Bahai teachings of physical intimacy.?

Question

What are the Bahai teachings of physical intimacy?
I know that premarital or extramarital sex and homosexuality is prohibited in the Kitab-i-Aqdas. What about teachings concerning lesser acts of intimacy, such as kissing? And in what texts are these teachings found?

Answer 1

The quotes below speak for themselves so I will not include many of my own words...hope it helps.

Kissing in Modern Society is Detrimental to Morals
"What Bahá'u'lláh means by chastity certainly does not include the kissing that goes on in modern society. It is detrimental to the morals of young people, and often leads them to go too far, or arouses appetites which they cannot perhaps at the time satisfy legitimately through marriage, and the suppression of which is a strain on them.

"The Bahá'í standard is very high, more particularly when compared with the thoroughly rotten morals of the present world. But this standard of ours will produce healthier, happier, nobler people, and induce stabler marriages."
- From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, October 19, 1947


Bahá'ís Must Set the Example and Lead the Way to a True Human Standard of Life
"The world today is submerged, amongst other things, in an over- exaggeration of the importance of physical love, and a dearth of spiritual values. In as far as possible the believers should try to realize this and rise above the level of their fellow-men who are, typical of all decadent periods in history, placing so much over-emphasis on the purely physical side of mating. Outside of their normal, legitimate married life they should seek to establish bonds of comradeship and love which are eternal and founded on the spiritual life of man, not on his physical life. This is one of the many fields in which it is incumbent on the Bahá'ís to set the example and lead the way to a true human standard of life, when the soul of man is exalted and his body but the tool for his enlightened spirit. Needless to say this does not preclude the living of a perfectly normal sex life in its legitimate channel of marriage."
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, September 28, 1941: Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1968-1973, pp. 108-109)


Bahá'í Youth Should Use The Teachings on Chastity For Guidance in Deciding Which Intimacies are Permissible and Which Are Not
"We have received your letter of 19 June 1973 and can sympathize with the problems that Bahá'í youth face when trying to live up to the Bahá'í standards of behavior. It is, perhaps, natural that in the bewildering amoral environment in which Bahá'í youth are growing up they feel the need for specific instructions on which intimacies are permissible and which are not. However, we feel it would be most unwise for any Bahá'í institution to issue detailed instructions about this.

"The Bahá'í youth should study the teachings on chastity and, with these in mind, should avoid any behaviour which would arouse passions which would tempt them to violate them. In deciding what acts are permissible to them in the light of these considerations the youth must use their own judgement, following the guidance of their consciences and the advice of their parents.

"If Bahá'í youth combine such personal purity with an attitude of uncensorious forbearance towards others they will find that those who may have criticized or even mocked them will come, in time, to respect them. They will, moreover, be laying a firm foundation for future married happiness."
From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to a Local Spiritual Assembly, July 9, 1973

Answer 2

Get the Bible. It is the best and read the book of proverbs.

Abstain from kissing, it is sometimes tempting but one thing leads to another

Answer 3

You must never see your spouse naked. All sex must either be done fully-clothed, or with blindfolds.