ignatius said:
Jetavan said:
There's the tradition that Jesus wrote specific sins (including sodomy) in the dust, and then erased them. Does anyone know how far back this tradition goes?
Then the legislator of morality and human conduct stooped down to the ground, smoothed out the dust with the palm of His hand, and began to write (John 8:6).
....
And when this was done, the dust was again smoothed over, and that which was written disappeared.
Jetavan,
What is the Buddhist view of Homosexuality? I understand the Buddha scolded a monk for returning to his wife and was equally strict to other who followed him. Do you know any details that might aid us in understand the Christian teaching on this topic?
Thanks.
The texts say that if you're a Buddhist monastic, then any sort of sexual activity is forbidden.
As a lay-person, one is encouraged to not engage in what is called "sensual misconduct". In general, this means faithfulness towards one's spouse. It can also mean a general renunciation of sensual indulgence (such as oversleeping, or too much SEC football watching).
The Buddha did not make marriage into a "sacrament", so there is no textual basis for rejecting "same-sex union" or "same-sex marriage".
However, my understanding is that the Tibetan Buddhist tradition does explicitly prohibit certain forms of intercourse that are deemed "unnatural". Other Buddhist traditions may or may not have similar textual prohibitions; if they do, they haven't reached the ears of North American Buddhists.
Having said that, much of Southeast Asian Buddhist culture sees having homosexual desires as not an ideal condition in which to live.
The framework of rebirth/reincarnation offers a way for Buddhistswrongly believe that Homosexuality is sanctioned or at least not directly addressed within Buddhism. (and Hindus) to explain homosexuality as a transitional phase between a lifetime as one gender and a lifetime as the other gender. Such a notion might lead to a fairly "tolerant" perspective on homosexual persons.
The Buddhist ideal is to see and understand the dissatisfactory nature of all craving; that is, craving produces dissatisfaction, and dissatisfaction can cause craving. From my understanding of the Buddhist perspective, sexual activity, no matter how sublime, still contains an element of craving. There's nothing wrong with a little craving, if one is fairly happy with one's life. But, as monastics of any tradition, Buddhist or Christian, will tell you, another possibility is offered, if one so chooses.