3. Is Touching or Even Looking Permitted?

World Scripture

You shall not eat of the fruit… neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
Genesis 3.3

Offering presents to a woman, romping with her, touching her ornaments and dress, sitting with her on a bed, all these are considered adulterous acts.
Laws of Manu 8.357 (Hinduism)

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5.27-28

The adultery of the eye is the lustful look, and the adultery of the tongue is the licentious speech, and the heart desires and yearns, which the parts may or may not put into effect.
Hadith of Muslim (Islam)

It is true that you commit no actual crimes; but when you meet a beautiful woman in another’s home and cannot banish her from your thoughts, you have committed adultery with her in your heart. Consider a moment! Would you have sufficient control over yourself to imitate the sage Lu Nan-tze if you were placed in a similar position?
When he once found himself obliged to pass the night in a house whose only other occupant was a woman, he lighted a lamp and read aloud until morning to avoid exposing her to unjust suspicions.
Treatise on Response and Retribution, Appended Tales (Taoism)

The Buddha said, “Be careful not to look at women and do not talk with them. If you must speak with them, be properly mindful and think, ‘I am a shramana living in a turbid world.²⁵ I should be like the lotus flower and not be defiled by the mud.’ Regard old women the way you regard your mother.
Regard those who are older than you the way you regard your elder sisters; regard those who are younger than you as your younger sisters, and regard children as your own. Bring forth thoughts to rescue them, and put an end to bad thoughts.”
Sutra of Forty-two Sections 29 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

In the Western world, men and women shake hands, hold hands and hug each other so casually that they do not feel any special sensation. In the East, however, men and women rarely have physical contact with each other. So if they happen to merely brush against each other, they feel an electric spark. Which is better, for men and women to have frequent physical contact or to refrain from touching until they are fully mature?
When the electricity sparks, would you rather it be 50 volts or 100 volts? Therefore, you should wait. What do you think? Should young men and women go on dates, hold hands and kiss each other before marriage? You should wait and refrain from touching until you are fully ripe, like an apple that has turned totally red. Then even at the touch of your partner’s hand you will feel an exciting electrical spark.
Yet most American women never experience the full sensation of first love, because having dissipated their electricity, the remaining charge is only at 50 volts or even 30 volts. Now what do you think of American style love? Satan uses this and many other methods to invade the realm of high-intensity love.
To a pure teenage boy, a girl is like a palace of mysteries. Likewise, to a pure teenage girl, a boy is like a palace of mysteries. But these days, where is the mystery? Boys and girls behave like animals. They love each other like cats and dogs, without any vertical love.
(125:103, March 13, 1983)

The religious life is one in which your conscience tortures your body until it surrenders. Once the flesh is completely dead, your conscience should occupy it so it can never come back to life again. Thus, the mind must dominate the flesh. Therefore, you should turn your habitual way of seeing inside out and see straight.
Your eyes, which have been looking at things 180 degrees opposite the way they ought to, should now turn 180 degrees opposite their former way of seeing. Whereas, before, when you were on the satanic side you looked through the left eye, now you should look through the right eye.
In other words, your eyes, which could not see properly because they were 180 degrees off, should be united with your conscience and return to their original place, coming back to the right side after having rotated 360 degrees. From that time on, your eyes are welcome to view anything because you see with the eyes of the original mind.
(261:303-04, July 24, 1994)