Spirituality in the adult industry...

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06-20-2006, 12:59 AM
dwaynered

Spirituality in the adult industry...

Hello everyone,

I got permission to post this thread in order to get feedback on a site that I own and operate for a school that I started last year.

It's not adult-oriented but since I've worked in the adult industry for over seven years I thought I would get the best comments from you guys.

The site is at www.zensi.org and the new design was launched last week. I'm going to continue to add content as the weeks go by.

I realized from a conversation I had this weekend that the adult industry isn't very vocal about spirituality. Perhaps I can start a trend. And yes for the nay sayers the possibility of bridging spirituality and porn does exist! :penny:

Thank you and try not to be too harsh. It is after all an informational/inspirational website more than anything.
06-20-2006, 01:27 AM
Xstr8guy

Ouch! Touchy subject for me.

I think spirituality should be kept between a person and their god... if they have one. I personally do not believe in any higher power. And I get really annoyed when someone tries to tell me about their fairy-tale of a religion.

But then again, that's just my opinion. ;)
06-20-2006, 01:58 AM
gaybucks_chip

I absolutely believe that spirituality and adult entertainment can coexist. Personally, I'm a pretty spiritual person, and while far from perfect, I do my best (most of the time) to treat others the way I'd like to be treated, and try to help make the world a better place... which may not be quite the normal definition of "spiritual" but is part of my beliefs. And I do believe in the presence of a higher being, but not in the way the more fundamental Christians believe.

I also agree with XStr8Guy that spirituality is one of those things that is intensely personal. In general, on any discussion board, the quickest way to start a flame war is to discuss politics or religion :) So I try to be careful to not place any judgement on others for their beliefs (or their choice not to have beliefs) since I don't know any better than anyone on the planet does what absolute truth, if any, exists.

The spiritual or religious people that I've always had the most respect for are the ones who not only hold to their beliefs, but who incorporate their beliefs into their daily actions. And most of the ones I know that fit into that category are the people who are quiet and nonjudgemental and don't spend their energy trying to "save" or otherwise sit in judgement of anyone else.
06-20-2006, 02:11 AM
abostonboy

Quote:

Originally Posted by boyfunk

I absolutely believe that spirituality and adult entertainment can coexist. Personally, I'm a pretty spiritual person, and while far from perfect, I do my best (most of the time) to treat others the way I'd like to be treated, and try to help make the world a better place... which may not be quite the normal definition of "spiritual" but is part of my beliefs. And I do believe in the presence of a higher being, but not in the way the more fundamental Christians believe.

I also agree with XStr8Guy that spirituality is one of those things that is intensely personal. In general, on any discussion board, the quickest way to start a flame war is to discuss politics or religion :) So I try to be careful to not place any judgement on others for their beliefs (or their choice not to have beliefs) since I don't know any better than anyone on the planet does what absolute truth, if any, exists.

The spiritual or religious people that I've always had the most respect for are the ones who not only hold to their beliefs, but who incorporate their beliefs into their daily actions. And most of the ones I know that fit into that category are the people who are quiet and nonjudgemental and don't spend their energy trying to "save" or otherwise sit in judgement of anyone else.

Pretty much my thoughts.

I really wanted to reply in my own words, but just felt weird talking about it on a discussion board. It can lead to a holy war. No pun intended.
06-20-2006, 06:59 AM
jIgG

abostonboy by all means do share :)

to answer the question - I think they can co-exist. Depends on how you see things.

From things that have happened to me and others that can't possibly be explained, and people I've known who are quite extraordinary and who can do things that bafles even the staunchies scientists I think He exists, but for me I don't believe He's anywhere nearly as involved with Earth as some people make it out to be.

You know, some people say they've seen Jesus when they orgasm. One lady especially comes to mind who stopped having sex because every time she'd have a big orgasm she'd see the face of Jesus or what a ghost. Which is pretty funny :D
06-20-2006, 01:09 PM
dwaynered

I apologize for the context of my original post. This thread was NOT meant to start a war on differing idealogies or conceptions of God and truth.

What it was meant to do was

1.) Ask the question "Can spirituality (in all its varying forms) coexist with the adult industry;

2.) Is my website designed well from a professional point of view. Since most of you design your own sites I figured the best place for feedback would be here.

Please don't take this thread personally. It is neither an attack on personal beliefs or an attempt to support any.

That's my disclaimer.

Feel free NOT to post a reply if you are insulted in any way. This isn't the place for emotional outbursts. :thumbsup:
06-20-2006, 01:13 PM
gaystoryman

Can it co-exist? Can't see why not.

As to the site. I am not too sure I like the thin font you are using at the start, they seem a bit anemic to me.

The other thing that jumped out was that in your more text loaded pages, you have your paragraphs all centered text which really is a no no. They should be left aligned text for a more uniform appearance than center aligned.

On the far right where you have the links, add a space after them as they appear to me to be rather too close to the right edge of the page. It will help set them off rather than make them blend into the edge of the page.

just my quick 2 cents.

hth
Ian
06-20-2006, 01:36 PM
dwaynered

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaystoryman

Can it co-exist? Can't see why not.

As to the site. I am not too sure I like the thin font you are using at the start, they seem a bit anemic to me.

The other thing that jumped out was that in your more text loaded pages, you have your paragraphs all centered text which really is a no no. They should be left aligned text for a more uniform appearance than center aligned.

On the far right where you have the links, add a space after them as they appear to me to be rather too close to the right edge of the page. It will help set them off rather than make them blend into the edge of the page.

just my quick 2 cents.

hth
Ian

Awesome! Thank you Ian! I'll make some of those changes.
06-20-2006, 01:47 PM
Bec

I agree with Ian about left justifying the text. Centered like that it is a bitch to read ... works for poetry but not for information sites, and doesn't look professional.

I also agree that you need to either move the subject text so it's off the edge - either use tables with cell spacing added, or manage it with CSS styling.
06-20-2006, 02:07 PM
Paco

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwaynered

1.) Ask the question "Can spirituality (in all its varying forms) coexist with the adult industry;

2.) Is my website designed well from a professional point of view. Since most of you design your own sites I figured the best place for feedback would be here.

1). Yes, there can be a peaceful existence for (some) individuals, however, for the industry, as a whole, I believe it is NOT possible as there are way too many religions, which 'shun' or forbid porn.

2). BTW, one of the pennies Ian threw in was mine (I agree with his critique) and would like to huck in one more:

Time to optimize!
Two example:
A).

B). border="0" ... >

Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) is a beautiful thing:

The few lines listed above have now done away with the border="0", which you have in every img tag, as well with all the font tags.
06-20-2006, 02:21 PM
dwaynered

Quote:

Time to optimize!
Two example:
A).

B). border="0" ... >

Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) is a beautiful thing:

The few lines listed above have now done away with the border="0", which you have in every img tag, as well with all the font tags.

I'm a newbie to HTML coding so thank you for the help. =)
06-20-2006, 02:30 PM
Paco

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwaynered

I'm a newbie to HTML coding so thank you for the help. =)

It is my pleasure!
Since you're kinda new to HMTL, I recommend to you to learn CSS - it will 'lighten' (reduce the file size) the majority of your pages, greatly.

I left out the many details about inserting the code, so you cannot simply add it to your HTML. I just wanted to point that out.

Glad I could add something 'more' than mere verbal or textual fodder (as with many of my posts/replies).
06-20-2006, 09:36 PM
Squirt

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwaynered

I realized from a conversation I had this weekend that the adult industry isn't very vocal about spirituality. Perhaps I can start a trend. And yes for the nay sayers the possibility of bridging spirituality and porn does exist!

May I suggest posting to the forums and giving your insight?
06-20-2006, 10:10 PM
maxpower

Porn is almost by definition all about indulgent of worldly pleasures more or less, and fantasy so I find it hard to believe it can be considered spiritual by that stander. Well not in any major religion I know of “and that is a area I do enjoy” other than the fantasy part I guess of course LOL. Personal I think this is yet another way some of us try to justify what we do rather than just coming out to ourselves and others by saying we only want to make PORN. That said I guess it can coexist in the same way devil can coexists with god or what ever, it does give them something to stand against protecting what they would have to go after if it was not for porn. And if not for porn or other things to abject to their would be no real need for religion at all, so in a way with out evil their would be no good ;)
06-21-2006, 08:53 AM
gaybucks_chip

There's nothing inherently evil about porn as a whole.

One could certainly argue that porn which degrades one of the participants, or promotes violence or rape is not in keeping with the values that most spiritual traditions hold, but porn that celebrates healthy sexuality, in which the models are genuinely enjoying themselves and the audience is watching something that is fulfilling and enjoyable for them... I don't see any inherent conflicts with the meta view of most spiritual teachings.

One of my pet future projects is creating a video teaching guys to use techniques similar to Tantric breathwork and meditation to enhance male orgasm. It will, in some ways, draw on elements of spirituality to enhance sexual experience, so that's a pretty solid mixing of the two worlds :)

Of course, many Christian types and probalby the majority of Muslims will beg to differ, as they are entitled to do, but I don't inherently believe that there's an automatic, unresolvable conflict between any type of porn and all types of spirituality.
06-21-2006, 11:54 AM
dwaynered

Quote:

Originally Posted by boyfunk

One of my pet future projects is creating a video teaching guys to use techniques similar to Tantric breathwork and meditation to enhance male orgasm. It will, in some ways, draw on elements of spirituality to enhance sexual experience, so that's a pretty solid mixing of the two worlds :)

Of course, many Christian types and probalby the majority of Muslims will beg to differ, as they are entitled to do, but I don't inherently believe that there's an automatic, unresolvable conflict between any type of porn and all types of spirituality.

This is a great idea! A Tantric adult sexuality video that goes beyond and above the average localized orgasm.

I wanted to clarify my personal definition of spirituality vs. religion.

Spirituality is the intangible path each of us follow through life regardless of belief, morals and ideals. Spirituality, for me, is a personal experience and yet ironically something that projects outward to the world through interaction. Spirituality is religion inherent within oneself and there is neither right nor wrong or evil vs. good.

Versus traditional religious organizations, spirituality strengthens and evolves the consciousness of each person that's in tune with their heart. It doesn't force anyone, it doesn't promote belief of or in others, and it moves us to experience life from our own point of view.

So, in the adult industry, my personal experience has shown that spirituality and sex can and should coexist in harmony. Without that harmony, pornography only promotes the sexual repression of a world filled with belief, morals and idealogies that have nothing to do with personal experience.

Knowledge isn't wisdom but it can lead to it if we are aware.
06-21-2006, 01:09 PM
maxpower

I could quote over a dozen passages in the bible that say Porn or indulging in worldly pleasures like that are a bad thing for you, the same could go for about any other organized religion around. Now I am sure if I want to make something up in my head or with my friends I could call anything I want spiritual. Hell some murders call killing others a spiritual experience, just cuzz someone says they think something is spiritual does not make it true.

Now I never said Porn was evil, I was pointing out it was the yin to spirituals yang, with out the yin or yang their would be no whole, its all part of each other but opposed at the same time. I could have said with out the darkness their would be no light, with out sad their is no happy, with out indulgent of worldly pleasures their would be no spiritually, with out cloudy day, we would not care about the sunny ones. I could go on like this for days.

http://www.tattoosymbol.com/images/symbols/yin-yang.jpg
06-21-2006, 01:19 PM
dwaynered

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxpower

Now I never said Porn was evil, I was pointing out it was the yin to spirituals yang, with out the yin or yang their would be no whole, its all part of each other but opposed at the same time. I could have said with out the darkness their would be no light, with out sad their is no happy, with out indulgent of worldly pleasures their would be no spiritually, with out cloudy day, we would not care about the sunny ones. I could go on like this for days.

http://www.tattoosymbol.com/images/symbols/yin-yang.jpg

Excellent!
06-21-2006, 01:32 PM
maxpower

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwaynered

Excellent!

Thanks man, the past few days have been fun for me with all this psychology and religion topics, hell if we had a thread about science I would be in hog heaven :jasun: