I studied 1400 years of NOFAP to learn these 3 things
- Written by NelsonQuest
- July 18, 2022
Table of Contents
As I move along the path, the more I come to realize how important history is in truly understanding things… which brings me to NoFap.
NoFap has exploded over the last few years – thanks in great part to YouTubers who have posted 30 day, 90 day, even 5+ year NoFap ‘experiments’ where they mostly claim that retaining their semen has turned them into a demi-god.
Now, as for why most of these demi-gods still appear to be recording videos from their mothers’ basements, I don’t know.
But what I do know is that there are lots of problems with NoFap videos.
As a content creator, there’s a lot of motivation to create ‘NoFap changed my life’ videos because they get tons of clicks.
And as a content consumer, I’m likely to click on any video promising dramatic results from something that can be explained in a single sentence.
And so I repeat: if we want to understand something, we need to look to history to get the full picture!
Because there are hundreds of years of mind-blowing historical perspectives relating to NoFap – more specifically to masturbation, ejaculation, and semen-retention – and how these things influenced our energy, focus, motivation, and overall ability to become better.
Now to save you some time, I’ve poured through thousands of pages of material (despite some of the awkwardness this created) – and in this video we’re going to take a hard look at what I thought were the three most interesting historical perspectives on NoFap.
Those held by Taoists, Christians, and then later the Europeans during the Age of Enlightenment.
I promise that by the end of this video, you’ll see NoFap not as a ‘miracle technique’, but rather as one of many tools that can be employed within the greater art of ‘sexual transmutation’ – which is something that I’ve personally used at every level of my development to achieve some of my most significant growth.
#1: The Taoist belief that too-frequent masturbation is unhealthy
For those of you who follow the channel, or follow me on Instagram, you know that Eastern Philosophy is my greatest influence.
I think it’s the perfect antidote to the ‘disease’ of chronic overthinking here in the West.
And so it’s no surprise that for them, complex themes like masturbation, ejaculation, and NoFap, all fall into the nice simple box of ‘sexual energy.’
The principal text of Taoism is the ‘Tao te Ching’ – it’s like the bible of Taoism – and while there are no mentions of anything specifically ‘sexually’ related, I’d like to offer my own interpretation:
If we feel the urge to masturbate, and it feels right, then we should do it.
If we feel this urge and it feels wrong or out of balance, and we believe we can use something like NoFap to help restore balance without creating more imbalance, then we should do that.
Again that’s just my interpretation as someone who’s studied the Tao te Ching for the past 8 years and has selected passages tattooed on their body, now let’s dive a little deeper.
Within Taoism, Yin and Yang represent the two mutually dependent energies of all of life.
Yang energy, the Male energy, is characterized as ‘hot’ energy: creative, individualistic, strong, offensive.
Yin Energy, the female energy, is characterized as ‘cold’ energy: receptive, group-oriented, elegant, defensive.
Now here’s the thing, men and women have BOTH yin and yang energy, and according to Taoists, we should aim to balance these energies if we want to live a healthy life.
They saw semen as ‘vital life force’ and believed that too frequent masturbation could lead to a rapid depletion of this important ‘yang’ energy – thus creating an imbalance with yin energy that would result in premature aging, disease, and fatigue.
For this reason, Taoists created ‘ejaculation formulas’ as a means by which to maintain optimal health.
Sum Sumiao, who was given the title ‘King of Medicine’ during his time as China’s most highly regarded physician during the Tang dynasty, recommended that men under 50 should only ejactulate twice monthly.
Other Taoists suggested that ejaculation frequency should be in accordance with the seasons:
No more than once every 3 days during the spring, twice a month in summer and fall, and then NOFAP during all of winter.
Mantak Chia, a modern Taoist master whose views have become extremely popular over the last few decades, also believes that we should follow a schedule according to our age.
At around 20 years old, we should masturbate about once every 4 days. At around 30, once every 8 days. At around 40, once every 12 days.
Some of Mantaks most popular teachings include learning how to masturbate and reach orgasm WITHOUT ejaculation by learning how to ‘close the valve’ of the prostate gland by using the power of the mind.
I actually practiced some of these techniques in the weeks leading up to my first fight, where I wanted to have sex didn’t want to ejaculate, and it some of the most pleasureful, erotic sex I’ve ever had.
I haven’t tried this with masturbation, but I’d like to – if you guys are interested in a video on that let me know in the comments below.
#2- The Christian belief that Masturbation Can Be ‘Sexually Immoral’
Ok so before we get into the Christian beliefs surrounding NoFap, I have to say something.
There’s a tendency especially within younger generations, to completely disregard the wisdom of religion, and here’s what I’ll say to that.
Do I think that Adam and Eve was a real story? No.
Do I think that there’s incredible significance in the idea that Adam and Eve, who represent mankind, broke the one rule that God had given them and ate fruit from the forbidden tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, after the serpent (a metaphorical representation of Evil) convinced them to do so?
And that this knowledge of Good and Evil is precisely the thing that caused them to separate from unconscious identification with the natural world and into a state of ‘self-consciousness’ where they were now subject to uniquely human emotions (such as the ‘shame’ they felt in realizing their nakedness) all of which resulted in their expulsion from ‘paradise’ and into the world as we know it, thus marking what effectively became the ‘starting point’ for humanity?
Yes, I think there’s incredible significance there.
The Bible is the oldest book in existence, representing thousands of years of some of the most profound human observations, told through unbelievably insightful stories and myths.
The Christian conceptualization of Masturbation and NoFap is mostly rooted within the concept of ‘sexual immorality’ – which is referenced in many biblic passages.
Ephesians 5:3
“Among you there should not be a good hint of sexual immorality, or of every type or types of impurity.”
Galatians 5:19-21
“Sexual immorality is a work of the flesh and the one who partakes is liable to lack entry into the kingdom of God.”
Thessalonians 3, verse 3-4,
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable.”
There are many more passages like these, and my interpretation this:
When we become slaves to our sexual impulses to the extent that they cloud our judgement – when we form unhealthy porn addictions – or when we come to see women as purely sexual objects – these are all examples of ‘sexual immorality.’
And I can give you guys virtually endless examples of how acting in ways that are sexually immoral can and will catastrophically decrease the overall quality and fulfillment that we experience in life.
So my interpretation of the bible’s position on NoFap is this:
Masturbation isn’t a ‘sin’, but sexual immorality is. NoFap can be a great tool by which to learn to control sexual immorality, but whether or not masturbation is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is subjective, not objective.
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#3: The Age of Enlightenment and Masturbation as Weakness
In 1760 – Swiss Physician Samuel-Auguste Tissot – wrote “Diseases Caused by Masturbation” – whose views became hugely popular during the European Age of Enlightenment.
Tissot described masturbation as “A general wasting of the animal machine, a debility of all the bodily senses, and of all the faculties of the mind”
He believed that masturbation was the cause all of the diseases of old age, and that “the too great loss of semen produces weakness, debility, immobility, convulsions, emaciation, dryness, pains in the membranes of the brain, impairs the senses, particularly that of sight, gives rise to dorsal consumption, indolence, and to the several diseases connected with them”
As extreme as this sounds, he actually had a lot of supporters.
Among them was one of history’s greatest philosophers: Immanuel Kant, who saw masturbation as “an unnatural use (and so misuse) of one’s sexual attribute” – which he deemed to be a violation of morality to the HIGHEST degree.
He saw it as man using himself merely to “satisfy an animal impulse”, which he considered worse than suicide.
“Murdering oneself requires courage, and in this disposition there is still always room for the respect for the humanity in one’s own person. But unnatural lust, which is complete abandonment of oneself to animal inclination, makes man not only an object of enjoyment but, still further, a thing that is contrary to nature, that is, a loathsome object, and so deprives him of all respect for himself.”
Other later supporters of Tissot’s views included the Americans Sylvester Graham, inventor of Graham Crackers, and John Kellog, inventor of the popular breakfast cereal Corn Flakes – whose bland food products were actually designed with the intention of subduing sexual excitement as a way to prevent masturbation and pre-marital sex.
Conclusion
Taoists believed that semen was vital life force, and thus that masturbation ought to be practiced in moderation and consistent with principles of ‘balance’, often recommending ‘ejaculation formulas’ or ‘masturbation calendars’ to help accomplish this.
Christians believed that ‘sexual immorality’ was a sin, and that we should take great care to not ‘abuse’ our bodies or act in ways that were dishonorable.
Some European Enlightenment thinkers, like Tissot and Kant, believed that masturbation was unnatural (meaning that it went against nature) and that its practice could lead to disease and overall degradation of the ‘human machine.’
What do you guys think seems to be the central historical ‘lesson’ that we can learn from the cultures that came before us?
Why do you think some guys benefit so radically from NoFap, while others seem to function fine without it? What is it that separates them?
And one final question – do you guys think I practice nofap? If not, how many times a week do you think I spank it?
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If you’re curious to see more of my personal life, where I do discuss a vast number of sexual themes, check me out on Instagram @nelsonquest –
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