Hello,

I have a random weird question that has been on my mind the last couple of days. It seems to be that (as a male) that it could be quite possible with the right internal balance, symmetry, cohesion, etc to reach a point where sexual urges (need to ejaculate) could be permanently suppressed.

This line of reasoning made me think of women. Lose of blood during a menstrual cycle would seem to indicate lack of internal cohesion, balance, etc.

Is it in fact possible for a woman to suspend her menstrual cycle through meditation? If not, is this why some Buddhists think a woman cannot become a buddha?

I know that in some Tibetan traditions menstrual blood has symbolic significance and I am just kind of probing around here.

In the Taoist/Qigong tradition, women lose of blood during a menstrual cycle shrinks to only the first day, and to a much lesser degree. I knew a woman in a previous qigong group who claimed that.

Yes, I have read in Mantak Chia's books about that as the ideal for a women practitioner. Some people think that perhaps it is unhealthy. I don't know.

However, I was reading something totally unrelated to spiritual practice, it was regarding nutrition and health. the article said that women used to be more healthy because they spent most of their adult life until menopause pregnant and therefore menstruated much less throughout life cumulatively. This article, written by a female MD, said that women lose much vitality through their menstruation. This I found interesting when making the connection to spiritual energetic practices. I have brought this up to some feminist friends and some of the women got mad and said that it was bullshit and how organized religion is patriarchy and suppressing women. I don't agree that it is bullshit. And this doesn't really have anything to do with organized religion. People have so many triggers, they don't really respond to what is being said, they respond to their own minds.

Actually, the woman I mentioned is a MD. Regarding loosing vitality, what's been said in chinese martial arts circles is that western people have nowadays enough supply of good food, so that the Chinese manuals don't fully apply, as they were meant for a XIX Century society, when food were sometimes scarce and epidemics recurrent.

Would that be Anna Vladimirova, by any chance?

No, her name was Marcela, can't remember her full name now. She's a MD from my country (Argentina).

Hi A D R,



I'm not sure I'm following your reasoning here, why would it indicate a lack of internal cohesion, balance, etc.?

Metta,
Simon

Haha I don't know. I kind of wrote this impulsively and probably didn't think it through enough. Its good though because my question is indirectly getting answered and I am learning more!

Hmmm... let's see if we can break this down.

First, can you be very specific with that you mean by "right internal balance, symmetry, cohesion, etc" and how you experience this directly?

Second, why does it seem "that (as a male) that it could be quite possible with the right internal balance, symmetry, cohesion, etc to reach a point where sexual urges (need to ejaculate) could be permanently suppressed." (Can you describe the experiential basis for this notion?)

Finally, what are your thoughts on viewing sexual release in the same light as eating, urinating, defecating, exercise, brushing teeth, etc? Personally my view on sexual release at this point in time is that it's a tension generated by the body that distracts the mind to an extent (similar to good music or socializing with friends) and while often times it's useful to be able to discipline the mind and dismiss these tentions as distractions, at other times it makes sense to make a bit of time for them so that release occurs and the general sense of distraction is weakened <- in summary I don't really view these things as good or bad, but rather phenonomenon that need to be skillfully handled in such a way that I remain comfortable with my overall productivity in pursuing the dhamma.

I suppose my question in part stems from a wish that I could be free of having to deal with such bodily functions. I have been living under the assumption that there is some kind of attainment which this possible, and thus I speculated that if there was a way for men to get away their "curse" then perhaps women could do the same?

Another aspect of my question is most likely related to my frustration as to why monks can go without manual sexual release and I haven't found a way of doing so yet. Its a bit of jealousy/inferiority complex but also a genuine curiosity/conundrum. What is the secret here?
I have voiced this question in different times and contexts to different practitioners but have always been frustrated by a lack of a clear response by those who might be in the best position to shed light on this difficult issue.

I have thought about this possibility. There is quite a big difference for me however. Eating and Drinking, for instance, don't affect my ability to love my parents. My sexuality, however, does, and in a big way.

My attitude towards monastics and their sexuality has been quite varied:

(towards the zen monks/nuns I have interacted with):

"Wow they are like super humans!" They have transcended their sexuality" or

"Wow these people are really repressed and cold. They don't know what it is like to be a real human" or

"Wow these monks and nuns are so engrossed in meditation they don't even realize they are given off flirtatious cues, they aren't very consciously in touch with their sexuality I guess"

(towards my Tibetan teachers):

"He is probably doing some corrupt, shady stuff...you never know with these TIbetans...why did he say he was showing a woman his room?"

My (middle aged female) qi gong teacher said she had stopped her cycles for several months (she trained in Mantak Chia's style) just to experiment with it, but found for her it felt strange and unnatural not to menstruate. There are specific exercises for doing it, and it is supposed to retain more energy. I don't find my cycles bothersome (anymore - I used to hate it), and I have plenty of energy, so it seems like a lot of effort to bother with and I've never tried.

Sometimes it's easier to adjust ones attitude than ones biology... or not. Depends on your interests and needs.

Is the need to ejaculate same as loss of blood in women during a menstrual cycle?

One is related to orgasm whereas the other is not. Something coming out doesn't mean that they are the same.

In some belief systems they are both considered ways in which the body loses vital energy, thus it can be beneficial to prevent the loss (for spiritual/energetic reasons).

One way to get better control of your sexual desires is to practice insight meditation. Notice moment-by-moment how the phenomena of sexual desire and involuntary physical arousal arises and passes away, how there is no self found in the phenomena being observed (non-duality of observer and observed), and how each present moment is unsatisfactory. Also be mindful and practice insight while choosing what to eat and while eating, and during leisure time when choosing exercise and meditation. As has been hinted at by others, there is perhaps little difference between this and other forms of right-action. This should get easier with attainments, but so what? Not stepping on insects gets easier with attainments too, and the Mahayanists tell me that those are my kind mothers, whereas I don't see how jacking-off discreetly harms your parents even theoretically.

But I suspect the main secret is much more conventional, as not all monastics have the same attainments, and some get in sexual scandals once they are in power despite years of supposed previous celibacy. Monastics only eat one meal a day, yet do multiple types of both physical and mental labor. Perhaps that is why they are able to refrain from sexual activity with or without an attainment. Its exhaustion, routine, lack of privacy, lack of stimulation, etc. Also, the existence of tantric traditions within monastic communities does make me wonder what goes on.

I've known anorexic women to miss periods or have later periods sporadically. That might work for reducing semen production too, but I think that it might not be skilful in either case, if that is your only reason.