What do monks and priests think about to not desire sex?

What do you think? You’re asking about priests, the answer is God. When your life is devoted to God and you understand what God thinks of sexual immorality, then you won’t be tempted. It’s those who are of the world who are the devils minions. Easily swayed one way or the other.

 

Monks remove themselves from modern society. Away from technology and away from women. In a very regimented lifestyle among their fellow monks. It’s a lot easier to overcome lust in that kind of environment than what normal people have to deal with.

As for priests, catholic priests “marry the church.” When they become priests they devote their life to the church and know they are meant to stay single and celibate. They have a higher purpose for their life which is about serving God and the church. Don’t underestimate the power of faith. I’ve come across quite a few devout Christians who have been completely abstinent from pmo and sex for years and years without blinking. At the end of the day the highest purpose you can have for retaining is to serve God. Everything else is just for yourself. Which is fine and all, but often it’s not as strong as what faith can do for you. And men of God have all the blessings and angels on their side. They pray daily. There’s just so many reasons that they succeed. At least those who are truly serious about their faith.

Yes there are people in the bible with wives but there were also many many saints who were celibate. For example Paul. You can read what Paul says about sexual immorality and lust in the book of Corinthians. And don’t forget the most important one of all.. Jesus Christ.

 

I think you’re getting somewhere with this introspection. How long has your longest streak of semen retention/ celibacy been?

 

Relapsed with sex or pmo? When’s the last time you had sex

 

Monks, depending on the discipline, either meditate, pray it constantly work. Priests stay busy as well. I think they keep their time filled so they don't have as much time to think about it. Of course they think about it. Would take YEARS to train yourself not to.

 

Speaking from the Catholic perspective for Holy Orders (priesthood/clerical state) and religious life (monks, friars, nun, consecrated) the calling is one of closer imitation and union with Jesus Christ and for the salvation of souls; the fulfillment of the two great commandments which sum up all of them: 1 To love God with all of your heart, mind, body, and soul. 2. To love your neighbor as yourself for the sake of God.

The forfeiture of married life is seen as a sacrifice of something good for a higher good, namely, a living out of the type of selfless supernatural love Christ had for the Father and for us. Since Christ is God there is nothing He lacks in perfection, this means His love for the Father and you is completely and utterly selfless. He gains nothing at all by loving you, but loves you solely for your benefit. Inspired by this the priest and religious seeks to become a victim of love, joined to Christ who is the True Victim of Love. In union with Him they likewise lay down their lives for the salvation of souls and seek no repayment/reward for it in this life.

A beautiful hymn that captures this type of love is from Saint Francis Xavier

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S HYMN OF LOVE

O GOD, I love Thee for Thyself,
And not that I may Heaven gain,
Nor because those who
love Thee not,
Must suffer Hell's eternal pain.

Thou O my Jesus! Thou
didst me
Upon the Cross embrace;
For me didst bear the nails
and spear
And manifold disgrace;

And griefs and torments
numberless,
And sweat of agony;
E'en death itself-----and all
for one
Who was Thine enemy.

Then why, O blessed Jesus
Christ,
Should I not love Thee well:
Not for the sake of winning
Heaven,
Or of escaping Hell;
Not with the hope of gaining aught, not seeking a
reward;
But, as Thyself hast loved
me, O ever-loving Lord?

E'en so I love Thee, and will
love, and in Thy praise
will sing;
Solely because Thou art my
God
And my eternal King.


As for the belief that they’re tempted less by the desire for sensual pleasures, well, that’s not true, They are tempted very much by such things and are tempted very much by doubts. It can be argued that by taking on these vocations they are tempted even more to things/pleasures which may entice them to abandon their vocation and the selfless love required in order to fulfill it perfectly.

 

Sex is a psychological need.
The brain resorts to it as a way of offsetting anxiety/ psychological stress.
Monks live a life of low stress.
In Buddhism they renunciate all desires because they cause anxiety and stress.

The trick is to stay at peace.
When you are at total peace, sex and other outlets are not needed.


I hope that answers the question.

 

Buddhist and Shaolin monks go and isolate themselves in a temple all their lives, so there are no women to tempt them. I thought about how I wish there was a male-only gym. Women are a Huge distraction in the gym, and if they weren’t there, men could probably pump out 2-3 more reps per set because all their mental energy would be focused on pumping out those reps and not distracted by women in booty shorts, etc., walking all around them Deliberately seeking the attention no doubt.

For a practical answer though, just try your best to ignore it all as much as possible. It just is of no benefit and is only detrimental to your creative power to give attention to it. So just say no to it in your mind and know that it is just off limits.

 

I was where you are right now. I despaired giving up PMO and living a holy lifestyle, but I made it much farther to the point where life is much better. If I dwell on girls, not being married, I may become depressed (which can also lead into a relapse), but when I just ignore it and enjoy what I do have, right now life is Soo much more peaceful than when I was addicted to PMO. So I am telling you there is great hope. I used to listen to people say there is joy in Christ, and I didn’t know how to believe them, maybe like you, but now I say there is a deep, true love for Christ that I have that I can only enjoy when I am not sinning against Him. Keep fighting. It gets better.

 

Wether there are women or not, if you are at peace you see them through the eyes of love.
Try it.

 

You can prove it without total peace as sex is not something you ever need —not like food, water, oxygen, etc.

 

Reconstructing our minds to restore the dignity of the objects of our lust and to view them as human beings to love is why we’re all here. You don’t sound very at peace though with your snarky remark, “Try it.”

 

have you considered asking a priest himself?
dont ask him "hey do you think of girls". Just ask for advice for a personal struggle. (only do this if you're genuinely interested -I just think its a bit rude to speculate about other people when you can ask those people personally)