I’m going to try this, thanks. I’ve done something like this in the past but I don’t remember whether it worked. Will update.
Sadly, I failed at this. It feels like being a hypocrite at one point and okay at another. I have no self guilt but think it’s best if I didn’t fail at it… Yet here I am… Hopefully in the future I would succeed… I’ll let go for now.
I’m in the same boat Ananda in many ways and it just helps immeasurably to have someone like you give voice to the struggle. 
Most of my progress comes when I do what you just said and “…let it go for now.” Keeping our personalities out of it if we can lets us at least try to dispassionately regard the desires. I squeal to Divine Mother sometimes and sooner or later She placates me in some way. I think we’re supposed to do the same to our little-kid-personalities and shut 'em up with fulfilled desires now and then while progressing in our spiritual efforts.
Take care guy! 
All good 
Thks man! U2 
Thank you all for the fascinating discussion topic. It has provided me food for thought about my own habits and behavior.
Ananda, I am curious if you are coupling the act of watching porn with the act of masturbation. Ecdyonurus’ comment associated them and I think that it is often inferred that they are one and the same but I would say that each are distinct. That said, the assumption, perhaps unfairly, is that those involved with porn are being exploited for the benefit of the consumer or the audience who indulges in the viewing of the porn.
Hi.
Interesting discussion. I do watch porn now and then, maybe one or two times per week. I find it hard to have any form of orgasm without the outer stimuli of watching porn… But after reading about tantra I had the insight that maybe sex is not about having orgasm at all, and if we are supposed to stay in front of orgasm in tantra, then maybe it is acctually a good thing that I almost can not have orgasm without watching porn, when masturbating.
(Also, I have actually never had real sex with a partner. But I do not miss it either. I am fine this way on my own.)
About morality and porn… It is legally to watch porn based on that the persons involved are doing it out of free will, and are not too young. I understand that it is hard to know if it is done by free will sometimes, but if there is any doubt about the persons age or of the free will: don’t watch.
Maybe we are better of with out porn, but maybe in a perfect world…
It is my current thoughts on a rather private matter.
/colours
As your system “rewires itself” via DM and brahmacharya, the pursuit of orgasm dampens and arousal becomes the end point, and a spiritual exercise in and of itself. I also believe the type of porn you are viewing makes a big difference, for if you are investing time and attention to observing sexual acts, it is better to watch loving expressions rather than violent, degrading, or compromising ones. Erotic imagery can commence arousal, how you “honor” and direct arousal internally, positively or negatively, will move you along nicely or deepen your karmic burden.
It’s important not to shame people for having specific sexual preferences and it’s important not to impose our morals onto others. There are people who absolutely enjoy being “degraded” (for example) during sex. I used to have a hard time with this personally as degradation always felt “bad” to me. But having met people and had sex with people who enjoy sexual fetishes that I personally don’t, I’ve learned that it’s important not to shame others (or make them feel like their preferences are more “base/basic” or less ethical than ours) for having preferences we don’t personally understand.
Carson
My advice is always surrender shame and judgement. If I have offended it certainly was not my intention, nor was I passing judgement. My comment regarding positive vs. negative is for the individual to decide. If certain actions lead one to feeling down after engaging in them, then perhaps they should really examine that, and substitute it for one that does not compromise them. If one feels liberated from engaging in violent or degrading imagery, then I agree, one should be shameless.
Hi all
Since I have a thread going under this catagory on Brahmacharia, and if you’ve read it you may be aware that I practise complete celibate Brahmacharia and have a history of porn addiction, I thought I’d give my two cents.
Porn addiction has ruined the sex life in my marrage. Like any addiction, I required a greater and greater stimulus and that eventually resulted in a desire for more hard core sex than my wife could handle. Also the amount of porn exc that I used to indulge in made me very inconsistant in my sexual desire within my marriage. Eventually my wife just had enough and stopped wanting any sex at all. And then porn became my only release.
Several months ago I started Yoga and began practising celibate brahmachariya. Now, for the first time in years, I’m getting sexually interested in my wife and no longer require the porn induced hard core stimulus to get me arroused.
My wife is still not interested in sex and my built up sexual energy is only causing me very mild and managable problems. I exercize twice a day, do a lot of Yoga, and so far am channeling the energy into that and spirituality things like prayer, worship exc.
I am 59 years old so I know my age is helping me.
Bravo, Herb, bravo. [OM]
Thanks man. Hey, check your email
Thought I would quote what Yogani says about porn in his book on Tantra. It is not much, only mentioned… (have not completed the whole book on tantra yet though, have like 20 pages left, maybe porn is mentioned again, we will see… Just thought it could aid the discussion since this is a AYP-forum)
“If excessive sexual activity is happening, wether it be in relations with a partner, masturbation, or an obsession with pornographic material, use the holdback and blocking methods and the experience will gradually come into a different realm, shifting to more manifistation in sitting practices.”
- Page 79.
“If we feel erotic, let us feel erotic for our God. If wee feel angry or fearful, let it be for our God. If we want porno, we should want it for our God.” - Page 80.
I guess it is important not to judge, kind of like CarsonZi says in his post. I think we can abuse sex in any form, real sex can be as addictive as porn… etc.
I have not really tried tantra yet, only tested some of the exersices a few years ago. I don’t think that I at the moment have any obsession with sex, am not abusing it, or have A LOT of it, that is the main reson why I have not really tried tantra so much. Like Yogani says in his book: He is not promoting more sex, and if you do not really have alot of sex… maybe tantra is not your first choice of practice at the moment… As I understood it.
Watching porn seems to be a friend and a foe, no idea where is the truth but i’ll share some comments, questions and observations.
In the past, the porn industry was in my opinion really doing harm where the story of most porn actress and actors was usually linked with suffering in their childhood which lead them to things where they suffer or were not respected. Nowadays with internet and self-movie technology, there is a new trend called amateur porn where it seems these porn videos are done by consent adults hence probably no suffering embedded but rather other motives.
Wether you do practice tantrik sex or not interested in meditation, it is quite clear that viewing a porn video will trigger at least through most man sexual excitation and more depending our imprints. Where things get tricky if one is tantrik active, you’ll pick special energy waves, emotions, karma linked to sexual energy which travels via different layers between digital video, what was experienced by porn actress/actor through your own chakra system. So unless you can stay in front of this energy management issue and just use porn to say trigger some tantrik practice, this is very complex in my opinion.
On a side note, suppose that in some cases porn could help kundalini or tantra progress, the energy is entering by the eyes so upper chakras, you’re usually sit on a chair hence an indirect asana blocking energy descension which lower chakras.
In very rare case, I have seen specific porn videos where one actress did go through special kriyas or special kundalini flow, not sure the actress was really aware of tantra but there seems some special case where porn activity could in fact awaken or initiate even though this was not the initial intent.
Long ago, I did have talk with a famous french porn actress who did use entheogens, was involved with shamanism and yoga, clearly she did use her porn activity as indirect skill-full means beyond what usually porn industry hosts. In fact, she explained to me that some porn actors would ejaculate with no orgasm which is another topic probably.
However the majority of porn material wether old style with lot of violence or recent style with consent adults if one is not clear with its own chakra system, the risk of picking multi-dimensional sexually coded collective karma is major risk and could explain porn addiction.
As some mentioned before in this thread, the sex itself can be an addiction as well as chocolate or drug, however the potential of porn is not kid-stuff even for tantra meditators in my opinion.
The way I see this is simple, the sex is related to life force, where do I come from and reconnect to where i’d go when dying, in France we say “sex is little death … la petite mort”. So that is the paradigm, the sex energy is very powerful, destructive or constructive if you have real guru or authentic guidance, otherwise wether porn or no porn, the sex is very tricky.
See, the matter is absolutely not as complicated as one makes it to be.
It is not a question of morals or anything like that.
Do you wish to eat that cake? Then go eat it. Will it destroy your spirituality? NO.
Do you wish to watch porn? Is that a sin? NO.
It is because people are flowing around half baked knowledge about things and go about renunciating sexual material only to land back on them a few months later after suppressing themselves, that people have idea whether to watch porn or not, their minds say no…loins say yes while giving a standing ovation.
What you are thinking and what your body wishes simply isn’t matching up. Your mind is simply stuck.
Just do that much, watch porn get turned on(or better yet, try to manipulate your sexual energy out of boner to you upper chakras), but do not act on it and masturbate and simply watch until you are tired. Do it everyday till it becomes more of a chore than enjoyment. Naturally you’ll get over the illusion of attraction to porn.
It is not that porn is disgusting filthy little thing that is all the evil in the world that is sucking you in. It is filled with your own desires. Stare into it and through that stare into your soul and ask…what exactly am I attracted to?
What you need is to live consciously and understand things better rather than putting labels and dismissing them.
If you hate someone, if the hate is coming from your own self…how is the other person is at fault?
No one forces you to watch porn and perhaps many try to stop you from watching it, but one must wonder for himself or herself. is renunciation a true answer for you? or maybe you can stop and watch it and learn more about yourself and not obsess over it.
Despite what everyone tells you, Neither sex, nor porn or even hentai comics are going to ruin your spirituality unless you plan on wasting your life fluids on fapping away which is admittedly a waste. What is required is certain bit of maturity to accept things for what they are and see your own self for what you are.
things like renunciating might sound great at first, but if your mind is stuck in that direction it is pointless for you to actively suppress yourself. If you want to watch, then watch. If you don’t want to watch, dont watch. Dont mull over these pointless things.
I used to be addicted to porn, now I am using that as my ladder to spirituality and learning more about myself and my illusions of it. I still watch porn, but much less than before. Interest has been waning since it is no more than a chore now. Little by little I am breaking the illusion. But it doesn’t stop me from enjoying or watching what I want. This is how one should be. You cannot be denied anything.