Homosexuality and Buddhism
Encyclopedia
LGBT community and Buddhism describes the relationship between members of the LGBT
community and the teachings of Buddhism
. Various traditions and teachers in Buddhism have held different views on the subject of homosexuality. According to some scholars, early Buddhism appears to have placed no special stigma on homosexual relations.
for a layperson is effectively not a religious matter. "Sexual misconduct" is a broad term, subject to interpretation according to followers' social norms. Early Buddhism appears to have placed no special stigma on homosexual relations.
The situation is different for monastics. For them, the Vinaya
(code of monastic discipline) bans all sexual activity, but does so in purely physiological terms, making no moral distinctions among the many possible forms of intercourse it lists.
Among Buddhists there is a wide diversity of opinion about homosexuality. Buddhism
teaches that sensual enjoyment and desire in general, and sexual pleasure in particular, are hindrances to enlightenment
, and inferior to the kinds of pleasure (see, e.g. pīti
, a Pāli
word often translated as "rapture") that are integral to the practice of jhāna. However, most Buddhists do not pursue skill in meditation or aim for enlightenment. For most, the goal is a pleasant life and, after death, a pleasant rebirth. For these Buddhists, enjoying sensual pleasures in a non-harmful way is normative.
Regarding transsexual people, the earliest texts mention the possibility of a person changing sexes; such a person is not barred from ordination, and if already ordained, simply changes orders.
Within the earliest monastic texts such as the Vinaya
(c.
4th century BCE), male monks are explicitly forbidden from having sexual relations with any of the four genders
: male, female, ubhatovyanjañaka and paṇḍaka; various meanings of these words are given below. Later, the Buddha allowed the ordination of women, but forbade ordination to these other types of people. The Buddha's proscriptions against certain types of people joining the monastic sangha (ordained community) are often understood to reflect his concern with upholding the public image of the sangha as virtuous; in some cases, this is explicitly stated. Social acceptability was vital for the sangha, as it could not survive without material support from lay society.
Paṇḍaka are categorized with others who are also excluded from ordination; either those with physical abnormalities such as deafness or dwarfism
, or those who have committed crimes. "The Story of the Prohibition of the Ordination of Pandaka" from the Vinaya explains that the ban is a response to the example of a monk with an insatiable desire to be sexually penetrated by men, who requested and received this from some animals handlers, who then in turn related the incident to the wider community and brought disgrace upon the sangha.
s, but display behavioral and psychological characteristics of both sexes, such as a woman who is attracted to other women. 5th century Buddhist writer Buddhaghosa
describes ubhatobyanjanaka as people with the body of one gender but the "power" of the other. Leonard Zwilling argues that in this account Buddhaghosa does not in fact describe hermaphroditism but rather bisexuality or homosexuality; other writers dispute this.
In other texts, the term paṇḍaka can include those born sexually indeterminate or with no sex, eunuchs, those whose sexuality changes every half month, males who gain sexual satisfaction by performing fellatio
on other men, and voyeurs
. It sometimes includes males or females with any sexual dysfunction, such as impotence or irregular menstrual cycle
s. The common element seems to be those whose sexuality is either limited physiologically, or those who have "perverse" or extra sexuality. Together these "third sex" types are almost always portrayed negatively as a pariah class, especially in the earliest texts. In modern contexts, paṇḍaka is often interpreted to include lesbian
s, gay
men, and transgender
and intersex people, although in ancient times, a man who sexually penetrated another man or a paṇḍaka was not himself considered a paṇḍaka.
In the Samantapasadika
, a work of the fifth century CE Theravadin
commentator and scholar Buddhaghosa
's, paṇḍaka are described as being filled with defiling passions (ussanakilesa), unquenchable lusts (avapasantaparilaha) and are dominated by their libido (parilahavegabhibhuta). Fourth century Buddhist writer Vasubandhu
contends that the paṇḍaka has no discipline for spiritual practice, due to their defiling passions of both male and female sexes. They lack the moral fortitude to counter these passions because they lack modesty and shame. Incapable of showing restraint, such a being is abandoned by their parents and lacking such ties are unable to hold strong views.
The Abhidharma
states that a paṇḍaka cannot achieve enlightenment in their own lifetime, but must wait for reincarnation as a normal man or woman. Ananda
—Buddha's cousin and disciple—was said to be a paṇḍaka in one of his many previous lives, as was the Buddhist nun Isidāsī (from the Therigatha
). In both cases birth as a paṇḍaka was a result of poor karma
, and the idea that being a paṇḍaka stems from bad behaviour in a previous life is common in Buddhist literature.
Buddha's proscriptions against certain types of people joining the monastic sangha
(ordained community) are often understood to reflect his concern with upholding the public image of the sangha as virtuous. Thus, sexually active people, especially those with unusual sexual tastes, and people of a third gender—along with criminals and disabled people—run the risk of bringing the order into disrepute. Peter Jackson
, scholar of sexual politics and Buddhism in Thailand, speculates that the Buddha was initially reluctant to allow women to join the sangha for this reason. Jackson explains:
Social acceptability was vital for the sangha, as it could not survive without material support from lay society.
The third sex are excluded from a variety of Buddhist practices (in addition to ordination):
In contrast, later texts, particularly Tibetan Buddhist
writings, occasionally value paṇḍaka positively for their "middleness" and balance. The paṇḍaka in these Tibetan works is translated with the term ma ning—"genderless" or "without genitals". The 13th century Tibetan monk Gyalwa Yang Gönpa, who was one of the significant figures in the early Drukpa Kagyu sect, writes about ma ning as a balanced state between maleness and femaleness. Yang Gönpa describes ma ning as "the abiding breath between male exhalation and female inhalation" and "the balanced yogic channel, as opposed to the too tight male channel, and the too loose female one".
(12th century), one of the main early masters of the Kagyu
school of Tibetan Buddhism, followed the Indian Buddhist tradition, starting with the third-century Hinayana texts of Vasubandhu
, that oral
and anal sex
, whether with a man or a woman, are violations of the third precept regarding inappropriate sexual behavior. Longchenpa
, the 13th century founder of the Nyingma
school, citing the third-century Mahayana texts of the Indian master Asanga
, elaborated that inappropriate sexual behavior also include the hands among inappropriate parts of the body for sexual activity. Subsequent Tibetan masters from all four schools of Tibetan buddhism accept all these specifications as delineated in the earlier Indian Buddhist texts.
The current Dalai Lama follows the traditional Tibetan Buddhist assertion that inappropriate sexual behaviour includes lesbian and gay sex, and indeed any sex other than penis-vagina intercourse with one's own monogamous partner, including oral sex, anal sex, and masturbation.
In early interviews,he stated in 1994 that "If someone comes to me and asks whether homosexuality is okay or not, I will ask 'What is your companion's opinion?' If you both agree, then I think I would say 'if two males or two females voluntarily agree to have mutual satisfaction without further implication of harming others, then it is okay'".
However, in his 1996 book Beyond Dogma, he clearly states, "A sexual act is deemed proper when the couples use the organs intended for sexual intercourse and nothing else ... homosexuality, whether it is between men or between women, is not improper in itself. What is improper is the use of organs already defined as inappropriate for sexual contact."
In this discussion, it should be understood that the controversial topic is inappropriate sexual conduct for a Buddhist practitioner, as the Dalai Lama has repeatedly "voiced his support for the full recognition of human rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation." He explained in 1997: "It's part of what we Buddhists call bad sexual conduct. Sexual organs were created for reproduction between the male element and the female element—and everything that deviates from that is not acceptable from a Buddhist point of view", while penis-vagina non-procreative sex is not considered to be sexual misconduct. The Dalai Lama admitted that there is a difference between the views of believers and unbelievers, "From a Buddhist point of view, men-to-men and women-to-women is generally considered sexual misconduct. From society's point of view, mutually agreeable homosexual relations can be of mutual benefit, enjoyable and harmless."
He cited the Indian Buddhist texts of Vasubandhu
, Asanga
, and Ashvaghosha as his source concerning what constitutes inappropriate sexual behavior.
Four years earlier, he had been unsure if a mutually agreeable non-abusive same sex relationship would be acceptable within the general principles of Buddhism. However, he had difficulty imagining the mechanics of homosexual sex, saying that nature had arranged male and female organs "in such a manner that is very suitable... Same-sex organs cannot manage well." The Dalai Lama has repeatedly said to LGBT groups that he can't rewrite the texts. He thinks that this is the type of issue that would need to be discussed by a council of Buddhist elders from all Buddhist traditions. Only such a council could amend issues concerning Vinaya and ethics. The Dalai Lama also recommends the issue of the equality of women, particularly in monastic rituals and ceremonies, to be reconsidered and revised.
In an interview with Wikinews
, Tashi Wangdi
, Representative to the Dalai Lama, further elaborated his perspective on these views. If a person was to engage in homosexuality, "a person would not be considered as following all the precepts of Buddhist principles. People don’t follow all the principles. Very few people can claim they follow all the principles. For instance, telling a lie. In any religion, if you ask if telling a lie is a sin—say Christian—they will say yes. But you find very few people who don’t at some point tell a lie. Homosexuality is one act, but you can’t say [a person who is homosexual is] not a Buddhist. Or someone who tells a lie is not a Buddhist. Or someone who kills an insect is not a Buddhist, because there’s a strong injunction against that."
consequence of violating Buddhist proscriptions against heterosexual misconduct. These karmic accounts describe homosexuality as a congenital condition which cannot be altered, at least in a homosexual person's current lifetime, and have been linked with calls for compassion and understanding from the non-homosexual populace." Some more recent Thai Buddhist accounts (from the late 1980s) have "described homosexuality as a wilful violation of "natural" (hetero)sexual conduct resulting from lack of ethical control over sexual impulses." Peter Jackson
, an Australian scholar of sexual politics and Buddhism in Thailand, writes that these positions represent "two broad schools of thought on homosexuality [which] are current among contemporary Thai Buddhist writers, one accepting, the other unaccepting. The key factor differentiating the divergent stances is the author's conceptualisation of the origin of homosexuality; those who, taking a liberal stance, maintain that it is a condition which is outside the conscious control of homosexual men and women and has its origins in past misdeeds, whereas those who maintain that homosexuality is a wilful violation of ethical and natural principles takes an antagonistic position."
Peter Jackson argues that AIDS in the 1980s brought about a shift of perception in Thailand regarding kathoey
s, "placing homosexuality rather than gender at the focus of the concept", which was associated with "a shift in Buddhist attitudes from relative tolerance of homosexuality to condemnation."
In 1989, the supreme governing body of the Thai sangha affirmed that "gays" (here translated from Thai kathoey) are prohibited from being ordained. Their declaration has apparently gone unheeded in some quarters, as Phra Pisarn Thammapatee (AKA Phra Payom Kalayano), one of the most eminent monks in the country, demanded in 2003 that 1,000 gay monks be ousted from the sangha, and that better screening processes are put in place to keep out any gay postulant
s.
priest Genshin
denounced monks "...who have accosted another's acolyte and wickedly violated him" in a text printed in 985 AD, the main offence seems to have been that the acolyte wasn't one's own. Chigo Monogatari, "acolyte stories" of love between monks and their chigo were popular, and such relationships appear to have been commonplace, alongside sex with women. In the 15th century, maverick Zen
monk Ikkyu Sojun (1394–1481) wrote, "follow the rule of celibacy and you are no more than an ass." Later, "exhausted with homosexual pleasures", he took a wife.
Western Christian travellers to Japan from the 16th century have noted (with distaste) the prevalence and acceptance of forms of homosexuality among Japanese Buddhists—Jesuit priest Francis Cabral wrote in 1596 that "abominations of the flesh" and "vicious habits" were "regarded in Japan as quite honourable; men of standing entrust their sons to the bonze
s to be instructed in such things, and at the same time to serve their lust".
A 17th century Japanese Buddhist scholar, Kitamura Kigin, wrote that Buddha advocated homosexuality over heterosexuality for priests:
Popular Japanese legend attributed the introduction of homosexuality to Japan to Shingon founder Kukai
, although scholars now dismiss the veracity of this assertion. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same sex relation between men and boys in seventeenth century Japan."
, A. L. De Silva writes, "Generally the attitude has been one of tolerance. Matteo Ricci
, the Jesuit missionary who lived in China for twenty-seven years from 1583, expressed horror at the open and tolerant attitude that the Chinese took to homosexuality and naturally enough saw this as proof of the degeneracy of Chinese society."
Venerable Hsing Yun
, one of the premier figures in contemporary Chinese Buddhism, has stated that Buddhism should never teach intolerance toward homosexuality, and that people should expand their minds.
Hsing Yun is a bestselling author throughout the Sinosphere
, as well as an advocate of Humanistic Buddhism
, an approach to reform Chinese Buddhism to match the needs of contemporary laypeople. As such, his views may not be wholly reflective of the older Buddhist views in China, which sometimes associate homosexuality with the dangers of sexual desire.
An example of an older view in opposition to homosexuality is given by the traditional master, Hsuan Hua
, an important figure for Buddhism in both China and the United States
. Master Hsuan Hua stated that homosexuality "plants the seeds that lead to rebirth in the lower realms of existence". However, this statement does not clearly explain whether it is the status of being a homosexual that causes the seeds, or whether the seeds are associated with homosexual desires. Master Hsuan Hua was known for his strict traditional Buddhist positions on morality, and against desire in general, which is viewed as a force of saṃsāra
. In his commentary on the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters
, he described homosexuality as behavior caused by confusion, as the product of sexual desires.
In contrast to Buddhism in Asia, modern Buddhism in the Western world
is typically associated with a concern for social equality
—partly as a result of its largely middle-class intellectual membership base, and its philosophical roots in freethought
and secular humanism
. When applying Buddhist philosophy to the question of homosexuality, western Buddhists often emphasize the importance the Buddha placed on tolerance, compassion, and seeking answers within one's self. They stress these overarching values rather than examining specific passages or texts. As a result, western Buddhism is often relatively gay-friendly, especially since the 1990s. As interpretation of what is sexual misconduct
is an individual decision and not subject to judgment by any central authority, a view of accepting all peoples, but rejecting certain types of sexual acts is more predominant. LGBT people such as Issan Dorsey, Caitriona Reed
, Pat Enkyo O'Hara and Soeng Hyang
have been ordained as Buddhist monastics and clergy.
An interesting position comes from the western scholar Alexander Berzin, "The texts in Buddhist traditions have been written from the point of view of a heterosexual male. We need to explore the intention of the teachings on sexual misconduct, which ultimately is to eliminate attachment, obsessive desire and dissatisfaction. If a heterosexual male finds no bounds to these disturbing emotions, he might have sex with someone elses partner, as well as other men. We can apply the same logic and explore what constitutes boundless attachment and dissatisfaction for homosexual and bisexual males or females. For example, having sex with somebody elses partner and so on could be destructive for these types of person as well".
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
, holder of the Karma Kagyu
and Nyingma
lineages, in a 2008 talk delivered to LGBT
Dharma
practitioners at the Shambhala
Meditation Center of New York
, stressed that for vajrayana
lay practitioners, homosexual relationships are no better or worse than heterosexual relationships and that only unhealthy relationships in general are to be avoided. Both the Nalandabodhi
sangha
, which was founded by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, and the Shambhala
sanghas founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
have stated that they are welcoming of all sexual orientations. The Shambhala Meditation Center of New York hosts a weekly practice group, Queer Dharma, specifically catering to the needs of the LGBTQ Buddhist community. According to the Danish
Karma Kagyu
Lama
Ole Nydahl
, Buddha saw homosexuality
as circumstances making life more difficult, but also explained the reason for homosexuality could be aversion against the opposite sex in a former life. Nydahl says however that sexual orientation is not really important in order to practice Buddhism.
The U.S. branch of Soka Gakkai International
, a Japan-based new religious movement
(Shinshūkyō
) influenced by Nichiren Buddhism
, announced in 1995 that they would start holding wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples, and in 2001 established a conference for LGBT
members and their supporters. A Buddhist temple in Salt Lake City connected with Jodo Shinshu
, another Japanese school of Buddhism, also holds religious rites for same-sex couples.
Another Buddhist organization founded in the West, Juniper Foundation
, wrote an article A Buddhist Vote for Same Sex Marriage demonstrating how Buddhist thinking embraces same-sex marriage:
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community and the teachings of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Various traditions and teachers in Buddhism have held different views on the subject of homosexuality. According to some scholars, early Buddhism appears to have placed no special stigma on homosexual relations.
Lay followers and monastic practices
In Buddhism, the acceptability of homosexualityHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
for a layperson is effectively not a religious matter. "Sexual misconduct" is a broad term, subject to interpretation according to followers' social norms. Early Buddhism appears to have placed no special stigma on homosexual relations.
The situation is different for monastics. For them, the Vinaya
Vinaya
The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha, based in the canonical texts called Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Buddha, or Buddhadharma can be divided into two broad categories: 'Dharma' or doctrine, and 'Vinaya', or discipline...
(code of monastic discipline) bans all sexual activity, but does so in purely physiological terms, making no moral distinctions among the many possible forms of intercourse it lists.
Among Buddhists there is a wide diversity of opinion about homosexuality. Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
teaches that sensual enjoyment and desire in general, and sexual pleasure in particular, are hindrances to enlightenment
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
, and inferior to the kinds of pleasure (see, e.g. pīti
Piti
Pīti in Pali is a mental factor associated with the concentrative absorption of Buddhist meditation. Piti is a very specific joy associated with a state of deep tranquillity...
, a Pāli
Páli
- External links :* *...
word often translated as "rapture") that are integral to the practice of jhāna. However, most Buddhists do not pursue skill in meditation or aim for enlightenment. For most, the goal is a pleasant life and, after death, a pleasant rebirth. For these Buddhists, enjoying sensual pleasures in a non-harmful way is normative.
Regarding transsexual people, the earliest texts mention the possibility of a person changing sexes; such a person is not barred from ordination, and if already ordained, simply changes orders.
Early texts
Vinaya
The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha, based in the canonical texts called Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Buddha, or Buddhadharma can be divided into two broad categories: 'Dharma' or doctrine, and 'Vinaya', or discipline...
(c.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
4th century BCE), male monks are explicitly forbidden from having sexual relations with any of the four genders
Third gender
The terms third gender and third sex describe individuals who are categorized as neither man nor woman, as well as the social category present in those societies who recognize three or more genders...
: male, female, ubhatovyanjañaka and paṇḍaka; various meanings of these words are given below. Later, the Buddha allowed the ordination of women, but forbade ordination to these other types of people. The Buddha's proscriptions against certain types of people joining the monastic sangha (ordained community) are often understood to reflect his concern with upholding the public image of the sangha as virtuous; in some cases, this is explicitly stated. Social acceptability was vital for the sangha, as it could not survive without material support from lay society.
Ubhatovyanjañakas
The word ubhatovyanjañaka is usually thought to describe people who have both male and female sexual characteristics: hermaphrodites. In the Vinaya, it is said that hermaphrodites should not be ordained, on account of the possibility that a hermaphrodite would entice a fellow monk or nun into having sex.Paṇḍakas
The paṇḍaka is a complex category that is variously defined in different Buddhist texts. In the earliest texts, the word seems to refer to a socially stigmatized class of promiscuous, passive, probably transvestite homosexuals, who were possibly prostitutes.Paṇḍaka are categorized with others who are also excluded from ordination; either those with physical abnormalities such as deafness or dwarfism
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
, or those who have committed crimes. "The Story of the Prohibition of the Ordination of Pandaka" from the Vinaya explains that the ban is a response to the example of a monk with an insatiable desire to be sexually penetrated by men, who requested and received this from some animals handlers, who then in turn related the incident to the wider community and brought disgrace upon the sangha.
LBGT people in later traditions
Some modern commentators interpret the word ubhatovyanjañaka as including those who are not physical hermaphroditeHermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
s, but display behavioral and psychological characteristics of both sexes, such as a woman who is attracted to other women. 5th century Buddhist writer Buddhaghosa
Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...
describes ubhatobyanjanaka as people with the body of one gender but the "power" of the other. Leonard Zwilling argues that in this account Buddhaghosa does not in fact describe hermaphroditism but rather bisexuality or homosexuality; other writers dispute this.
In other texts, the term paṇḍaka can include those born sexually indeterminate or with no sex, eunuchs, those whose sexuality changes every half month, males who gain sexual satisfaction by performing fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
on other men, and voyeurs
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....
. It sometimes includes males or females with any sexual dysfunction, such as impotence or irregular menstrual cycle
Menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....
s. The common element seems to be those whose sexuality is either limited physiologically, or those who have "perverse" or extra sexuality. Together these "third sex" types are almost always portrayed negatively as a pariah class, especially in the earliest texts. In modern contexts, paṇḍaka is often interpreted to include lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
men, and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
and intersex people, although in ancient times, a man who sexually penetrated another man or a paṇḍaka was not himself considered a paṇḍaka.
In the Samantapasadika
Samantapasadika
Samantapasadika refers to a collection of Pali commentaries on Theravada Tipitaka Vinaya. It was a translation of Sinhala commentaries into Pali by Buddhaghosa in the 5th century. Many of the verses used in Samanthapasadika are from older Dípavamsa....
, a work of the fifth century CE Theravadin
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
commentator and scholar Buddhaghosa
Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...
's, paṇḍaka are described as being filled with defiling passions (ussanakilesa), unquenchable lusts (avapasantaparilaha) and are dominated by their libido (parilahavegabhibhuta). Fourth century Buddhist writer Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu was an Indian Buddhist monk, and along with his half-brother Asanga, one of the main founders of the Indian Yogācāra school. However, some scholars consider Vasubandhu to be two distinct people. Vasubandhu is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Buddhism...
contends that the paṇḍaka has no discipline for spiritual practice, due to their defiling passions of both male and female sexes. They lack the moral fortitude to counter these passions because they lack modesty and shame. Incapable of showing restraint, such a being is abandoned by their parents and lacking such ties are unable to hold strong views.
The Abhidharma
Abhidharma
Abhidharma or Abhidhamma are ancient Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic and scientific reworkings of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist Sutras, according to schematic classifications...
states that a paṇḍaka cannot achieve enlightenment in their own lifetime, but must wait for reincarnation as a normal man or woman. Ananda
Ananda
Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council...
—Buddha's cousin and disciple—was said to be a paṇḍaka in one of his many previous lives, as was the Buddhist nun Isidāsī (from the Therigatha
Therigatha
The Therigatha, often translated as Verses of the Elder Nuns , is a Buddhist scripture, a collection of short poems supposedly recited by early members of the Buddhist sangha in India around 600 BC...
). In both cases birth as a paṇḍaka was a result of poor karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
, and the idea that being a paṇḍaka stems from bad behaviour in a previous life is common in Buddhist literature.
Buddha's proscriptions against certain types of people joining the monastic sangha
Sangha
Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...
(ordained community) are often understood to reflect his concern with upholding the public image of the sangha as virtuous. Thus, sexually active people, especially those with unusual sexual tastes, and people of a third gender—along with criminals and disabled people—run the risk of bringing the order into disrepute. Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson (academic)
An Australian writer and scholar of gender and sexual identities and Buddhism in Thailand. He is currently a Fellow in the Division of Pacific & Asian History, at the Australian National University in Canberra.-Bibliography:...
, scholar of sexual politics and Buddhism in Thailand, speculates that the Buddha was initially reluctant to allow women to join the sangha for this reason. Jackson explains:
Buddhism, the middle path, has always been concerned with the maintenance of social order and since the Buddha's time the sangha has never claimed to provide a universal vehicle for the spiritual liberation of all individuals in society, explicitly excluding those who are considered to reflect badly on the monkhood in terms of prevailing social norms and attitudes.
Social acceptability was vital for the sangha, as it could not survive without material support from lay society.
The third sex are excluded from a variety of Buddhist practices (in addition to ordination):
- acting as preceptors in ordination ceremonies
- making donations to begging monks
- being preached to
- meditating and
- ability to understand the DharmaDharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
.
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
writings, occasionally value paṇḍaka positively for their "middleness" and balance. The paṇḍaka in these Tibetan works is translated with the term ma ning—"genderless" or "without genitals". The 13th century Tibetan monk Gyalwa Yang Gönpa, who was one of the significant figures in the early Drukpa Kagyu sect, writes about ma ning as a balanced state between maleness and femaleness. Yang Gönpa describes ma ning as "the abiding breath between male exhalation and female inhalation" and "the balanced yogic channel, as opposed to the too tight male channel, and the too loose female one".
Tibetan Buddhism
GampopaGampopa
Gampopa Sonam Rinchen "Sonam Rinchen from Gampo" — who was equally well known in Tibet as Dagpo Lhaje , Nyamed Dakpo Rinpoche , and Da'od Zhonnu , — establishedthe Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism today, as an...
(12th century), one of the main early masters of the Kagyu
Kagyu
The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other five being the Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Bon and Gelug...
school of Tibetan Buddhism, followed the Indian Buddhist tradition, starting with the third-century Hinayana texts of Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu was an Indian Buddhist monk, and along with his half-brother Asanga, one of the main founders of the Indian Yogācāra school. However, some scholars consider Vasubandhu to be two distinct people. Vasubandhu is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Buddhism...
, that oral
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
and anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
, whether with a man or a woman, are violations of the third precept regarding inappropriate sexual behavior. Longchenpa
Longchenpa
Longchen Rabjampa, Drimé Özer "Longchenpa" was a major teacher in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Along with Sakya Pandita and Je Tsongkhapa, he is commonly recognized as one of the three main manifestations of Manjushri to have taught in Central Tibet...
, the 13th century founder of the Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
school, citing the third-century Mahayana texts of the Indian master Asanga
Asanga
Asaṅga was a major exponent of the Yogācāra tradition in India, also called Vijñānavāda. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school...
, elaborated that inappropriate sexual behavior also include the hands among inappropriate parts of the body for sexual activity. Subsequent Tibetan masters from all four schools of Tibetan buddhism accept all these specifications as delineated in the earlier Indian Buddhist texts.
The current Dalai Lama follows the traditional Tibetan Buddhist assertion that inappropriate sexual behaviour includes lesbian and gay sex, and indeed any sex other than penis-vagina intercourse with one's own monogamous partner, including oral sex, anal sex, and masturbation.
In early interviews,he stated in 1994 that "If someone comes to me and asks whether homosexuality is okay or not, I will ask 'What is your companion's opinion?' If you both agree, then I think I would say 'if two males or two females voluntarily agree to have mutual satisfaction without further implication of harming others, then it is okay'".
However, in his 1996 book Beyond Dogma, he clearly states, "A sexual act is deemed proper when the couples use the organs intended for sexual intercourse and nothing else ... homosexuality, whether it is between men or between women, is not improper in itself. What is improper is the use of organs already defined as inappropriate for sexual contact."
In this discussion, it should be understood that the controversial topic is inappropriate sexual conduct for a Buddhist practitioner, as the Dalai Lama has repeatedly "voiced his support for the full recognition of human rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation." He explained in 1997: "It's part of what we Buddhists call bad sexual conduct. Sexual organs were created for reproduction between the male element and the female element—and everything that deviates from that is not acceptable from a Buddhist point of view", while penis-vagina non-procreative sex is not considered to be sexual misconduct. The Dalai Lama admitted that there is a difference between the views of believers and unbelievers, "From a Buddhist point of view, men-to-men and women-to-women is generally considered sexual misconduct. From society's point of view, mutually agreeable homosexual relations can be of mutual benefit, enjoyable and harmless."
He cited the Indian Buddhist texts of Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu was an Indian Buddhist monk, and along with his half-brother Asanga, one of the main founders of the Indian Yogācāra school. However, some scholars consider Vasubandhu to be two distinct people. Vasubandhu is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Buddhism...
, Asanga
Asanga
Asaṅga was a major exponent of the Yogācāra tradition in India, also called Vijñānavāda. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school...
, and Ashvaghosha as his source concerning what constitutes inappropriate sexual behavior.
Four years earlier, he had been unsure if a mutually agreeable non-abusive same sex relationship would be acceptable within the general principles of Buddhism. However, he had difficulty imagining the mechanics of homosexual sex, saying that nature had arranged male and female organs "in such a manner that is very suitable... Same-sex organs cannot manage well." The Dalai Lama has repeatedly said to LGBT groups that he can't rewrite the texts. He thinks that this is the type of issue that would need to be discussed by a council of Buddhist elders from all Buddhist traditions. Only such a council could amend issues concerning Vinaya and ethics. The Dalai Lama also recommends the issue of the equality of women, particularly in monastic rituals and ceremonies, to be reconsidered and revised.
In an interview with Wikinews
Wikinews
Wikinews is a free-content news source wiki and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. The site works through collaborative journalism. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has distinguished Wikinews from Wikipedia by saying "on Wikinews, each story is to be written as a news story as opposed to an...
, Tashi Wangdi
Tashi Wangdi
Tashi Wangdi is the Representative to the Americas for the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. He has held that position since April 16, 2005. Since 1966 he has served the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibet's government-in-exile...
, Representative to the Dalai Lama, further elaborated his perspective on these views. If a person was to engage in homosexuality, "a person would not be considered as following all the precepts of Buddhist principles. People don’t follow all the principles. Very few people can claim they follow all the principles. For instance, telling a lie. In any religion, if you ask if telling a lie is a sin—say Christian—they will say yes. But you find very few people who don’t at some point tell a lie. Homosexuality is one act, but you can’t say [a person who is homosexual is] not a Buddhist. Or someone who tells a lie is not a Buddhist. Or someone who kills an insect is not a Buddhist, because there’s a strong injunction against that."
Theravada Buddhism
In Thailand, traditional accounts propose that "homosexuality arises as a karmicKarma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
consequence of violating Buddhist proscriptions against heterosexual misconduct. These karmic accounts describe homosexuality as a congenital condition which cannot be altered, at least in a homosexual person's current lifetime, and have been linked with calls for compassion and understanding from the non-homosexual populace." Some more recent Thai Buddhist accounts (from the late 1980s) have "described homosexuality as a wilful violation of "natural" (hetero)sexual conduct resulting from lack of ethical control over sexual impulses." Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson (academic)
An Australian writer and scholar of gender and sexual identities and Buddhism in Thailand. He is currently a Fellow in the Division of Pacific & Asian History, at the Australian National University in Canberra.-Bibliography:...
, an Australian scholar of sexual politics and Buddhism in Thailand, writes that these positions represent "two broad schools of thought on homosexuality [which] are current among contemporary Thai Buddhist writers, one accepting, the other unaccepting. The key factor differentiating the divergent stances is the author's conceptualisation of the origin of homosexuality; those who, taking a liberal stance, maintain that it is a condition which is outside the conscious control of homosexual men and women and has its origins in past misdeeds, whereas those who maintain that homosexuality is a wilful violation of ethical and natural principles takes an antagonistic position."
Peter Jackson argues that AIDS in the 1980s brought about a shift of perception in Thailand regarding kathoey
Kathoey
Kathoey or katoey is a male-to-female transgender person or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. Related phrases include sao praphet song , or phet thi sam . The word kathoey is thought to be of Khmer origin...
s, "placing homosexuality rather than gender at the focus of the concept", which was associated with "a shift in Buddhist attitudes from relative tolerance of homosexuality to condemnation."
In 1989, the supreme governing body of the Thai sangha affirmed that "gays" (here translated from Thai kathoey) are prohibited from being ordained. Their declaration has apparently gone unheeded in some quarters, as Phra Pisarn Thammapatee (AKA Phra Payom Kalayano), one of the most eminent monks in the country, demanded in 2003 that 1,000 gay monks be ousted from the sangha, and that better screening processes are put in place to keep out any gay postulant
Postulant
A postulant was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. The use of the term is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a monastery or a convent, both before actual admission and for the length of time preceding their admission into the novitiate...
s.
Japanese Buddhism
Several writers have noted the strong historical tradition of open bisexuality and homosexuality among male Buddhist institutions in Japan. When the TendaiTendai
is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
priest Genshin
Genshin
Genshin , also known as Eshin Sozu, was the most influential of a number of Tendai scholars active during the tenth and eleventh centuries in Japan...
denounced monks "...who have accosted another's acolyte and wickedly violated him" in a text printed in 985 AD, the main offence seems to have been that the acolyte wasn't one's own. Chigo Monogatari, "acolyte stories" of love between monks and their chigo were popular, and such relationships appear to have been commonplace, alongside sex with women. In the 15th century, maverick Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
monk Ikkyu Sojun (1394–1481) wrote, "follow the rule of celibacy and you are no more than an ass." Later, "exhausted with homosexual pleasures", he took a wife.
Western Christian travellers to Japan from the 16th century have noted (with distaste) the prevalence and acceptance of forms of homosexuality among Japanese Buddhists—Jesuit priest Francis Cabral wrote in 1596 that "abominations of the flesh" and "vicious habits" were "regarded in Japan as quite honourable; men of standing entrust their sons to the bonze
Bonze
Bonze may refer to:*Bonze Adventure, 1988 arcade game released by Taito* Sea bonze, a spirit in Japanese folklore, also known as Umibozu* Bonze, obsolete term used in Western languages for Buddhist clergy. See Bhikkhu...
s to be instructed in such things, and at the same time to serve their lust".
A 17th century Japanese Buddhist scholar, Kitamura Kigin, wrote that Buddha advocated homosexuality over heterosexuality for priests:
It has been the nature of men's hearts to take pleasure in a beautiful woman since the age of male and female gods, but to become intoxicated by the blossom of a handsome youth ... would seem to be both wrong and unusual. Nevertheless, the BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
preached that[Mount] Imose was a place to be avoided and the priests of the law entered this Way as an outlet for their feelings, since their hearts were, after all, made of neither stone nor wood. Like water that plunges from the peak of Tsukubane to form the deep pools of the Minano River, this love has surpassed in depth the love between women and men in these latter days. It plagues the heart not only of courtier and aristocrat but also of brave warriors. Even the mountain dwellers who cut brush for fuel have learned to take pleasure in the shade of young saplings." —Wild Azaleas (1676)
Popular Japanese legend attributed the introduction of homosexuality to Japan to Shingon founder Kukai
Kukai
Kūkai , also known posthumously as , 774–835, was a Japanese monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, and artist, founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. Shingon followers usually refer to him by the honorific titles of and ....
, although scholars now dismiss the veracity of this assertion. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same sex relation between men and boys in seventeenth century Japan."
Chinese Buddhism
About Buddhism and homosexuality in ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, A. L. De Silva writes, "Generally the attitude has been one of tolerance. Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci, SJ was an Italian Jesuit priest, and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China Mission, as it existed in the 17th-18th centuries. His current title is Servant of God....
, the Jesuit missionary who lived in China for twenty-seven years from 1583, expressed horror at the open and tolerant attitude that the Chinese took to homosexuality and naturally enough saw this as proof of the degeneracy of Chinese society."
Venerable Hsing Yun
Hsing Yun
Hsing Yun is a well-known Buddhist monk, as well as an important figure in modern reformation of Mahayana Buddhism in Taiwan and China. Hsing Yun is the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order and the affiliated Buddha's Light International Association, one of the largest international...
, one of the premier figures in contemporary Chinese Buddhism, has stated that Buddhism should never teach intolerance toward homosexuality, and that people should expand their minds.
Hsing Yun is a bestselling author throughout the Sinosphere
Sinosphere
In areal linguistics, Sinosphere refers to a grouping of countries and regions that are currently inhabited with a majority of Chinese population or were historically under Chinese cultural influence...
, as well as an advocate of Humanistic Buddhism
Humanistic Buddhism
Humanistic Buddhism is a modern Buddhist philosophy practiced mostly by Mahayana Buddhists. It is the integration of people's spiritual practice into all aspects of their daily lives...
, an approach to reform Chinese Buddhism to match the needs of contemporary laypeople. As such, his views may not be wholly reflective of the older Buddhist views in China, which sometimes associate homosexuality with the dangers of sexual desire.
An example of an older view in opposition to homosexuality is given by the traditional master, Hsuan Hua
Hsuan Hua
Hsuan Hua , also known as An Tzu and Tu Lun, was a Chan Buddhist monk and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the 20th century....
, an important figure for Buddhism in both China and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Master Hsuan Hua stated that homosexuality "plants the seeds that lead to rebirth in the lower realms of existence". However, this statement does not clearly explain whether it is the status of being a homosexual that causes the seeds, or whether the seeds are associated with homosexual desires. Master Hsuan Hua was known for his strict traditional Buddhist positions on morality, and against desire in general, which is viewed as a force of saṃsāra
Samsara
thumb|right|200px|Traditional Tibetan painting or [[Thanka]] showing the [[wheel of life]] and realms of saṃsāraSaṅsāra or Saṃsāra , , literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other...
. In his commentary on the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters
Sutra of Forty-two Chapters
The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters is the earliest surviving Buddhist sutra translated into Chinese. It was translated by two ordained Yuezhi monks, Kasyapa-Matanga and Dharmaraksha , in 67 CE...
, he described homosexuality as behavior caused by confusion, as the product of sexual desires.
Buddhism in the West
Buddhism in the West
Buddhism in the West broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia. Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years, but it was not until the era of European colonization of Buddhist countries in...
is typically associated with a concern for social equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
—partly as a result of its largely middle-class intellectual membership base, and its philosophical roots in freethought
Freethought
Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...
and secular humanism
Secular humanism
Secular Humanism, alternatively known as Humanism , is a secular philosophy that embraces human reason, ethics, justice, and the search for human fulfillment...
. When applying Buddhist philosophy to the question of homosexuality, western Buddhists often emphasize the importance the Buddha placed on tolerance, compassion, and seeking answers within one's self. They stress these overarching values rather than examining specific passages or texts. As a result, western Buddhism is often relatively gay-friendly, especially since the 1990s. As interpretation of what is sexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature. The term may be used to condemn an act, but in some jurisdictions it has also a legal meaning....
is an individual decision and not subject to judgment by any central authority, a view of accepting all peoples, but rejecting certain types of sexual acts is more predominant. LGBT people such as Issan Dorsey, Caitriona Reed
Caitriona Reed
Caitriona Reed is a trans woman sensei of Thiền Zen Buddhism who also has a background in Vipassana. She co-founded Ordinary Dharma in Los Angeles, California—as well as its rural retreat center Manzanita Village Retreat Center, located in San Diego County. Reed, a member of the American Zen...
, Pat Enkyo O'Hara and Soeng Hyang
Soeng Hyang
Soeng Hyang Soen Sa Nim is a Zen Master and the Guiding Teacher of the international Kwan Um School of Zen, and successor to the late Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim.-Biography:...
have been ordained as Buddhist monastics and clergy.
An interesting position comes from the western scholar Alexander Berzin, "The texts in Buddhist traditions have been written from the point of view of a heterosexual male. We need to explore the intention of the teachings on sexual misconduct, which ultimately is to eliminate attachment, obsessive desire and dissatisfaction. If a heterosexual male finds no bounds to these disturbing emotions, he might have sex with someone elses partner, as well as other men. We can apply the same logic and explore what constitutes boundless attachment and dissatisfaction for homosexual and bisexual males or females. For example, having sex with somebody elses partner and so on could be destructive for these types of person as well".
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
The 7th Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche is an abbot of Dzogchen Monastery, president of Nalandabodhi, the founder of Nitartha Institute, a leading Tibetan Buddhist scholar, and a meditation master...
, holder of the Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu , or Kamtsang Kagyu, is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current...
and Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
lineages, in a 2008 talk delivered to LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
Dharma
Dharma (Buddhism)
Dhamma or Dharma in Buddhism can have the following meanings:* The state of Nature as it is * The Laws of Nature considered collectively....
practitioners at the Shambhala
Shambhala Buddhism
The term Shambhala Buddhism was introduced by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in the year 2000 to describe his presentation of the Shambhala teachings, originally conceived by Chögyam Trungpa as secular practices for achieving enlightened society, in concert with the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu and Nyingma...
Meditation Center of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, stressed that for vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
lay practitioners, homosexual relationships are no better or worse than heterosexual relationships and that only unhealthy relationships in general are to be avoided. Both the Nalandabodhi
Nalandabodhi
Nalandabodhi is a Tibetan Buddhist organization founded in the United States by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 1997 and named after the historic Nalanda university of India. There are now Nalandabodhi centers and study groups in Mexico, Canada, Europe and Asia...
sangha
Sangha
Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...
, which was founded by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, and the Shambhala
Shambhala Buddhism
The term Shambhala Buddhism was introduced by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in the year 2000 to describe his presentation of the Shambhala teachings, originally conceived by Chögyam Trungpa as secular practices for achieving enlightened society, in concert with the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu and Nyingma...
sanghas founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was a Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages, the eleventh Trungpa tülku, a tertön, supreme abbot of the Surmang monasteries, scholar, teacher, poet, artist, and originator of a radical re-presentation of Shambhala vision.Recognized...
have stated that they are welcoming of all sexual orientations. The Shambhala Meditation Center of New York hosts a weekly practice group, Queer Dharma, specifically catering to the needs of the LGBTQ Buddhist community. According to the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu , or Kamtsang Kagyu, is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current...
Lama
Lama
Lama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...
Ole Nydahl
Ole Nydahl
Ole Nydahl is a lama in the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism under guidance of Trinley Thaye Dorje. Since the early 1970s, Nydahl has toured the world giving lectures and meditation courses. With his wife, Hannah Nydahl, he founded Diamond Way Buddhism, a worldwide lay organization of Karma...
, Buddha saw homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
as circumstances making life more difficult, but also explained the reason for homosexuality could be aversion against the opposite sex in a former life. Nydahl says however that sexual orientation is not really important in order to practice Buddhism.
The U.S. branch of Soka Gakkai International
Soka Gakkai International
is a lay religious movement within Nichiren Buddhism, a branch of Mahayana Buddhism derived from the teachings of the thirteenth-century Japanese monk, Nichiren Daishonin....
, a Japan-based new religious movement
New religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...
(Shinshūkyō
Shinshukyo
is a Japanese term used to describe domestic new religious movements. They are also known as in Japanese, and are most often called simply Japanese new religions in English. Japanese theologians classify all religious organizations founded since the middle of the 19th century as Shinshūkyō. Thus,...
) influenced by Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren...
, announced in 1995 that they would start holding wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples, and in 2001 established a conference for LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
members and their supporters. A Buddhist temple in Salt Lake City connected with Jodo Shinshu
Jodo Shinshu
, also known as Shin Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Today, Shin Buddhism is considered the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan.-Shinran :...
, another Japanese school of Buddhism, also holds religious rites for same-sex couples.
Another Buddhist organization founded in the West, Juniper Foundation
Juniper Foundation
Juniper Foundationis an organization that works to adapt and promote Buddhist practice in the modern world. It was founded in 2003 by five individuals, Segyu Choepel Rinpoche, Hillary Brook Levy, Christina Juskiewicz, Pam Moriarty and Lawrence Levy...
, wrote an article A Buddhist Vote for Same Sex Marriage demonstrating how Buddhist thinking embraces same-sex marriage:
The heart of Buddhist thought is its insight philosophy, which uses critical inquiry to challenge dogma and to reveal how seemingly fixed ideas are more arbitrary than we might think. Applying this philosophy, we see that social customs are not fixed laws but evolving conventions that serve a purpose in a particular culture and time. Marriage is one of these conventions. It is not a rigid law but a social custom that evolves.
See also
- Non-westernized concepts of male sexuality
- Sexuality and BuddhismSexuality and BuddhismMost variations of Buddhism do not go much into details of right and wrong regarding sexuality and other activities of life. The historical Buddha advised his students to avoid sexual misconduct, but at the same time largely avoided defining sexuality...
External links
- Website about the Lotus Sutra (the teaching of the equality of all beings) and teachings of Nichiren Shonin in Italian, Spanish and English
- Issues in Buddhist Sexual Ethics. Includes a discussion about what would be destructive or constructive sexual behavior for male and female homosexuals and bisexuals.
Articles
- Homosexuality and Theravada Buddhism
- Same Sex Marriage, a short essay by a Theravada monk
- A Buddhist Vote for Same Sex Marriage Juniper Foundation