Collarspace Discussion Forums


Home  Login  Search 

RE: Spirituality and BDSM


View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest
 
All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> General BDSM Discussion >> RE: Spirituality and BDSM Page: <<   < prev  3 4 [5] 6 7   next >   >>
Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 10:14:34 AM   
DarkDaddyZ


Posts: 805
Joined: 4/7/2006
Status: offline
While I am not a fan of any organized religion but have personal beliefs that are more "earth religion based" I believe that I do incorporate spirituality in BDSM. I prefer to keep some of those practices and especially rituals private.

_____________________________

"Flirting is part of the job description." DJ Jesus (Lucy Daughter Of The Devil)

Vanilla Official Music Page http://www.myspace.com/djzulu

(in reply to Bobkgin)
Profile   Post #: 81
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 11:51:51 AM   
OwnedShylah


Posts: 43
Joined: 8/5/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Bobkgin

Those of you who have been following Winsome's "safe, SANE & Consensual " thread will be aware that some of us took it for a little ride into spirituality/religion.

I'd like to thank Winsome for not taking us behind the woodshed and thrashing us within an inch of our lives (we deserved it, and Charlotte being the lady she is, has graciously declined the offer).

The topic for this thread is how does your spiritual/religious beliefs feed into BDSM, and how does BDSM further your spiritual/religious growth.

Or do you find there is no connection at all?

I realize this will appear skewed against Atheism. Atheists are welcome to join in, but I hope all will participate with some modicum of respect for the fact that some of us have a personal belief system, some of us do not.

I do not want this turning into the perennial debate over whether faith is justified or not. I'm willing to stipulate for the sake of this discussion that all belief systems and non-belief systems are valid for those who hold them, and need not be held by others to remain valid. This isn't about who is right. This is about how BDSM has influenced -your- beliefs/non-beliefs. As such there is no right or wrong answer.

While I've devoted some time to discussing my beliefs in a variety of threads, I'll hold off here for a while to give everyone a chance to contribute their thoughts on the issue.




I am a deeply spiritual person.

I was raised pagan (in Utah, how fucked up is that)and I find some sort of spirituality in all things.

BDSM and D/s have become a vital part of my spirituality.

It's really weird to say, but BDSM is the most spiritual thing I have ever been involved in. I feel so at peace when I'm bottoming for my Master.

I feel like I am surrendering to my higher Self when I surrender to Master.

For me pain is not about punishment or sex, it's about feeling closer to what we call "god". A scene is like a ritual for me.

I project my idea of "god" onto Master... but then I have also come to learn, from the community of which I am involved, that everyone and everything is a manifestation of god and the Devinne energy that makes up everything.

When I surrender to my version of god, Master, I also surrender to my Self and the part of me that is also god.

Pain is a form of surrender for me.

Shylah


< Message edited by OwnedShylah -- 9/6/2007 11:52:47 AM >


_____________________________

Give your self to me and I will give my self to you

(in reply to Bobkgin)
Profile   Post #: 82
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 12:03:06 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

there is no higher gesture than to subordinate one's own will to that of another, and no greater support than aligning one's own will with that of another. Submission and slavery both become sacred institutions, the unequivocal relationship becomes something divine, and the acts that reaffirm this subordination are sacraments in their own right.


I believe it was similar sentiments that allowed people to put blind faith in the lord / church heirachy as their master, and to allow slavery to continue amoungst christian followers for centuries...seems like what your talking about has implications both as a religious and a d/s statement. Like both, and most well grounded concepts, to me it seems to have both positive and negitive consequences in the real world.

Good luck with your revalation. It certainly seems like it will be interesting and worthwhile once you have formalized and internalized it. The religious exstacy and middle ground between religion and humanism you speak of certainly seems elusive through the course of history.

quote:

Though, of course, I'll be only too happy to let you know if my fire-extinguisher fails to put out my banzai tree.

-hahaHA

(in reply to Aswad)
Profile   Post #: 83
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 12:04:25 PM   
Bobkgin


Posts: 1335
Joined: 7/28/2007
From: Kawarthas, Ontario, Canada
Status: offline
Xak, Thank you.

It was well worth the wait.

You, Sir, have described the beliefs of the two that I seek better than anyone else I've listened to, here or on the other side.

I would very much like to hear Giselle describe her beliefs.

But I do have a question for you.

Do you believe there is a connection between all people? Between yourself and all Life?

_____________________________

When all is said and done, what will you regret?

That you never really lived?

Or there was so much living left to do?

For those interested: pics and poetry have been added to my profile.

(in reply to ChainsandFreedom)
Profile   Post #: 84
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 12:05:39 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

BDSM does not effect my spirituality, but rather the other way around.  My spiritual beliefs direct how I approach BDSM, and most any other interaction-relationship with others.




"Don't try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist;
use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are.
"
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama


 
While I am not a Buddhist, per se, there are many truths in Buddhism, as there are in many other religions.  Whatever truth resonates within my spirit, I try to apply to life choices, actions, reactions and thoughts.  In this way, my spirituality; my ethics; my morals; my credes; become the cornerstone upon which I build relationships with people.  I am not always successful at applying my spirituality to my actions, but that too is a path of learning. 



If only I could have said almost the same thing that concisely.
I've benifited from your Dali Lama quote myself...

(in reply to WinsomeDefiance)
Profile   Post #: 85
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 12:09:35 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

...there is a saying i go by...religion is for people who are afraid to go to hell, spirituality is for those who have been to hell...


damn. interesting.

I'm not thinking of a non-religious spiritual person who would buck this trend, and am failing. UHM....what about Ghandi? he was religious, but do you really think he was afraid of hell? I guess I'm saying when religion is DONE RIGHT, theres motivations other than hell-fear...but your probably right about the spirituality bit...

(in reply to chellekitty)
Profile   Post #: 86
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 12:28:24 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

In a way, Christians are subs to their hypothetical God.  I understand that tops would have little problem being a sub to another, but.. the stark contrast between being entirely submissive to a God while being Dominant to another, ruled by this God, yet not gifted by this God.. this strikes me as a contradiction.


religion-neutral philosiphers have charted out what they called "dominon theory" which attempts to reconcile this kind of contradiction. Simply put, Christianity asserts that god is before kings are before man are before cows are before grass. If you are a blade of grass or a slave, it is your purpose to serve those above you who are said to have a closer connection to god. A king (or Dom, in this scenario) fullfills his duty to God by administering over his underlings and thus maintaining the "natural" order as set out by god.

Dominion theory actually has profound implications for the enviromental movement. Dominion is a book by Niles Eldredge which outlines why our materialistic society is the way it is and the consequences for the enviroment we exploit. The Protistant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, written in the late nineteenth century, goes into how this Christian Hierarchy has served man to be divorced from the natural world around him with negative consequences. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, in my opionion, is of fundimental importance for the modern (90's/millenial pragmaticism rather than 60's idealism) enviromentalist movement.and a philisophical justification of such.

(in reply to CuriousLord)
Profile   Post #: 87
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 12:28:47 PM   
Bobkgin


Posts: 1335
Joined: 7/28/2007
From: Kawarthas, Ontario, Canada
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: ChainsandFreedom

quote:

...there is a saying i go by...religion is for people who are afraid to go to hell, spirituality is for those who have been to hell...


damn. interesting.

I'm not thinking of a non-religious spiritual person who would buck this trend, and am failing. UHM....what about Ghandi? he was religious, but do you really think he was afraid of hell? I guess I'm saying when religion is DONE RIGHT, theres motivations other than hell-fear...but your probably right about the spirituality bit...


The Dalai Lama?

I believe his is the longest-running government-in-exile.

His people occupied and oppressed. His land exploited for the benefit of China.

And no world power will change it.

Seems to fit the bill of being both "religious" and "hell".


_____________________________

When all is said and done, what will you regret?

That you never really lived?

Or there was so much living left to do?

For those interested: pics and poetry have been added to my profile.

(in reply to ChainsandFreedom)
Profile   Post #: 88
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 1:35:00 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

a connection between two people enjoying a fleeting life on a ball of dirt spinning around a big ol' fire. I don't think that makes it any less meaningful, or any less fulfilling


Not only is that meaningful, but it seems like you're well-grounded against huburis, something I've found many non-religious people to embrace.

with all due respect to you and Penn & Teller's Bullshit!, its ironic to quote that show and try not to offend anyone

(in reply to SmokingGun82)
Profile   Post #: 89
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 1:40:45 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

To my mind, walking the spiritual walk is about having a set of morals, guidelines, and ways of doing things overall, rather than having a set list of rules

-I've always thought strict adherance to a set list of rules blocked spirituality for people who might otherwise benifit.
Look how much resentment there is over Ratzinger's wanting to return to Latin Mass. Rules cause bickering, such as the homosexual debate.
Rules over morality lead to schisms between gender equality and fundamentalism, modernism and reactionary religion.

(in reply to BDsbabygirl)
Profile   Post #: 90
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 1:43:53 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

A few thoughts to no one in particular:

I have long thought that Love and Fear were at the root of all religious/spiritual systems.

Love and Fear dwells within each of us.

To the degree we listen to Love, we do not listen to Fear. To the degree we listen to Fear, we do not listen to Love.

We are the arbiters. In every situation, we choose Love, or we choose Fear.

Religious/spiritual systems are about which choice to make, and (at least in some cases) why these choices should be made.

That is why these systems are authority-driven. Each has a final authority figure whose pronouncements are to be trusted above all others.

It can be anything from God to Gaia to ourselves.

For myself, those doctrines that promote Love are beneficial, whereas those that promote Fear are not.

Just some thoughts to contribute to the discussion.


-agreed.
Though fear is a necessary survival trait, the more love one has the more one can forsake it. Love=community=strenght, love=conviction=curage, ect.
Similarly, there are those that forsake love through/because of fear...

(in reply to Bobkgin)
Profile   Post #: 91
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 1:47:47 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

Damn, woman, hush!  We'll wake the sleeping old folks above us in the pews....

Acolyte Stephan



heres a thought. If she wakens the sleeping old folks, maybe they'll pick up some of the sermon between her moans and gasps and actually learn something, instead of just using church as filler between the early bird special at IHOP and the early bird dinner special at Denny's.

(in reply to Stephann)
Profile   Post #: 92
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 2:08:33 PM   
teamnoir


Posts: 226
Joined: 4/5/2005
From: San Francisco Bay Area California
Status: offline
For me they are intimately related.

My initial draw to the world of SM was the trance and ecstatic potential inherent in flogging. Personal growth, exploration, experimentation continue to be my primary goals and reasons for hanging around the scene. Rediscovering my sexuality was nice, but not enough to actually keep me here.

In my first year of the scene, (over 16 years ago), I ran into a group of gay pagans. I was thrilled. Not only had I found people who saw what i saw in this stuff but I'd found people who had a clue about how to do it and could teach me stuff. Politics is politics and what with one thing and another I was running my own ritual bdsm events within the second year.

I've been running them on and off ever since. I've trained myself in several things including NLP, (triply certified - I consider it my magickal trad), chaos magick, ritual, hypnosis (have been a certified hypnotherapist), shamanism, and tantra. I consider the eclectic combination of these things to be my spiritual path - a path which emphatically includes the body, spirituality, pleasure, trance, transcendence, descendence, and ecstacy. And I'm a few months away from earning a certificate to teach Skydancing Tantra, (Margot Anand's school).

I still teach and I still hold events, mostly on the west coast and primarily in the SF bay area.

http://teamnoir.name

(in reply to Bobkgin)
Profile   Post #: 93
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 2:38:50 PM   
LivingInSin


Posts: 326
Joined: 6/12/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Bobkgin

quote:

ORIGINAL: LivingInSin

Im Pagan and a follower of Morrigan.......

...

I think BDSM has helped me learn my path and define it a tad clearer. I dont think I would have such a solid grounding in either my faith or my lifestyle if not for the other. To me they feed off of each other.....a never ending circle. 
  



I'm not familiar with Morrigan. While Wikipedia can provide some answers, I am interested in hearing how you see Morrigan/BDSM influencing each other so intimately in your life.


My Lady Morrigan is the celtic Goddess of strife, fertility, and battle. She is the one that decides who will pass on a battlefield. To me she is what every person should strive for. She fights for her beliefs and for the protection of those under her, She is a lover, Mother, and Friend. She is wise and childish. She embraces and revels in her darkness as well as her light. She shows that a woman can be soul strong - as only a parent can be. She also shows that when you find the one you are to be with that submitting to his will is also natural.....She is a grand example of true balance.

_____________________________

*Instead of complaining that rose bushes have thorns, rejoice that thorn bushes bloom*

*Myth says that only the woman who has been an utter slave can be truly free------this is no myth*


(in reply to Bobkgin)
Profile   Post #: 94
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 2:40:08 PM   
ChainsandFreedom


Posts: 222
Joined: 6/20/2007
Status: offline
quote:

Xak, Thank you.

It was well worth the wait.

You, Sir, have described the beliefs of the two that I seek better than anyone else I've listened to, here or on the other side.

I would very much like to hear Giselle describe her beliefs.

But I do have a question for you.

Do you believe there is a connection between all people? Between yourself and all Life?



Thank you Bob.

I feel encouragement and an outlet for expression are two of the most important tools for intellegence and growth.
I know from post's of yours I've read, you've done quite a bit of positive soul-searching yourself. 
I also know you're being rather modest about sharing your own beliefs on the topic-more power to you for keeping quite and hearing from the rest of us.
Whether or not the Madame feels compelled to reply to the thread, I'll discuss it with her and relay anything she would like to add if she does not post it herself.

as for your question...

the connection between people is, to me, a very real connection. However I see it as more biological than anything else-and this biology drives spirituality. As Stephan pointed out, there seems to be a historical/evolutionary drive toward spirituality amoungst groups of people.

the way I see it, there could be two siblings from the same parents. Although one might have an agressive temperment and the other passive, although one might be amazing at math and the other not, the vast majority of their genes are quite similar. And when compairing two unrelated people, this also holds up-almost all of their genes are the same.

So any two given people are likely to react similarly to similar enviromental and developmental stimulus. Although there is variation in personality, because people are more similar than differant, they can usually at least understand where the other is coming from.

Throw into the equation that people are social creatures and have been since even before homo sapiens (You've cited anthropological/fossil records in other posts, hopefully you see where I'm coming from. 

The result is that we have evolved to be inclined to be able to understand one another and to desire community with other people.

It is because of these dual inclinations, in fact, that I think misunderstanding and conflict are so tragic and detrimental-misunderstanding and conflict with one another go against the natural order of our specise. We desire to understand and bond with one another. Competition for resources, differances in intellectual conclusions, differeances in modes of survival and the like can drive us apart, but we lament the fact we have been driven apart.

So the connection between human beings, to me, gets really important between individuals when their personalities and experiences mesh and compliment one another. It is rare in the modern world, so divorced from the natural order of things, to find another person or a group where-in conflict and differance are minimal.

I think the individual pressures of an altered state (technology and modern society) drive us apart and are so prevalient, that a true connection is quite rare. Rare enough to be sacred. Rare enough to be divine. Just as our ancestors bonded out of love for their small communities because this was a mode of survival, we feel the drive to bond together with anyone we're lucky enough to find who has a personality similar enough to ours to minimize differance and conflict.

So, yes, there is an inherent connncetion between people. This conncetion matters a great deal. This connection is under duress in the modern world or any world where resources are scarice. This connection is so primal that if is the very glue that holds families, friends, and religions together. This connection is what allows Christians to love their nehbors and turn the other cheek. This connection is what brings buddhists to believe there are very few if any differances between individuals which truly matter, zen practioners to believe we are all of one "mind" (way of perceiving the universe).

Look at me and my Madame as an example, if you will. One of us grew up in New Jersey in the NYC diaspora, and one of us grew up in Upstate NY in a valley nestled between two colleges. One suburban/urban, one suburban/rural. One where sucess since an early age was largely judged on materialism and professional drive, one where sucess since an early age was mostly judged by intellectualism and the pursuit of hedonism.

Because these enviroments are artificial human constructs, our naturally-endowed similarities in personality is a bridge between the two-as is possible for two people from any two enviroments, if their personalities match. Although connections between people can be altered by life experiences, they can also be stengthend because of the infulence of other personalities-our families, friends, and aquintences from each respective place led us to many common, if seperate, experiences and pursuits. Where the world drives a schism between our selves and create conflict, the ability to compliment one anothers experience and talents bridges ourselves.

While this match is possible, it is such a long shot as to be devine. So many differences in belief and enviroment seperate people, that natural connection bringing them together becomes increasingly rare. The bonds that match rather than break and cause conflict are so powerful they are imbibed with a spiritualistic quality. Thus you arrive at me choosing in some senses of the word to be worshipping her as a goddess, even though our lives and our personalities and our pursuits are in many ways quite differant from one another.

So, yes, to me, connections between all people and between specific individuals exist and they are inherently spiritual in nature. They are spiritual because of their importance, tenacity, and their scarcity.  

(in reply to Bobkgin)
Profile   Post #: 95
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 3:54:49 PM   
Cyntilating


Posts: 581
Joined: 6/19/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Bobkgin

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cyntilating

re: my inclination towards roles in my d/s relationship ( preference) > I find it interesting that of the "religions" that I have explored in the past, the 2 that I have found the most inspiring and compelling( to me ) have had a strong patriarchal presence in their family dynamics..
ie Mormon
Native American Indian culture and spirituality.



I am curious as to which came first for you: bdsm or the religions.



hmmm how to answer.....
exposure to the Ds dynamic> was because of my parents relationship..and so I could answer >that came first..
but active awareness of this lifestyle> then that comes after religious influence..
Mormonism > exploration and research done in Highschool .&.between ages 16 - 21
NAI realization and self-awareness was at about age 35...
shortly after that was my first experience with bdsm..
 
 

_____________________________

Cyndi

.."There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. " Edith Wharton

(in reply to Bobkgin)
Profile   Post #: 96
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 4:40:16 PM   
Bobkgin


Posts: 1335
Joined: 7/28/2007
From: Kawarthas, Ontario, Canada
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: ChainsandFreedom

quote:

A few thoughts to no one in particular:

I have long thought that Love and Fear were at the root of all religious/spiritual systems.

Love and Fear dwells within each of us.

To the degree we listen to Love, we do not listen to Fear. To the degree we listen to Fear, we do not listen to Love.

We are the arbiters. In every situation, we choose Love, or we choose Fear.

Religious/spiritual systems are about which choice to make, and (at least in some cases) why these choices should be made.

That is why these systems are authority-driven. Each has a final authority figure whose pronouncements are to be trusted above all others.

It can be anything from God to Gaia to ourselves.

For myself, those doctrines that promote Love are beneficial, whereas those that promote Fear are not.

Just some thoughts to contribute to the discussion.


-agreed.
Though fear is a necessary survival trait, the more love one has the more one can forsake it. Love=community=strenght, love=conviction=curage, ect.
Similarly, there are those that forsake love through/because of fear...


I submit that it is awareness that is the necessary survival trait, not fear.

Awareness of that which is around us. Awareness of the consequences of our actions amd inactions.

_____________________________

When all is said and done, what will you regret?

That you never really lived?

Or there was so much living left to do?

For those interested: pics and poetry have been added to my profile.

(in reply to ChainsandFreedom)
Profile   Post #: 97
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 4:54:36 PM   
Stephann


Posts: 4214
Joined: 12/27/2006
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: ChainsandFreedom

heres a thought. If she wakens the sleeping old folks, maybe they'll pick up some of the sermon between her moans and gasps and actually learn something, instead of just using church as filler between the early bird special at IHOP and the early bird dinner special at Denny's.



Clearly, someone forgot to warn you about 'sacred knowledge.'  Don't you know anything about the Old Guard?

The Good Reverend Stephan


_____________________________

Nosce Te Ipsum

"The blade itself incites to violence" - Homer

Men: Find a Woman here

(in reply to ChainsandFreedom)
Profile   Post #: 98
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 5:18:07 PM   
defiantbadgirl


Posts: 2988
Joined: 11/14/2005
Status: offline
My ex play partner was very affected by his Christian beliefs. All play for him was non sexual because the Bible says it's wrong to have sex outside of marriage (he's never been married, so he's still a virgin). I wonder how Christianity affects other unmarried lifestylers. Is non-sexual play the norm for kinky Christians or is there something in the Bible I don't know about?

< Message edited by defiantbadgirl -- 9/6/2007 5:19:46 PM >


_____________________________


Only in the United States is the health of the people secondary to making money. If this is what "capitalism" is about, I'll take socialism any day of the week.


Collared by MartinSpankalot May 13 2008

(in reply to Bobkgin)
Profile   Post #: 99
RE: Spirituality and BDSM - 9/6/2007 5:27:56 PM   
Bobkgin


Posts: 1335
Joined: 7/28/2007
From: Kawarthas, Ontario, Canada
Status: offline
D?

Will you share your beliefs with us?

_____________________________

When all is said and done, what will you regret?

That you never really lived?

Or there was so much living left to do?

For those interested: pics and poetry have been added to my profile.

(in reply to defiantbadgirl)
Profile   Post #: 100
Page:   <<   < prev  3 4 [5] 6 7   next >   >>
All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> General BDSM Discussion >> RE: Spirituality and BDSM Page: <<   < prev  3 4 [5] 6 7   next >   >>
Jump to:





New Messages No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages Locked w/o New Messages
 Post New Thread
 Reply to Message
 Post New Poll
 Submit Vote
 Delete My Own Post
 Delete My Own Thread
 Rate Posts




Collarchat.com © 2025
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Spam Policy

0.078