As in all other
religions Buddhism as practiced has many different interpretations often unique to the Country where it is
practiced; be it Tibet, China, Japan, Thailand,
and even in the western nations.
Obviously there
are mostly commonalities in the religion; however there are some differences
when it comes to marriage and sexual relations.
The early
monastic practices only recognized males as being eligible and they were
supposed to abstain from any type of sexual activities. Later women were permitted
to be ordained separate from the men.
Supposedly Buddha
himself said “: Do not
destroy any living creature; take only what is given to you; do not commit any
unlawful sexual act."
But scholars
claim that nowhere in Buddha’s teachings or sayings does he fully define what
an "unlawful sexual act" is. So all we can get from this is that
there are some sexual acts that are unlawful--and thus should not be engaged
in. But homosexuality is not addressed.
The Dalai
Lama In a 1994 interview stated "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'’.
The Dalai
Lama has often stated” his support for the full recognition of human rights for
all people, regardless of sexual orientation.
However he
remarks that the issue is that the question is proper sexual acts or 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. 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.
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 1999, in
an interview with Alice Thompson, he stated: "They want me to condone
homosexuality. But I am a Buddhist and, for a Buddhist, a relationship between
two men is wrong. Some sexual conduct in marriage is also wrong" speaking
regarding masturbation and oral sex. Also saying that "If an individual
has no faith that is a different matter... If two men really love each other
and are not religious, then that is OK by me."
The question
of same sex marriages is not addressed by Buddhism except to note that is a secular
act. According to Wikipedia references
after the “marriage is completed” (consummated?) the couple often seek the
monk’s blessings. None the less there are throughout Buddhism writings frequent
admonishments on the treatment of a spouse.
The fact
that there has been a great deal of STDs in many of the countries where
Buddhism dominates would suggest that people are people everywhere. Religious
doctrine may impact on civil law, but the issue should be considered instead
from genetic in addition to psychological and philosophical aspects before
tagging it immoral.
Subsequently
we will try to analyze the question of homosexuality and same gender marriages
from those concepts.
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