As far as Buddha and celibacy is concerned:
The reason Buddha said members of the sangha should practice celibacy was pragmatic: The sangha was not a place to raise children. Since at the time there was no effective means of birth control, the Buddha advised celibacy.
As far as non-sangha members were concerned, sexuality must be engaged in with compassion and mindfulness. Buddha did not believe that anything was wrong with sex -- it was not inherently evil and, therefore, to be avoided.
As always, the focus is on reducing suffering and increasing compassion.
Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20040815/2ff0b966/attachment.htm>