Does ascetism helps to have oobe?

[slaidas]

Does ascetism or celibacy helps you to have oobe? Rises your vibrational level?

[CFTraveler]

No, it just increases sexual frustration and causes lower-level projections for me.
I can't imagine why abstaining can raise vibrational level, unless you have a cultural conditioning situation going on in regards to sex.

[Rudolph]

I think diet, herbal teas, meditation, awareness exercises, and other Spiritual disciplines do, at the very least, boost the Dream Awareness.

Celibacy would also have a positive and productive contribution to Inner experience if it were done properly but almost no one knows how to do this so it isn't likely to help much in the long run, imho.

[rezaf]

Here is what I know about sex for men: As far as I know in many martial arts and qigong styles 節慾(jie yu) is advocated which means moderation in sex life according to one's physique and the change of the seasons, however there are a few styles that advocate complete abstinence but I don't know much about them. Generally sex is thought to be very good as you can get a lot of yin energy from your partner which nourishes the body but ejaculation is thought to be wasting your vital essence, that's why many martial artists have sex as much as they want and even have orgasm but are careful about the number of times that they ejaculate.Avoiding ejaculation can help you to gather a lot of reserved energy that can be used for qigong, astral projection etc. but if your meridians are not open enough and you don't know how to circulate the energy it may cause qi stagnation which can be very harmful. It may take many years of qigong to get to a decent level in opening and circulating the energy in the meridians and as your body gets more open your desire for sex also decreases and you will know how much sex is healthy and how much is harmful for balancing your body.

[Ident]

I concur with rezaf. Energy can be lost through sex and is typically lost through masturbation. Equally, a resonant joining with a highly compatible mate can be a joyous event to raise your vibrations. Go by your own inner feelings and find what works for you. Excess will almost always leave you feeling depleted and in need to recharge, not to mention the attendant lack of sleep.

[rain_88]

I couldn't really compare, but living in an ascetic way - which is pretty easy for me, since I'm pretty modest  - at least help me stay focused on the things I an interested in and not to get distracted by the secondaries.

[Stillwater]

Celibacy would also have a positive and productive contribution to Inner experience if it were done properly but almost no one knows how to do this so it isn't likely to help much in the long run, imho.

I think I would second this, and add a perspective.

You have probably heard of the concept of the "Sidhhis", which is the sanskrit word for abilities that a person acquires as a result of spiritual practices, but which should not be focused on, and should not be the goals.

I would think celibacy might be something like that. You can't really pursue it for its own sake without causing frustrations and tension, but it may "happen" as a result of focused spiritual practices; you may just feel less attachment to sexuality and it becomes gradually less important.

I think the spiritual traditions that run into trouble with sexuality do so because they get it backwards. They establish celibacy as the pre-requisite, not a sometime side effect of progress, and lots of people who are not really ready in their lives to practice it are placed in a state of constant inner-tension.

Plus there is nothing "unclean" about sex... people just choose to focus on different things in their lives.

[CFTraveler]

I think I would second this, and add a perspective.

You have probably heard of the concept of the "Sidhhis", which is the sanskrit word for abilities that a person acquires as a result of spiritual practices, but which should not be focused on, and should not be the goals.

I would think celibacy might be something like that. You can't really pursue it for its own sake without causing frustrations and tension, but it may "happen" as a result of focused spiritual practices; you may just feel less attachment to sexuality and it becomes gradually less important.

I think the spiritual traditions that run into trouble with sexuality do so because they get it backwards. They establish celibacy as the pre-requisite, not a sometime side effect of progress, and lots of people who are not really ready in their lives to practice it are placed in a state of constant inner-tension.

Plus there is nothing "unclean" about sex... people just choose to focus on different things in their lives.

Great way to put it.

[Xanth]

Great way to put it.

I'll second that!