Friday, September 23, 2011

How does Buddhism feel about gay people?

I know how Christianity feels about homosexuality, but I have never heard anything from a Buddhist point of view, and I seem to be leaning more towards Buddhism, anyways.|||Interesting question. The Buddha did not consider that your sexual orientation was relevant to his message, which was how to escape from suffering and achieve enlightenment. If it was not important enough to mention, homosexuality is not considered a barrier to one's moral and spiritual development.





Lay Buddhists can have sex, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. Monastic Buddhists abstain from all sex (male Theravada monks are not even permitted to touch a woman, and Theravada nuns are not permitted to touch another woman).





The 3rd precept is ''Abstain from sexual misconduct''. For Lay Buddhists, any sexual act would not be breaking the third precept





where there is mutual consent,








where there is no harm done to anyone,








where the breaking of a commitment to another person is not involved,








and where our intention is to express affection with respect, and give pleasure to each other.





This would apply irrespective of the gender or sexual orientation of the parties involved. The same principles would be used to evaluate all relationships and sexual behaviour, whether heterosexual or homosexual.








Unfortunately, it cannot be said that homosexuals in countries where Buddhists are in the majority are any more free from prejudice and discrimination than they are in other countries.





In some countries, Buddhism has 'absorbed' aspects of the dominant culture, and this has sometimes been to its detriment. However it is clear that there is NOTHING in the Buddha's teachings to condemn homosexuality or homosexual acts.





Peace!





Ricky %26lt;3|||Buddhism generally don't have any opinions at all about homosexuality. Ordained monks and nuns are of course forbidden to have homosexual sex, but they are on the other hand forbidden to have heterosexual sex also! Many people confuse the rules for ordained monks and nuns with rules for lay people, however, which makes people make faulty claims about what Buddhism or certain Buddhist teachers say.





Here's a direct quote from an interview in 2003 with the 101th Ganden Tripa, the head of the Tibetan tradition the Dalai Lama himself (and I myself) belongs to:





"Question: What is Your Holiness鈥檚 view on homosexuality?





Answer: Homosexuality seems to be getting more common in the world these days. Homosexuality, like heterosexuality, are both activities of samsara. Neither seems to be particularly better or worse than the other. Whether a man or woman is straight or gay does not make him or her any particularly better or worse than the other. In general, both are activities of lay people. Not that, however, that there is no karma involved in homosexuality, only that it is just like heterosexuality, another activity of samsara."





I know of many Western Buddhist, including famous teachers and writers, who are homosexual, and I have never heard of any problems they've encountered in the Buddhist context because of being gay.





On the other hand, many of the Buddhist cultures in Asia are negative to homosexuality (just like so many cultures around the world ...). That's, however, not from religious (Buddhist), but from cultural reasons.





If you want to look more deeply into the question, you might want to visit the homepages of some gay buddhist organizations:


http://www.queerdharma.org/


http://www.gaysangha.org/|||It depends. There are roughly as many kinds of Buddhism (and Hinduism, for that matter) as there are of Christianity. Conservative kinds, like Tibettan and the Theravadin "Way of the Elders" are generally opposed to homosexuality. Liberal kinds, like Western Zen, are as enthusiastically pro-homosexual as any synod of High Church Anglican bishops. In any case, there's nothing in any kind of Buddhism like the vicious, violent f@g-bashing of Conservative Christianity and Islam. The Buddha himself (and we know way more about him than, say, Jesus or Mohammed) was not all that pro any kind of sex, and he, for sure, knew more about all the kinds of sex there are than any other religious leader in history--including bestiality, necrophila, and Lesbian rape--but about the most negative thing he ever said about homosexuality was that very promiscuous homosexuals should be denied ordination as monks--but not that, if they already had been ordained, their ordination should be taken away from them.





Speaking from personal experience, as a Zen Buddhist, my Master, from whom I received direct transmission of the Dharma, was a straight, totally heterosexual family man, and a father of girls. As far as he was concerned my being gay was of absolutely no consequence. Nonetheless, he had reservations--not unlike the Dalai Lama--about homosexuality, and what he considered its "lack" of dimorphic polarity. You could tell he was concerned, in a sort of maternal/paternal way, that I wasn't getting all the hot transcendent intensity out of it that any disciple of his should have been getting out of sex. Several times, naggingly, he said, "But you must admit that without great polarity there can be no great intensity." "Listen," I said the second or third time he brought this up, "what I'm looking for in sex is my identical twin." That, with shouts of laughter, seemed to resolve it for him.|||Lay Buddhists (those who live outside the monastery) are expected to adhere to Five Precepts, the third of which is a vow "not to engage in sexual misconduct." But what is sexual misconduct? Right and wrong behavior in Buddhism is generally determined by considerations such as the following:





- Universalibility principle - "How would I like it if someone did this to me?"


- Consequences - Does the act causes harm and regret (in oneself or others) or benefit and joy?


- Utilitarian principle - Will the act help or harm the attainment of goals (ultimately spiritual liberation)?


- Intention - Is the act motivated by love, generosity and understanding?





"Sexual misconduct" has thus traditionally been interpreted to include actions like coercive sex, sexual harassment, child molestation and adultery. As Homosexuality is not explicitly mentioned in any of the Buddha's sayings recorded in the Pali Canon (Tripitaka), most interpreters have taken this to mean that homosexuality should be evaluated in the same way as heterosexuality, in accordance with the above principles.





A Buddhist author of an article on homosexuality concludes:





In the case of the lay man and woman where there is mutual consent, where adultery is not involved and where the sexual act is an expression of love, respect, loyalty and warmth, it would not be breaking the third Precept. And it is the same when the two people are of the same gender. Likewise promiscuity, license and the disregard for the feelings of others would make a sexual act unskillful whether it be heterosexual or homosexual. All the principles we would use to evaluate a heterosexual relationship we would also use to evaluate a homosexual one. In Buddhism we could say that it is not the object of one's sexual desire that determines whether a sexual act is unskillful or not, but rather the quality of the emotions and intentions involved. [1]











http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuali鈥?/a>








As homosexuality is not explicitly mentioned in any of the Buddha's discourses (more than 20 volumes in the Pali Text Society's English translation), we can only assume that it is meant to be evaluated in the same way that heterosexuality is. And indeed it seems that this is why it is not specifically mentioned. In the case of the lay man and woman where there is mutual consent, where adultery is not involved and where the sexual act is an expression of love, respect, loyalty and warmth, it would not be breaking the third Precept. And it is the same when the two people are of the same gender. Likewise promiscuity, license and the disregard for the feelings of others would make a sexual act unskillful whether it be heterosexual or homosexual. All the principles we would use to evaluate a heterosexual relationship we would also use to evaluate a homosexual one. In Buddhism we could say that it is not the object of one's sexual desire that determines whether a sexual act is unskillful or not, but rather the quality of the emotions and intentions involved.





http://www.buddhanet.net/homosexu.htm





What were the Buddha's views on homosexuality?


From what I've read in the suttas, the Buddha gave no indication that one's sexual orientation has any bearing on one's spiritual practice. The five precepts, which form the most basic foundation of a moral life in Buddhism, encourage the abstention from "sexual misconduct," a term that generally refers to sexual activity between two people outside of a long-term committed relationship. It has nothing to do with "orientation."





http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/autho鈥?/a>|||As far as Soka Gakkai Buddhists, We have regularly scheduled (GLBT) group activites, which is the way our organization refers to alternate life style. However you may attend any meetings you like. If you feel more comfortable at just GLBT meetings, thats fine to. If you call the community center closed to you, just ask about GLBT meetings in your area.|||All people are revered by Buddhism. Sexuality, however, according the the Buddhist texts, is reserved only for procreation. Thus, the practice of homosexual sex is not condoned.|||It depends. It is left up to the individual.





Lord Buddha never commented on it. The Dali Lama, did though.





(kinda like Jesus never did, but Paul did. who you gonna believe?)





Some schools of Buddhism disagree with it, others do not.|||Homosexuality is not condoned. However, it isn't scorned either.

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