is sex bad?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism

is sex bad?

yes
5
71%
yes
2
29%
 
Total votes: 7

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salayatananirodha
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is sex bad?

Post by salayatananirodha »

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.159.than.html wrote:Then Ven. Ananda approached the nun and, on arrival, sat down on a prepared seat. As he was sitting there, he said to the nun: "This body, sister, comes into being through food. And yet it is by relying on food that food is to be abandoned.

"This body comes into being through craving. And yet it is by relying on craving that craving is to be abandoned.

"This body comes into being through conceit. And yet it is by relying on conceit that conceit is to be abandoned.

"This body comes into being through sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse is to be abandoned. With regard to sexual intercourse, the Buddha declares the cutting off of the bridge.
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cappuccino
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by cappuccino »

food & drink will become more important

:coffee:
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salayatananirodha
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by salayatananirodha »

cappuccino wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:07 am food & drink will become more important

:coffee:
what do you mean
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DooDoot
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by DooDoot »

Sex is not bad for the majority of people. The Christian Bible offers good advice which accords with Buddhism although not directly taught in Buddhism:
1 Corinthians 7

Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.

But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.

Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

I say this as a concession, not as a command.

I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.

But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

http://web.mit.edu/jywang/www/cef/Bible ... COR+7.html
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cappuccino
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by cappuccino »

salayatananirodha wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:08 am what do you mean
you can't just stop a river


the river will seek to flow elsewhere
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salayatananirodha
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by salayatananirodha »

trust me, i know :coffee:
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Gwi
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by Gwi »

Wikwik is a low practice (belonging to worldly people)
Bahagia Tidak Harus Selalu Bersama

Dhammapadå 370
"Tinggalkanlah 5 (belantara) dan patahkan 5 (belenggu rendah),
Serta kembangkan 5 potensi (4 iddhipādā + 1 ussoḷhi).
Bhikkhu yang telah menaklukkan 5 kungkungan (belenggu tinggi),
Lebih layak disebut 'orang yang telah mengarungi air baih (saṃsārå)'."
SarathW
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by SarathW »

It is bad when you are in 70s.
:tongue:
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retrofuturist
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,
Gwi wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:58 am Wikwik is a low practice (belonging to worldly people)
What is Wikwik? (Please note this an English language forum)

Metta,
Paul. :)
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form
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by form »

Yes. Sex is bad.
un8-
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by un8- »

If it wasn't for human sex, you wouldn't be here. Maybe you'd be an amoeba.

Sex in and of itself, isn't inherently bad. Sex pertaining to the goal of liberation from existence, is bad because it's a distraction.

The same goes for anything, you can't achieve whatever goal you have, if you are distracted.

The suttas say it's virtue leading to concentration, not virtue in and of itself. Sex, like other sensual distractions, prevent the mind from settling down.
There is only one battle that could be won, and that is the battle against the 3 poisons. Any other battle is a guaranteed loss because you're going to die either way.
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by Alino »

DooDoot wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:09 am Sex is not bad for the majority of people.
In Dhammacakkapavattana sutta thé Bouddga call not only sex but all sensual domain as - ignoble, low, unprofirable, also as dukkha or poison.

Poison is bad.

So your position is quite libéral here. 😉

Sorry for trolling 🙏 It's just to show that everybody can have liberal interprétations of the Dhamma
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SarathW
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by SarathW »

I think you have to avoid sex only if you want to be Anagami or Arahant and for Buddhist monks.
Lay people avoid sex on Uposatha days once a month.
Otherwise, lay people can enjoy the sex within the limits provided by Buddha.
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by Alino »

SarathW wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 12:00 pm I think you have to avoid sex only if you want to be Anagami or Arahant and for Buddhist monks.
Lay people avoid sex on Uposatha days once a month.
Lay practitioners practice celibacy only on Uposatha
because they want continue to suffer in Samsara? Or because they think that it's enought for libération?

Or they practice in order to gain heavenly abiding by using Dhamma, instead of gain freedom from dukkha?

I think we shouldn't use labels as lay, bhikkhu, Anagami, Arahant, because the réal question is - do you want freedom from dukkha or not. Dukkha, its Origin, its Cure, the way for Cure it...

If the answer is "yes" - then one should practice 8 precepts and avoid things that Lord Buddha taught us to avoid.
If the answer is "not" - can we call it "liberalism"? Are 5 precepts are "libéral"?

Sorry that I speak about libéralism in the wrong topic, but celibacy is a good question to discuss about libéralism...
We don't live Samsara, Samsara is living us...

"Form, feelings, perceptions, formations, consciousness - don't care about us, we don't exist for them"
DiamondNgXZ
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Re: is sex bad?

Post by DiamondNgXZ »

Alino wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 12:12 pm
Sorry that I speak about libéralism in the wrong topic, but celibacy is a good question to discuss about libéralism...
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=41372&start=45 You can contribute here, to what's the range covered by the 3rd precept. If you're up to debating. Be warned that the people there have seemingly endless energy to debate.
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