand how to achieve harmony, balance and unity. (René Girard and Martin Buber explain these concepts well). In Mormonism this concept is taught in many symbolic ways from the temple ceremony to the D&C to the writings of Joseph Smith (TPJS P. 256). It is interesting to note that what seem to me as Joseph Smith’s finest words on the matter of living by the spirit instead of culturally accepted religious law, came in a letter to Nancy Rigdon, attempting to explain to her and the Puritan minds of the era why Polygamy and other non-traditional consensual sexual arrangements where not prohibited by God if saints would just seek his permission that things might be done harmoniously & judiciously (sidenote: I’m not saying that to justify or demonize polygamy or pornography).

The bigger deal you make out of something, the bigger deal it becomes.
It’s like the saying goes, “don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill”. And yet we do it all the time. Issues are only as big as the energy and power we give them. By blowing things out of proportion, or attaching them to unrelated deeper issues we can create a condition of psychological hypochondria. I’ve noticed that despite biological programming I can drastically condition the way my children respond when they get hurt by the way I react. My reaction to their accidents drastically affect how they end up reacting. I believe the same is true in society or religious culture, conditioning people how to react to situations like divorce, infidelity or similar issues regarding sexual media addiction. The stigma which religion attaches to morality can be like the over-dramatic parent; it can encourage a howling psychological reaction which distracts those injured from learning the true cause and effect relationship inherent in the hurtful moral action. Most discussions on pornography and moral issues in general (especially religious discussions) forget this lesson.

In my personal experience and those I’ve read about, most painful “issues” with porn are manifestations of deeper pre-existing issues in the person’s relationships (just like most sexual issues). Porn abuse can make these issues larger or more unbalanced, but the original issue had nothing to do with the porn. Yet because some religions and societies have shamed, demonized and made sexual media into such a big deal a new issue is created, complicating an issue that would have been easier to work out before the interference. Now instead of a couple or family confronted with a growing porn issue saying “man, could this be an indication that there is a developing problem in our family relationships that we should explore?”. Instead we have a condition that grows in secrecy because of the shame that has been attached to it, and one day it’s exposed causing them to say “oh my God, my partner/child has betrayed me like an adulterer. This insidious evil makes him/her or me wicked and unclean! How could this happen to me? How could they cheat on me?! I’m not good enough, they’re not good enough! He/she or we are no longer ‘perfect’ and what must we do ‘overcome’ this sinful act and regain our perfect little family!” (I’m pouring on the over-dramatization here, but hopefully you get the point, and realize the silliness of any aspect of this response.) Now we have two issues to deal with; the likely personal relationship issues that caused the individual to seek a relationship with porn, AND the new and more difficult to solve pride/self-righteousness issues which create the shame cycles fueling an addiction and destroying self-worth. It is the stigma that encourages the secrecy and the over-reaction and shame cycle which fuels the blame, addiction & imbalance.

Sexual Media has different effects on everyone, exploring those consequences together is the only way to come to understand its place in each persons life and society as a whole.
Every person on earth is unique, and every activity yields unique results in their lives. I think most people realize this, but it doesn’t help legislators or religious leaders who must generalize in order to draft up social laws and codes to govern society. (Thus the continuing paradox in that system of governance.) Some people can drink alcohol and live happy, loving, balanced lives. Some can’t have a drop without becoming raging alcoholics. The same is true for just about every drug. The same goes for sex both inside and outside of marriage; to one couple sex stabilizes and grows the relationship, to another it continually destabilizes and eventually destroys it.  Everyone is unique and at different levels of their own progression and when our generalizations become too broad, it hurts the ones we might be trying to help. We must be careful in our sweeping generalizations of sexual media or ‘porn’. In my experience, I heard “pornography is evil”, and “sex is bad outside of marriage” all growing up and it ended up equating to “sex is evil” and “you are evil because you are drawn to it”. This caused an intense polarized reaction when I finally got married and was thrown into the gambit of sexual desire. I was unable to deal with so much change so fast. Unable to separate healthy from unhealthy, the illusion of what I was told (both from church leaders and from internet videos) compared to the reality of what I was experiencing. Unable to balance the generalizations that my church told me through its leaders (sex = bad) with what God was telling me in my heart (sex = good) . After growing up a little I’ve come to see the pettiness of the generalizations about sexual media and sex in general. In my own life I see so clearly what helped me or hurt me (hind sight’s 20/20). What brought joy or pain to me. What things I needed to pass through in order to grow; even though friends, or society or religion demonized them. For the most part I see these people had good points despite the inevitable misunderstanding of their council, or at least I see where they were coming from. But at the same time, as I raise my kids and try to guide them I see how ridiculous it is to try and rule people on a personal level solely with strict laws and moral codes instead of walking beside them with love and wisdom suited for each unique days situation.

The danger of sexual media
It’s not the purpose of this article to go into too much detail concerning the dangers and negative aspects of pornogrphy or sexual media. It is the purpose of this article to get past the stigmas associated with pornography and help people see it from a detached neutral standpoint, (as a scientist or one who seeks knowledge) and thus get past psychological barriers that might be holding you in a shame cycle.  Just as with overeating/morbid obesity, chain smoking or alcoholism, detaching the emotional baggage which is often associated with these over-indulgences is often an important part of bringing balance and healthy choices in one’s life.

Simply put, sex releases chemicals in the brain. There are many websites detailing the biological reactions inherent in human sexuality. These same pleasure center chemicals are manipulated in various illicit drugs, and for this reason many call sex or pornography a “drug”.  The difference between consensual sex and pornography is that sex has certain built in checks and controls controlling the release of the pleasure causing chemicals. Pornography, like many illicit drugs circumvent these natural controls (by taking relationships & a willing partner out of the equation).  Aside from pure biology I believe there are also subtle psychological effects to pornography both to the purveyor and to those closely attached to them. In my experience I found that desires pass subtly through the group subconsciousness and affect all members of a groups psychological support system in psychic ways that are currently ignored by science. I’ve found that subtle energy and information transfer occurs during sexual climax in ways that seem very poorly understood by mainstream society.  I believe, like many religions seek to teach in archaic terms, that heightened connections exist not only between the living, but between the living and dead which are manipulated and controlled by intent thought and emotion during sexual arousal and activity. I believe that inappropriate manipulation of these channels can bring about varied psychological and neurological disorders, not to mention the negative effects these actions can pose on relationships.  But I believe most damaging of all, is the polarity of strong emotion (whether you think its good or evil) associated with the opening of these channels. If you think you are “evil”, or think strongly negative thoughts during sexual activity, this negative emotion will transfer from the body’s neurological system to its chemical system causing both psychological and biological imbalance and illness. In other words guilt and negative emotion during sexual activity can really screw you up in ways most can’t imagine. Shame often causes anger, depression and other emotional issues to pervade one’s life.

But sexual media is not/should not be all bad
It’s been said that all good people have to do to lose their fight against ‘bad’ in society is to shut up. The lesson being taught here is that if people of a particular persuasion want to perpetuate their philosophy in this world then they had better open their mouths (or video cameras) and teach it. The implications of this in regards to sexual philosophy are in dire need of addressing. It seems to me, that in a single generation, a small subset of American society has managed to teach a huge portion of the technological world the manner in which they should have sex. It seems to me that somewhere over the centuries of the dark ages western Christianity adopted a puritanical tradition wherein it became frowned upon to talk about or share intimate information about sex (except to pass judgement on its right or wrongness). Now I can understand where this mindset came from because most of us consider our sex lives very personal and don’t want to prematurely excite or unjustly taint the innocents’ future experience, any more than we want to divulge the intimate aspects of our own relationships. But just look at the apparent result of this cultural dearth of healthy sexual experience sharing? In a world where up to 97% of boys and 80% of girls (according to a University of East London survey) said they had viewed porn by age 20, Hugh Heppner and his colleagues have been the only voice effectively teaching an entire generation how to best behave in bed. Countless studies have verified the effectiveness of this teaching (article links) and believe me, a video is worth a thousand words when it comes to teaching sexual experience.

So then what should people do who don’t agree with the sexual philosophy of the American Porn Kings? The approach from the conservative and religious so far has been to tell kids “don’t look at porn, it’s evil”. — And we have seen how well that’s worked; especially as we see porn-use and search statistics for highly “conservative” areas like Utah or Islamic countries like Pakistan without national filters. Religion says “porn is bad!” and a boys heart when seeing it says “something about this is good!” and now a heart is thrown into turmoil. I believe that for the most part a free internet is here to stay and that mankind’s future will increasingly involve the open disclosure of all information & events of the world—including sexual events. That the advent of the internet is mirroring larger works afoot, and that the way to bring the world into harmony and truth is not to censure or censor, but to show the right way. So how do we show our kids the right way? I guess that is up to parents, but as it stands the world of internet sexual media is overwhelmingly distorted toward skewed aspects of sexuality. The odds are that your child’s first sexual encounter will be watching a misogynistic sex-act where two people with no love for eachother dominate and seek to possess the other while yelling out obscenities. (Not to demonize this behavior, but to point out that it is not the fulfilling sex most lasting relationships enjoy on a continual basis.)

On the other hand, in many more serious and dramatic movies made over the last decade there are countless depictions of two people in a committed relationship having loving sex with each other as a symbol of their unity and selflessness. And yet what do the conservative or religious do with these types of movies? They puritanically shun them, often causing their children or spouses to gain sexual education through the top porn search results on Google. Is it just me or is there a problem here? I certainly believe there is value in teaching sexual media abstinence through abstinence up to a certain point, but I think on a social level this has been a massive failure and will continue to be. Teaching abstinence to all sexual media is like a culture teaching lifelong sexual abstinence with no promise of eventual marriage and sexual experience. Such a culture would be doomed to failure, and so are the ideas promoting complete sexual abstinence in media. Such a world cannot exist where there is total freedom of information. And I increasingly believe freedom of information is not “the work of the devil”, it is the future of mankind and a vital step in our progression into global unity.

What I believe will be most helpful in this fight against deception and illusion then, is to have the balanced and love-filled depictions of sex choke out the bad. This is how a good gardener manages a garden (with an appropriate amount of weeding) and I think it’s the needed future of media nudity, sex and the internet. No teen will become addicted to real images of mother’s breast feeding babies, nor will they get imbalanced from stories of their parents having sex to conceive them (just perhaps a little grossed out). Imbalance and addiction requires illusion. Sex is not bad, it is natural and beautiful; religious people I know say they believe that, but that’s not what they teach youth by the way they treat even healthy depictions of it in media. The human body is mysterious and more intoxicating than a sunset, but there was a time when I demonized it because I felt my religious culture required that of me. I realize that this perception comes from a place of not wanting youth to be prematurely aroused to sexual activity; but by making nudity so taboo they allow the ideal body to be defined by those who push illusion as reality and make a healthy view of nudity more difficult when the ‘restrictions’ are finally dropped. There is a balance that must be maintained between keeping children from stumbling upon sexual depictions before they are old enough to healthily integrate and balance what they are seeing and demonizing something beautiful in our attempts to control its possible negative consequences.

Pornography is a lot like sex.
Whether it be parents, legislators or religionists, people make a big deal out of pornography for the same reasons they make a big deal out of sex. Sexual media leads some people into real sex, and drives others from it. Some people may use it to enhance their real sexual experiences (link). For others it distorts and detracts from their real sexual experiences. Either way, just like sex it is a major form of physiological and behavioral polarization. (By polarizing I mean a source of internal conflict or psychological division and opposition, such as self desire & disgust, pleasure & pain, turmoil & serenity, etc.. an event which like a mirror divides one against themselves in order to teach them about themselves.) Physically, sexual media tends to release the same hormones and chemicals into the body which lead to feelings of arousal and often can often lead to orgasm. Psychologically and spiritually sexual media tends to have the same effect of manifesting the cumulative balances/imbalances in our lives. Whether it be body-image issues, sexual fears, uncontrollable sexual desire, etc… sexual media turns on the same physiological systems and creates similar psychological and emotional responses. Pornography, just like sex in general brings all those emotions and issues to center stage and forces people to deal with them just as the stages of sexual relations do. The unfortunate and potentially damaging difference, is that instead of having a partner with which to work through these issues pornography voyeurs tend to have to work out these issues alone, often in shame, and within an environment of strong sexual illusions.

Its really a lot like sex… but its NOT sex, and NOT adultery.
This is another important point when trying to get a healthy view of sexual media and porn. Perhaps a majority of people in relationships who find out about their partners secret pornography usage, feel like their partner has “cheated on them”. What is it about this discovery that causes most partners to feel such strong emotions of infidelity or betrayal? Viewing pornography is not extramarital sex. I suggest that analysis of the root of these emotions reveals that it is the secrecy and betrayal of trust which creates the feelings of betrayal in the partner NOT any concept of adultery or extra-marital sex. Does anyone in their right mind freak out about their partner being a murderer because he habitually plays Halo, or watches people get slashed and stabbed in Lord of the Rings? Masturbating to Porn is a lot like having sex (both spiritually and physically), but it is NOT having sex any more than simulated warfare is murder. Remember, that’s one of the reasons it can often be so harmful & imbalancing; because it can create and perpetuate sexual illusions which are not based in reality.

I know that for many religious Christians, this belief is reinforced by Christ’s words about how “looking on a woman to lust after her” is already “committing adultery in their heart” (Matt. 5:27–28). But remember he also makes the point that those who “are angry with their brother”, are guilty just as those who kill (Matt. 5:21–22). Do we freak out and mentally label each other murderers when we habitually get mad at each other? This distorts the entire meaning of what Christ’s sermon on the mount is all about and misses a big part of the point he was making which I am trying to reiterate here. That laws & moral codes which are “set in stone” (like the 10 commandments) are very poor at teaching people how to be good, and have a tendency to make hypocrites. Sexual media, just like sex, anger, killing and about every other major human propensity, has both good and bad applications. We need to look at the “Spirit of the Laws” which govern morality; which means considering intent and consequences above perceived violations of some ancient or modern moral code (That’s why Christ’s sermon on the mount started each of these statements with the words, “it is written by them of old that…. BUT I SAY…”). We need more wise people who sit down with young adults and can just talk openly about the reasons certain council or laws exist WITHOUT PRECONCEIVED JUDGEMENT. If someone feels judged, they will not open up, and no learning or growth will occur. Parents, therapists and religious councilors need to realize how important it is to let some people continue unhealthy behavior in a directed environment so they can learn the lessons their desires are trying to lead them to learn. This new idea of “acceptance therapy” is proving revolutionary in helping people break addictions; which in reality are just psychological blockages where something is inhibiting an individual from learning a “required” lesson or find an appropriate outlet of a suppressed desire.

It would likely be a benefit to go into more detail about how desires are passed both behaviorally and genetically down through family lines. And how many individuals who battle imbalance and addiction are working to balance deeply ingrained mental configurations which tend to swing from one extreme to the other through the generations of their families. This act of balancing takes time, effort and trial and error to work out. Individuals are best aided when they can work out these issues in an environment of love, wisdom and non-judgement. A truly “Christ-like” environment, instead of a Pharisaical environment.

Overcoming” Doesn’t Work
There are many psychologist (and philosophers including Sir Isaac Newton) who have spoken extensively on the futility of trying to “overcome” addictions or unbalanced behaviors by simple willpower. To paraphrase one religious source,

“willful overcoming is an unbalanced action which creates greater difficulty in achieving personal balance and harmony. The act of overcoming through mental focus ends up creating an environment which holds on to that which we’re attempting to overcome. This is because mental focus & attention is the guide to our actions. Thus the more we focus and give attention and energy to something (that we’re trying NOT to do), the more mental power and attention it receives subconsciously leading us further into it. All things are acceptable in the proper time for each individual; and in experiencing, in understanding, in accepting, in then sharing with others, activities which no longer serve us will simply fall away.”

This is hard medicine for those who are still slaves to religious law & dogma in their personal progression, but it is the very lesson Christ came to teach. His sacrifice served to liberate the captives of both distorted religion and sin, because by redeeming people from the dead laws we or our religions have created for us, it allows us to gain needed experiences free from the shame-cycle of guilt. In that free environment we can learn our “required” lessons in an environment of mercy, find balance and harmony through natural physical consequences (trail and error), and as long as our goal is selflessness and unity all behaviors not conducive to that goal with eventually “fall away” or go away on their own.

So What Do We Do About Porn?
So the question remains, what do we do about porn? I can only offer my opinion based on my experience, which is that first and foremost codified laws almost never directly help individuals; they are “dead”, and simply needed to maintain social order and justice, not so much to promote personal evolution, progress or enlightenment. Positive council can do this, negative prohibitions rarely do. Telling a young child not to play in the street is necessary, but does not teach them about the joys & dangers of cars. Every person is different and has different needs, so the answer of what each individual should do concerning pornography or sexual content in media is different, just like it is for all sexual experience. Religious leaders and particularly politicians have a job to maintain social order and justice, so they will need to codify laws and define sins to deal with this issue. But for parents and friends of those who struggle with pornography there is a better way to help others. If you want to do something about porn find people who are looking at it and enter into meaningful, relationship building discussions with them. If they are balanced, delightful people, with strong relationships maybe you can learn something about what types of sexual media can be appropriate and in what circumstances. If they are addicted and unbalanced, maybe you can help liberate them from the shame cycle which is holding them in addiction. Maybe you can help them build better relationships. If you are a wife/girlfriend of a man whose pornography usage causes him to degrade or objectify you, call him on it and don’t stand for it. Help him understand how you want and deserve to be treated. Tell him how his behavior makes you feel. These types of discussions will give you true knowledge which will help guide behavior based on experience instead of dogma. If you know someone who has been a performer in the adult entertainment industry maybe you can learn more about what injustices are occurring and have suggestions on how to prevent the injustices. Maybe you can offer understanding and healing. All too often, in the discussion of what to do about porn, all I hear is whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, black or white? I believe this type of discussion is for juveniles too young or immature to understand or confront the positive and negative complexities of the human sexual response. I believe that what we deeply need is that understanding and not just more laws, dogmas or platitudes.

Related Articles

Is Pornography or Nudity Bad?

Additional Issues to Think About
-people are always seeking balance, for some assorted types of sexual media help them get there, for most if causes greater imbalance. At any rate, people need to be allowed freedom to make their mistakes without being ostracized or demonized. People need to time to learn the lessons mistakes have to teach.
-the bigger deal you make out of it, the more imbalance it causes and harm it causes. its actually easy to make a fairly harmless thing harmful. It’s easy to make what would be a short-lived distraction into a long addiction.
-many types of sexual media (porn) are not harmless. they perpetuate strong and harmful illusions. they program the innocent with illusions which harm real relationships. They often keep people from forming real relationships. Many individuals who were raised in dysfunctional families already have many of these same harmful illusions programed into their psyches. Really the only effective way to work through dysfunctional sexual relationship concepts is trail and error in real relationships. Positive help from therapists or family may speed up the learning. The best cure for porn addiction is open & honest, real relationships.
-I believe it is very common for porn addictions to be caused by repressed sexual desire in the parents. Also from unrestrained sexual desire in parents or siblings. (these are complicated psychological effects of group consciousness and psychic connectivity that few understand).
-talk about the negatives of demonizing. shame is required for addiction (self imposed bondage)
-talk about the negatives & dangers of pornography (secular & spiritual. unrealistic expectations, creates and perpetuates illusions, sex opens the psychic gateway & connects people, sometimes creates spiritual connections to unwanted thought-forms, sex energizes or potentiates thoughts, etc).
-sex opens the psychic gateway. this is nearly impossible to understand given our current lack of understanding concerning this aspect of human biology. humans have biological mechanisms which allow for telepathic ability and energy exchange both between living mortals and between mortals and those in the higher dimensions. sex opens these gateways in a manner meant to harmonize the thoughts and emotional vibrations of the participants.  An actual chemical and corresponding spiritual energy transfer occur during orgasm. Self induced gilt-ridden orgasm through materbation with pornography not only can cause problems with the bodies electrical delivery system, it encourages a spiritual phenomenon known as engrafting.  The emotional connection between couples prevents most engrafting during sex.  One’s desires & focus during orgasm has many spiritual consequences which are difficult to explain.
-talk about the positives. can be used to change hormone levels, match libidos, fulfill desires that might otherwise be fulfilled with cheating/divorce. But the type of sexual media must be appropriate for the couple. Sex has many benefits, some may be trying to obtain these through sexual media when sex is not a viable option. Subconsiously may be trying to be used to build the energetic systems of the body (see biology of kundalini, or unblocking baffled energy pathways. This usually isn’t the best way to do this, but that’s a lesson people must learn for themselves.

-sex in all its forms can be made to bring people together or drive them apart. All should be measured by its effects on unity and selfishness/unselfishness of the parties involved.

Related Articles
When ‘Do Unto Others’ Meets Hookup Culture

Notes on Intimacy

/0 Comments/in , /by

I ran across this excerpt from the Kolbrin text and thought I would jot it down, since it brought out a lot of thoughts I’v had lately and reinforces some principles I would like to teach my daughters when they are mature enough.

I think for young woman beginning to discover boys, the following information might be of value…

SCL:31:2 Earth knows no greater joy than that of contented wedded love. Such love is a beaconlight to all mankind; it guides the caravan of its journeying with a pure and sacred flame. Sweet, hallowed love has a temple in the heart of every chaste maiden, and all men worship the mystery enshrined within. O resolute priestess and guardian, you are now worthy of the white crown of love.

The thought came to me of how a woman (as well as the feminine/receptive aspect of man) is the guardian of true love.This is the task and should be the training of womanhood. To teach a woman to judge between the true love and the emotional love (lust, desire, pity, etc) of a man. She should learn to open her heart and womb only to true love and turn away all others. As the priest in the temple, she lets only the truly worthy into the inner sanctuary on her heart.

For older individuals who are married the following more esoteric principles may be of value…

This ties into the sacred aspects and mystery of sexual union. As is pointed out in the LawOfOne material (and hinted at in Song of Solomon & Jewish mysticism), sex is more than just making babies, and even more than just a biochemical reaction that creates feelings of closeness and love. There is actually a sacred spiritual function behind orgasm.

87.23 Questioner: In addition, why is the ratio of male to female orgasms so heavily loaded on the side of the male?
Answer: We refer now to the physical body. At this level the distinction is unimportant. The male orgasm which motivates the sperm forward to meet its ovum is essential for the completion of the [carnal] desire to propagate the species. The female orgasm is unnecessary [temporally]. Again, as [indivisuals] begin to use the sexual energy transfer to learn, to serve, and to glorify the One Infinite Creator the function of the female orgasm becomes more clear.

87.24 Questioner: What was this ratio before the veil?
Answer: The ratio of male to female orgasms before the veil was closer to one-to-one by a great deal as the metaphysical value of the female orgasm was clear and without shadow.

So what is the metaphysical value of the female orgasm or of sexual union. Specifically the woman’s ability to truly open herself up on a deep level to a man, and a man’s ability to truly give sexually to a woman to the point where she feels she comes to completion.

Also interesting is…

84.9 Questioner: Going back to the previous session, you stated that each sexual activity was an [energy] transfer before the veil. Would you trace the flow of energy that is transferred and tell me if that was the planned activity or a planned transfer by [God]?

Response: The path of energy transfer before the veiling during the sexual intercourse was that of [the true love energy which each possessed]. The awareness of all as Creator is that which opens the green [heart or love] energy center. Thusly there was no possibility of blockage due to the sure knowledge of each by each that each was [one with God]. The transfers were weak due to the ease with which such transfers could take place between any two polarized entities during sexual intercourse.

84.10 Questioner: What I was getting at, precisely, was, for example, when we close an electrical circuit it is easy to trace the path of current. It goes along the conductor. I am trying to determine whether this transfer is between the green energy centers (the heart chakras). I am trying to trace the physical flow of the energy to try to get an idea of blockages after the veil. I may be off on the wrong track here, but if I am wrong we’ll just drop it. Can you tell me something about that?

Response: In such a drawing or schematic representation of the circuitry of two [individuals] in sexual or other energy transfer the circuit opens always at the red or base [chakra/energy center] and moves as possible through the intervening energy centers. If baffled it will stop at orange. If not, it shall proceed to yellow. If still unbaffled it shall proceed to green. It is well to remember [with some individuals] that the chakras or energy centers could well be functioning without crystallization.

84.11 Questioner: In other words, they would be functioning but it would be equivalent in an electrical circuitry to having a high resistance, shall we say, and although the circuit would be complete, red through green, the total quantity of energy transferred would be less. Is this correct?

Response: We might most closely associate your query with the concept of voltage. The uncrystallized, lower centers cannot deliver the higher voltage. The crystallized centers may become quite remarkable in the high voltage characteristics of the energy transfer as it reaches green ray and indeed as green ray is crystallized this also applies to the higher energy centers until such energy transfers become an honestation for the Creator.

84.12 Questioner: Would you please correct me on this statement. I am guessing that what happens is that when a transfer takes place the energy is that light energy that comes in through the feet of the entity and the voltage or potential difference is measured between the red energy center and, in the case of the green ray transfer, the green energy center and then must leap or flow from the green energy center of one entity to the green energy center of the other, and then something happens to it. Could you clarify my thinking on that?

Response: The energy transfer [climax] occurs in one releasing of the potential difference. This does not leap between green and green energy centers but is the sharing of the energies of each from red ray upwards. In this context it may be seen to be at its most efficient when both entities have orgasm simultaneously. However, it functions as transfer if either has the orgasm and indeed in the case of the physically expressed love between a mated pair which does not have the conclusion you call orgasm there is, nonetheless, a considerable amount of energy transferred due to the potential difference which has been raised as long as both entities are aware of this potential and release its strength to each other by desire of the will in a mental dedication. You may see this practice as being used to generate energy transfers in some of your practices of what you may call [non-] Christian religious systems of the Law of One.

84.14 Questioner: Could you give me an example of that last statement?
Response: We preface this example with the reminder that each system is quite distorted and its teachings always half-lost. However, one such system is that called the Tantric Yoga.

84.15 Questioner: Considering individual A and individual B, if individual A experiences the orgasm is the energy, then, transferred to individual B in a greater amount? Is that correct?

Response: Your query is incomplete. Please restate.

84.16 Questioner: I am trying to determine whether the direction of energy transfer is a function of orgasm. Which entity gets the transferred energy? I know it’s a dumb question, but I want to be sure that I have it cleared up.

Response: If both entities are well polarized and vibrating in green-ray love any orgasm shall offer equal energy to both.

84.17 Questioner: I see. Before the veil can you describe any other physical difference that we haven’t talked about yet with respect to the sexual energy transfers or relationships or anything prior to veiling?

Response: Perhaps the most critical difference of the veiling, before and after, was that before the mind, body, and spirit were veiled, entities were aware that each energy transfer and, indeed, very nearly all that proceeds from any intercourse, social or sexual, between two entities has its character and substance in [spiritual existence] rather than [material existence]. The energies transferred during the sexual activity are not, properly speaking, of [the material world]. There is a great component of what you may call metaphysical energy transferred. Indeed, the body complex as a whole is greatly misunderstood due to the post-veiling assumption that the physical manifestation called the body is subject only to physical stimuli. This is emphatically not so.

84.18 Questioner: After the veil, in our particular case now, we have, in the circuitry of which we were speaking, what you call blockages. Could you describe what occurs with the first blockage and what its effects are on each of the entities assuming that one blocks and the other does not or if both are blocked?

Response: This material has been covered previously. If both entities are blocked both will have an increased hunger for the same activity, seeking to unblock the baffled flow of energy. If one entity is blocked and the other vibrates in love, the entity baffled will hunger still but have a tendency to attempt to continue the procedure of sating the increasing hunger with the one vibrating green ray due to an impression that this entity might prove helpful in this endeavor. The green-ray [actively vibrating] individual shall polarize slightly in the direction of service to others but have only the energy with which it began.

32.2 The usual nature of sexual interaction, if one is yellow or orange in primary vibratory patterns, is one of blockage and then insatiable hunger due to the blockage

84.20 Questioner: With respect to the green, blue, and indigo transfers of energy (higher/giving energies), how would the mechanism for these transfers differ from the orange-ray mechanism in making them possible or setting the groundwork for them? I know this is very difficult to ask and I may not be making any sense, but what I am trying to do is gain an understanding of the foundation for the transfers in each of the rays and the preparations for the transfers or the fundamental requirements or biases and potentials for these transfers. Could you expand on that for me please? I am sorry for the poor question.

Response: We would take a moment to state in reply to a previous comment that we shall answer each query whether or not it has been previously covered for not to do so would be to baffle the flow of quite another transfer of energy.

To respond to your query we firstly wish to agree with your supposition that the subject you now query upon is a large one, for in it lies an entire system of opening the gateway to intelligent infinity. You may see that some information is necessarily shrouded in mystery by our desire to preserve the free will of the adept. The great key to blue, indigo, and finally, that great capital of the column of sexual energy transfer, violet energy transfers, is the metaphysical bond or distortion which has the name among your peoples of unconditional love. In the blue-ray energy transfer the quality of this love is refined in the fire of honest communication and clarity; this, shall we say, normally, meaning in general, takes a substantial portion of your [material existence] to accomplish although there are instances of matings so well refined in previous incarnations and so well remembered that the blue ray may be penetrated at once. This energy transfer is of great benefit to the seeker in that all communication from this seeker is, thereby, refined and the eyes of honesty and clarity look upon a new world. Such is the nature of blue-ray energy and such is one mechanism of potentiating and crystallizing it.

As we approach indigo-ray transfer we find ourselves in a shadowland where we cannot give you information straight out or plain, for this is seen by us to be an infringement. We cannot speak at all of violet-ray transfer as we do not, again, desire to break the Law of Confusion.

We may say that these jewels, though dearly bought, are beyond price for the seeker and might suggest that just as each awareness is arrived at through a process of analysis, synthesis, and inspiration, so should the seeker approach its mate and evaluate each experience, seeking the jewel.

84.21 Questioner: Is there any way to tell which ray the transfer was for an individual after the experience?

Response: There is only a subjective yardstick or measure of such. If the energies have flowed so that love is made whole, green-ray transfer has taken place. If, by the same entities’ exchange, greater ease in communication and greater sight has been experienced, the energy has been refined to the blue-ray energy center. If the polarized entities, by this same energy transfer experience, find that the faculties of will and faith have been stimulated, not for a brief while but for a great duration of what you call time, you may perceive the indigo-ray transfer. We may not speak of the violet-ray transfer except to note that it is an opening to the gateway of intelligent infinity. Indeed, the indigo-ray transfer is also this but, shall we say, the veil has not yet been lifted.

84.22 Questioner: Did [God] plan, before the veil, to create a system of random sexual activity or the specific pairing of entities for specific periods of time, or did they have an objective in this respect?

Response: This shall be the last full query of this working.

The harvest from the previous creation was that which included the male and female [individual]. It was the intention of the original [creation] that entities mate with one another in any fashion which caused a greater polarization (service to self or service to others). It was determined, after observation of the process of many [creations], that polarization increased many fold if the mating were not indiscriminate. Consequent [creations] thusly preserved a bias towards the mated relationship which is more characteristic of more disciplined personalities and of what you may call higher densities. The free will of each entity, however, was always paramount and a bias only could be offered.

26.38 Questioner: You speak of various types of energy blockages and transfers, positive and negative, that may take place due to participation in our sexual reproductive complex of actions. Could you please explain these blockages and energy transfers with emphasis upon what an individual who is seeking to be in accordance with the Law of One may positively do in this area? Is it possible for you to answer this question?
Response: It is partially possible, given the background we have laid. This is properly a more advanced question. Due to the specificity of the question we may give a general answer.

The first energy transfer is red ray. It is a random transfer having to do only with your [physical] reproductive system.

The orange- and the yellow-ray attempts, firstly, to have sexual intercourse create a blockage if only one entity vibrates in this area, thus causing the entity vibrating sexually in this area to have a never-ending appetite for this activity. What these vibratory levels are seeking is green-ray activity [unconditional love]. There is the possibility of orange- or yellow-ray energy transfer; this being polarizing towards the negative: one being seen as object rather than other-self; the other seeing itself as plunderer or master of the situation.

In green ray there are two possibilities. Firstly, if both vibrate in green ray there will be a mutually strengthening energy transfer, the negative or female, drawing the energy from the roots of the beingness up through the energy centers, thus being physically revitalized; the positive, or male polarity, finding in this energy transfer an inspiration which satisfies and feeds the spirit portion of individual, thus both being polarized (in unselfishness) and releasing the excess of that which each has in abundance by nature of intelligent energy, that is, negative/intuitive, positive/physical energies as you may call them; this energy transfer being blocked only if one or both entities have fear of possession or fear of being possessed, or desiring possession or desiring being possessed.

The other green-ray possibility is that of one entity offering green-ray energy, the other not offering energy of the universal love energy, this resulting in a blockage of energy for the one not green ray thus increasing frustration or appetite; the green-ray [individual] being polarizing slightly towards service to others.

The blue-ray energy transfer is somewhat rare among your people at this time but is of great aid due to energy transfers involved in becoming able to express the self without reservation or fear.

The indigo-ray transfer is extremely rare among your people. This is the sacramental portion of the body complex whereby contact may be made through the violet ray with intelligent infinity. No blockages may occur at these latter two levels due to the fact that if both entities are not ready for this energy it is not visible and neither transfer nor blockage may take place. It is as though the distributor were removed from a powerful engine.

Is Pornography or Nudity Bad?

/1 Comment/in /by

Is Pornography or Nudity Bad/Evil?

This is a very interesting question which I’v been wanting to write a blog post on for a long time. I believe the answer to this question reveals the root of sexual desire and addiction in our society. With the almost inescapable presence of nudity and sexuality in TV, Music, Internet, Public Places it is a moral question that most individuals in our society must decide for themselves, and a conversation that is being neglected both within ourselves, our families and our religions. I find it interesting because it has been made so complicated by Western Culture, Western Christianity, American Culture and thus Mormon culture as well. It is further complicated by widespread reproach of “pornography” without really even defining what pornography is. I believe this practice is causing widespread addiction and psychological issues in our culture (especially among religious youth) which results in real negative effects on both love and marriage between the sexes.

First off, Let me disclose that this article is coming from an individual that was raised a very active religious Christian (LDS). Also, I think that hopefully all reading this article can start by agreeing that there is nothing innately evil about sexuality or the human body. The body in both its male and female forms is a beautiful perfect creation of God unrivaled by any human work of art or science. The question therefore (for me at least) is not so much ‘is the nude human body bad’, the question is ‘when is it appropriate for the nude human body and its various functions to be seen’? The same for sexuality. When does nudity become pornography? When does sexual activity become bad? What are the consequences of nudity, and which aspects are socially harmful or helpful?

ancient statueNow that we’ve asked the right question lets begin the discussion on this highly polarized issue. And let me start with my thesis, that there is no universal answer for this. Or in other words, the answer is not a black and white issue of “good” and “bad” and varies depending on the age and physical/spiritual maturity of the individual. To illustrate perhaps we can pose a number of questions for the reader to ponder before discussing further. Some should be easy to answer and some more difficult, but in all of them it might help to think about how others with a different culture or viewpoint might answer. Pay close attention to condemnation, judgement or justifications you find yourself making. Does just the thought of asking the question make you angry or defensive? Are you coming to your answer from a place of love or reaction? What are your beliefs based on? Are the beliefs of others invalid? As you try your best to honestly ask and answer these questions and pay close attention to your emotional reactions, you may find you learn a lot about yourself…

Questions to think about
-What effect does teaching youth that nudity is “bad” have on people as they grow older?
-Is it good/bad to see your own baby/young children naked? How about someone else’s baby? Is that pornography? When does it become pornography?
-Is it good/bad to post such picture where anyone could see them? (ie. the internet)
-Is it good/bad to look at one’s self naked? When does this become “bad” or negative?
-At what age does this change and what was once “OK” become “bad”?
-Is it good/bad for cultures to encourage group bathing? (Such as high school showers in gym class)
-Among what ages is this appropriate? (Many cultures have/do have public bath houses for adults)
-Is it appropriate to have group bathing between the sexes?
-Is it appropriate for family members to have group bathing between the sexes? At what age does “OK” become “bad”?
-Is it good/bad for cultures to use nudity in social art or iconography? (nude sculptures, nude paintings, nude pictures, nudity in theater)
-Are native cultures where it is the “norm” to be naked or topless “bad”? Does it have negative effects? Do these “bad” social behaviors stop when the culture is taught to cover its skin?
-What is it that makes nudity become sexually charged? Is this cultural?
-Are the observed negative effects of nudity greater in areas where nudity is socially acceptable than in areas where nudity is highly unacceptable and prohibited (Islamic Nations vs. Brazil or Europe)?
-Are women or men happier and more free in cultures where they are encouraged to cover all skin, than those where it is socially acceptable for them to be naked or nearly so?
-Is there a middle ground between total coverage of the body, and total nakedness that is more or less socially harmful/helpful?
-What are the effects of sexual depictions on a culture? Is there less sexual abuse in cultures where depictions are repressed?
-How does widespread nudity or nude depictions affect people psychologically and emotionally?
-Is the effect different for girls than for boys?
-How does widespread repression of nudity or nude depictions affect people psychologically and emotionally?
-What are the effects of sexual depictions on youth? Are some sexual depictions educational and helpful and others negative and harmful?
-What is the role of sexual depictions in sexual education?
-If a youth walks in/sees their parents having sex is it psychologically harmful, helpful or neither?
-Are the effects of seeing sexual content more or less harmful/helpful than seeing violent content?
-Is it worse to see a depiction of murder/violence or sex in a picture, movie or video? Why?
-Is there a difference between a sex of love and a sex of lust? Does viewing depictions of these have differing effects on individuals?
-Is there a “best” sexual behavior or attitude for an individual? If so, is it possible that there are those who only know “lustful sex” who would benefit from seeing “loving sex”? What is the best way for such things to be learned/taught?
-Is there an educational value of sex? What is the purpose and value of sex? Does it have multiple values? Are its values different to different people or people in different circumstances?
-How common are marriages and relationships where one or both partners are sexually unfulfilled?
-Do sexual depictions in society hurt or help these individuals? Which types of depictions have which effects?
-Are sexual depictions always bad and always harmful to relationships?
-What makes them harmful or helpful?
-Is it true that individuals who have deeply held beliefs that sex, nudity or sexual depictions are inherently bad, seem to be the ones with the greatest appetites and addictions to such material?
-What is the best balance between sexual repression and sexual freedom?

My Thoughts
I think people will benefit more from just personally pondering and discussing these questions with parents, spouses, families than any amount of advise I or a church could offer. As Iv asked myself the above questions over time, and observed how my own views have changed over time, I now see how complicated this issue can be, and how there is no one answer. How what was right for me in youth was different than what is right as a single adult or as a married adult. And now as a parent I must contemplate how to advise my children in this issue.

I think one of the greatest aids in helping me wrap my head around these moral questions religiously has been the religious symbol of the garden of Eden and fall/redemption of man. I think that even for secular individuals, this story can be seen as an allegory for the evolution/progression of man kind over time, or simply the raising of a child to adulthood.

Thus in religious iconography women wear a “veil” during the marriage ceremony, symbolizing the “veil” existing between mankind and God or the Spirit/unseen world. Or perhaps the veil that separates an innocent child from the realities of the world they are raised in.
As the bible says, man is to woman; as Christ is to his Bride (the church/saints, Eph. 5:22–32, Rev 21:2–9, D&C 33:17, D&C 65:3; D&C 133:19). In the biblical creation-drama Man was once one with God, but took on mortality and was “clothed” or “veiled” in flesh. Even then he was naked and innocent. Adam and Eve didn’t think about whether nudity was Good or Bad, because duality/division caused by law (tree of knowledge) had not been introduced into the world. One could compare this to a child or even many indigenous cultures, living naked and behaving instinctively. But like animals, in their innocence there was little happiness or misery nor pain and pleasure. To progress to a higher state they would have to be educated.

Adam and Eve in the Garden by MichelangeloThis is symbolized by the partaking of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, which specifically is symbolic of the introduction of cultural, political law, mores and values (civilized behavior controls placed upon man by higher beings). I believe the garden drama is symbolically pointing to the existence of dual paths of education which have been discovered and used by the higher beings which guide us. These dual paths of education are first education through pure trail and error, and second education through teaching/ruling. The first path is the one initially ordained for mankind (Adam & Eve) by God, where they were placed in a paradise garden/earth with no other instruction or rules (other than to procreate & be happy). Through this path mankind would learn very slowly through limited experience but with constant access to God’s wisdom. However, a second path was offered by the serpent, who symbolizes beings who are close to the earth and prone to meddle in its affairs. This path was to get knowledge all at once through teaching done by the serpent (symbolized by his giving them the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil). This is the equivalent of a loving parent with a ‘hands-off’ learn as you go approach, verses a very controlling, highly regulating parent who creates strict regulations for all anticipated behavior and expects strict obedience. I think this interpretation has ample support from Paul’s lectures in the new testament on the effects of the “law”. (see my post on this for a full scripturally supported explanation).

Suffice it to say, all political and religious structures on earth fall on a continuum somewhere between these two extreme systems. But for the most part man has chosen to consume knowledge from each-other and the lower beings who slither close to the earth, and an inescapable side-effect of this system of “civilizing of man” was the division of mankind’s psyche into ‘good’ and ‘evil’. This is seen religiously as the creation of heaven and hell, especially in the after life. So the introduction of “law” in society and religion tells mankind what is “good” and “bad” introducing the physiological/spiritual divisions of guilt and self-righteousness into society. It seems to me that even without any programming from cultural or religious law, our own consciences cause sex to be a polarizing activity. Sexual depictions tend to lead to sexual acts and sexual acts tend to unite when done from a place of love and unselfishness, or divide individuals and leads to hurt and hate when done from a place of lust and selfishness. Perhaps more than any other activity, sex gives people a knowledge of the effects of our interpersonal actions, especially in regards to selfishness and unselfishness. But religious and cultural law adds another whole dimension of difficulty to unraveling the vast knowledge to be gained in sexual experience.

The complexities of these ‘difficulties’ deserves a post of its own as well, but in short, by labeling certain sexual BEHAVIORS as ‘good’ and others as ‘bad’, we mask the more subtle and yet more important physiological aspects of sex which revolve around INTENT.

And so back to the question, is sex or nudity evil? Since the fall of man, man and low spirits have intentionally or unintentionally answered this question with the regulations, laws and rules they have created to control it. But I believe the true answer is a difficult one, because it is different for every individual. I believe consciousness is divided into two camps of selfish and unselfish intent or service. And the morality of sexual depictions or sex itself must be answered in terms of its selfish or unselfish influence on individuals and society. I believe sex is a powerful act that can redeem us from duality (through unselfishness), or it can drive us further into it (by lust/selfishness). Thus sex and nudity even for “married” people can be an act of selfishness, and therefor “wrong”. As one looks at another’s naked body, which is a perfect symbol of God or the divine in all of us, we must ask ourselves if we are worthy? It is love/selflessness that makes us worthy. Do we love this person or are we using them for our own pleasure and self-gratification. For the masculine sinner, do we wish they looked different than they do? For the feminine sinner, do we desire them to desire/”love” us differently than they are able? Do we prefer one body type over another? One breast size over another? One character trait over another? All of these traits are not giving/loving in nature but desiring/taking and lustful. Are we thinking about how they feel or how we feel? About how we can serve or be served? A great teaching on this is found in an Apocryphal teaching of Jesus…

THE law forbids adultery; but in the eyes of law adultery is an overt act, the satisfaction of the sensuous self outside the marriage bonds.
2 Now, marriage in the sight of law is but a promise made by man and woman, by the sanction of a priest, to live for [ever] in harmony and love.
3 No priest nor officer has power from God to bind two souls in wedded love.
4 What is the marriage tie? Is it comprised in what a priest or officer may say?
5 Is it the scroll on which the officer or priest has written the permission for the two to live in marriage bonds?
6 Is it the promise of the two that they will love each other until death?
7 Is love a passion that is subject to the will of man?
8 Can man pick up his love, as he would pick up precious gems, and lay it down, or give it out to any one?
9 Can love be bought and sold like sheep?
10 Love is the power of God that binds two souls and makes them one; there is no power on earth that can dissolve the bond.
11 The bodies may be forced apart by man or death for just a little time; but they will meet again.
12 Now, in this bond of God we find the marriage tie; all other unions are but bonds of straw, and they who live in them commit adultery,
13 The same as they who satisfy their lust without the sanction of an officer or priest.
14 But more than this; the man or woman who indulges lustful thoughts commits adultery.
15 Whom God has joined together man cannot part; whom man has joined together live in sin.

But this ideal of perfect selfless love can rarely be fully achieved in this fallen world of duality (not to say we shouldn’t get married, but that most marriages in this life fall short of true love which is our goal)… we can search our souls to discover how close we’ve come, by whether the thought of such a situation brings thoughts of fear/desire, pleasure/pain or possession/divorce. This would include thoughts of division which classify some as preferable or ‘beautiful’ and others less-preferable and thus less attractive. Fears of infidelity or the desire that one’s partner desire them and only them. As perfect love casts out all fear, fear never comes from a place of true love. So many pretend they are ‘in love’ and above lust, but their love is partial if they are respecters of persons and do not show the same respect for all colors, body types and personalities. Would your desire for your partner remain unchanged regardless of whether they were physically attractive or not? Would your love for your husband remain the same regardless of whether he loved you back or desired others? I think that sexuality and nakedness in our western media is pretty strongly fueled by lust and likely is contributing to division and spiritual fall or decline. But perhaps it is our distorted view of the appropriateness/inappropriateness of sex that is the root cause of this, not the other way around.

True love is an easy enough ideal in the theoretical world, but hard to apply to daily life. But we may begin by accepting that there is no “one size fits all” law, solution or doctrine of achieving it. As to the solution for “pornography” in our culture and whether its bad, i beleive we should be open to the possibility that for some, perhaps it would benefit them if there were more nude pictures of “unattractive” body types. I certainly think that its possible that much more public breast feeding would be a great benefit to the sexual health of the youth of society (reminding young men what breast where created for). Perhaps it would benefit many youth to walk in on their parents sex so they can be reminded of what sex is for and what love creates! For some it may even be necessary for them to be given a little time to “sow their wild oats” and go after their sexual fantasies long enough to realize they are illusions which will never fulfill like the true love we are all seeking. For some, pornography may be a better way to accomplish that than a bout of true promiscuity. It is obvious that the current culture is lustful, unbalanced and divisive. I think balanced is the key here, because it seems to me the religious who demonize “unsanctioned” sex are often just as selfish and to blame as the promiscuous. It is obvious that the western culture has distorted human sexuality (by clothed pictures and media, as much as naked ones!) Just look at how many of our young men and especially women feel bad about the way they look and want to surgically change themselves? And it is possible that teaching the youth “don’t look at what your culture is telling you is beautiful… because in truth it’s evil!” actually does more harm than good. That it actually fuels addiction. How many religious leaders out there are counselling their youth and congregation about the evils of pornography while they themselves were sure to find women that met the status-quo of beauty or have wives with cosmetic surgery or breast implants? I’m not saying those individuals are bad, but that its quite frankly hypocritical for one to preach the lustfullness of internet nudity while they lust for beauty in their own marriage. How many parents or even spouses teach or desire lust within marriage while saying how evil it is outside of marriage? Well we’ve got to draw the line somewhere we might say… and perhaps that’s true; but lust (which is defined as possessive sexual desire) is still lust and it is in opposition to love (which only gives), so we shouldn’t judge too harshly when some people have trouble lusting only in the way society or our religion expects them to.

True righteousness is a difficult target to hit. Its a delicate balance, a challenging dance. As one quote puts it…

17 There are no rules that can apply to all, for men are specialists in sin; each has his own besetting sin,
18 And each must study for himself how he can best transmute his tendency to evil things to that of righteousness and love.
19 Until men reach the higher plane, and get away from selfishness, this rule will give the best results:
20 Do unto other men what you would have them do to you.

I think we should talk to our partners and children openly, often and personally, drawing from personal experience and gained wisdom instead of just rehashing religious or cultural ‘standards’. If we or our child has problems with sex or pornography or becomes addicted it is quite often childhood experiences, or even parents or spouse’s own unbalanced sexuality, guilt and beliefs at the root of it or keeping them from progressing past it. We may need to sit down with our children and look at picture after picture of “real” nude people in order to purge them of the false conceptions and guilt that is fueling their desire. (see this interesting study) We might just need to sit down and talk through all the difficult questions until we see how our own lust or family problems have been projected upon them and caused them grief. We might just need to understand and love them and show a better example of love to them. I have certainly never met an individual who overcame addiction through strong-arming themselves or simply “willing” change. That’s like a dictator who thinks he can eradicate evil in society by repression and incarceration… it does not heal people, and it usually creates more evil and selfishness than it eradicates. I do not believe there are any easy answers concerning the “good” or “bad” of nudity or pornography. It is not a black and white issue, but a symbol of our own progress in seeing or understanding God, each-other, our own unity and our journey back to oneness with Him.

Let me conclude in reiterating the idea that talking to those we love about sex, nudity or pornography is far more beneficial than anything I could share on the subject. But I offer my above opinions in hopes that they might prove useful to someone… I’ve found it’s difficult to share discuss these types of topics in groups, because every member of any audience is in a different place in their own personal progression or evolution. Everyone attaches different meanings to words like love, lust, sex and selfishness. We all learn in our own unique ways. So I encourage consistent one on one discussion concerning these important concepts, instead of black and white dogmas, when it comes to gaining understanding about pornography or the place of sexual media in society generally.

© Copyright - The MORMON box