> 1. Buddhism teaches non-attachment, not renunciation. To renounce
> desire is an extreme, just as over-indulgence of desire is an extreme.
> The goal is not to turn oneself into a tree or a rock, but to
> acknowledge the rising of desire without attaching to it.
> Renunciation/indulgence are easier to achieve since they are extreme
> and absolute.
Very good summary.
> 2. Since Buddha taught that the best platform for achieving
> enlightenment was a human rebirth, he wasn't against sex. What he
> taught was the mindful expression and fulfillment of sexual desire.
Well, I think he was and was not "against sex." (BTW, all we know about what he said was what was written down several centuries later by various schools of his followers. Nobody was around at the time he was alive with a tape recorder. Strictly speaking, we should speak of "the traditional accounts of the Buddha's teachings," not "the Buddha's teachings.") Yes, a human birth is pretty much the only way to reach enlightenment, but (in many of the traditional accounts) becoming a monk/nun and renouncing sex, personal possessions apart from the bare necessities, and much else is considered pretty much the only way to reach enlightenment once one is born human.
The important thing is to realize that this is the *recommended* path for those who are serious enough about reaching total enlightenment to leave their families and regular society and join a special community organized just for this purpose. They are not directed at ordinary people ("householders" in the technical Buddhist language), who are only expected to follow the vaguely worded precept "avoid sexual misconduct," i.e., adultery or other hurtful kinds of behavior). There is nothing in any Buddhist tradition like the blanket revulsion against sex in many early Christian church fathers, which made orthodox Christian teachings so anti-sex.
One can make serious errors of fact by reading a few texts written for particular purposes and trying to infer the behavior of the whole lay population from them, as Ken and others on this list seem to want to do. The same thing is true of Christianity, BTW: common medieval folks tended to be much more joyful about sex than the gloomy theologians, as any student of medieval life knows.
For example, he quotes something like
> ** "The infidels burst into the monastery, and Eusebia urged the holy
> virgins, caring more for preserving their purity than their life, to
> cut off
> their noses in order to irritate by this bloody spectacle the rage of
> the
> barbarians and to extinguish their passions. With incredible zeal,
> Eusebia
> and all her companions accomplished this act; the barbarians massacred
> them
> in the number of forty, while they confessed Christ with an admirable
> constancy." (monastery of Saint Cyr, southern France).
as though it were typical of the attitudes of ordinary Christians toward sex. And he claims to be a student of history. <shaking head>
> 3. Buddha always said never to rely on his own words, but to trust
> one's own experience. A person does not simply do something because
> the Buddha says so. The motivation and proof is interior not >
> exterior.
Also a good summary. There are no orthodox dogmas in Buddhism, unlike Christianity. This is very difficult for many people who have been acculturated in a Christian society to understand.
> 5. There was a school of Buddhism that maintained all things were an
> illusion, a product of mind. Gradually that came to be seen as an
> extreme. Nargajuna is good to read on this (The Fundamental Wisdom of
> the Middle Way). Thich Nhat Hanh is also very good to read on
> Buddhism (Vietnamese Zen approach).
Zen is one variant of the Mahayana tradition (one of the traditions I mentioned above which arose centuries after the Buddha died). Unlike the one referred to above, it stresses that householders can also become enlightened, without having to join a special community of enlightenment-seekers, and is much less "negative about sex" (of course, it also teaches non-attachment, as BklynMagus describes in 1) ).
Mahayana became the predominant form of Buddhism in the northern countries of China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan, as well as Vietnam. In keeping with its householder-oriented doctrines, these countries have been well known as lands with much fewer sex hang-ups than Western countries as well as some other Asian countries.
In sum, yes, there is plenty of joy of sex in the Buddhist world.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A gentleman haranguing on the perfection of our law, and that it was equally open to the poor and the rich, was answered by another, 'So is the London Tavern.' -- "Tom Paine's Jests..." (1794); also attr. to John Horne Tooke (1736-1812) by Hazlitt