What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

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Gami47
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What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by Gami47 »

:namaste:
SarathW
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by SarathW »

The only reference I can think of is Ambapali the courtesan.

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/bud ... 18lbud.htm
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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JamesTheGiant
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by JamesTheGiant »

Jivaka, the famous doctor who attended personally to the Buddha and the Sangha was also born of a prostitute. He was never frowned upon for his birth.
Scabrella
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by Scabrella »

The link says:
The Buddha accepted the gift, seeing the purity of heart that offered it. He then gladdened Lady Ambapali again with the Dharma. This was the turning point of Ambapali's life: she understood the Dharma and became a virtuous woman.
This implies she was previously not a virtuous woman when she was a sex worker. Her heart became pure seeing the Buddha and from this time she changed her way of life.
Gami47 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:28 amWhat was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?
The question is not separating the person from the behaviour. A Buddha would respect the person but may not respect the behaviour.
SarathW
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by SarathW »

JamesTheGiant wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:29 am Jivaka, the famous doctor who attended personally to the Buddha and the Sangha was also born of a prostitute. He was never frowned upon for his birth.
:goodpost:
Jivaka was the most celebrated doctor in India during the Buddha's time. Immediately after his birth, Jivaka was placed in a wooden box and thrown away by his mother, a courtesan, on a rubbish heap beside the road.
Actually, this is a good story to show that sex workers are a normal profession in Buddha's time even though it may not be one of the highest professions. Even visiting a sex worker seems to be accepted even though it is not encouraged.
This is a very interesting story to understand why a prince adopted a newborn child in the rubbish heap as his own son.
Do you think this could be the prince's illegitimate child born to a courtesan?
Was the story twisted?
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
SarathW
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by SarathW »

Scabrella wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:48 am
The link says:
The Buddha accepted the gift, seeing the purity of heart that offered it. He then gladdened Lady Ambapali again with the Dharma. This was the turning point of Ambapali's life: she understood the Dharma and became a virtuous woman.
This implies she was previously not a virtuous woman when she was a sex worker. Her heart became pure seeing the Buddha and from this time she changed her way of life.
Gami47 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:28 amWhat was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?
The question is not separating the person from the behaviour. A Buddha would respect the person but may not respect the behaviour.
:goodpost:
What this basically says is that even a sex worker can be a virtue when s/he is not engaged in that activity.
However, I heard from a monk that even a sex worker can be virtuous even if the time she engaged is based on her Cetana.
:shrug:
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
Scabrella
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by Scabrella »

SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:00 am What this basically says is that even a sex worker can be a virtue when s/he is not engaged in that activity.
A person that is not engaged in that activity is no longer a sex worker. When the woman in the story Ambapali became a nun she ceased to be a sex worker. You are calling an Enlightened Nun a "sex worker".
SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:00 amHowever, I heard from a monk that even a sex worker can be virtuous even if the time she engaged is based on her Cetana.
Maybe this monk visits prostitutes, giving blessings to the prostitute instead of money, similar a former monk in my country.
Cetanā is a Buddhist term commonly translated as "volition", "intention", "directionality", etc. It can be defined as a mental factor that moves or urges ...
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by SarathW »

Scabrella wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:48 am
SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:00 am What this basically says is that even a sex worker can be a virtue when s/he is not engaged in that activity.
A person that is not engaged in that activity is no longer a sex worker. When the woman in the story Ambapali became a nun she ceased to be a sex worker. You are calling an Enlightened Nun a "sex worker".
SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:00 amHowever, I heard from a monk that even a sex worker can be virtuous even if the time she engaged is based on her Cetana.
Maybe this monk visits prostitutes, giving blessings to the prostitute instead of money, similar a former monk in my country.
Cetanā is a Buddhist term commonly translated as "volition", "intention", "directionality", etc. It can be defined as a mental factor that moves or urges ...
:woohoo:
Sounds like you are from Thailand.
Sri Lanka is not advanced to that level yet.
Last edited by SarathW on Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ceisiwr
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by Ceisiwr »

We should treat everyone with kindness, sympathetic joy, compassion and equanimity.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by justindesilva »

Scabrella wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:48 am
SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:00 am What this basically says is that even a sex worker can be a virtue when s/he is not engaged in that activity.
A person that is not engaged in that activity is no longer a sex worker. When the woman in the story Ambapali became a nun she ceased to be a sex worker. You are calling an Enlightened Nun a "sex worker".
SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:00 amHowever, I heard from a monk that even a sex worker can be virtuous even if the time she engaged is based on her Cetana.
Maybe this monk visits prostitutes, giving blessings to the prostitute instead of money, similar a former monk in my country.
Cetanā is a Buddhist term commonly translated as "volition", "intention", "directionality", etc. It can be defined as a mental factor that moves or urges ...
The content of Amrapali and Ananda thero staying in her house for 3month rainy season is with the permission of lord Budda . After the end of rainy season Ananda thero returned back to lord budda with Amrapali where Amrapali gets ordained as s bikkuni .
This is an instance where one tests his own consciousness . This story speaks of so much where she donates her land house and wealth to budda sasana.
Quite recently a judge wrote a lyric of a song where the judge Seneviratne met a convicted prostitute going to offer flowers to budda ..
He wrote you are here cladded in white who showed the breast to people who did not see your heart . By the time she had given up prostitution , like many others . A true story too .
Last edited by justindesilva on Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:14 am, edited 2 times in total.
Scabrella
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by Scabrella »

SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:59 am Sri Lanka is not advanced to that level yet.
Yes. Sri Lankan is imploding.
SarathW
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by SarathW »

Scabrella wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:06 am
SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:59 am Sri Lanka is not advanced to that level yet.
Yes. Sri Lankan is imploding.
Perhaps you know better than me about Sri Lanka.
:D
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
justindesilva
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by justindesilva »

SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:10 am
Scabrella wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:06 am
SarathW wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:59 am Sri Lanka is not advanced to that level yet.
Yes. Sri Lankan is imploding.
Perhaps you know better than me about Sri Lanka.
:D
What is meant by not advanced . I have travelled and worked in many western style countries where prostitution is called poligamy making it more respectable .
The reason is their cultures based on so many factors Eg in south pacific islands
where men were scarce dying and sea faring men were allowed to reproduce by allowing more than one woman . Sri lanka too allowed more than one wife at historically .
At least sri lanka has the culture of oppression to prostitution .
dharmacorps
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by dharmacorps »

Even animals can be respectful sometimes. Therefore humans should always be. The Buddha didn't encourage disrespecting anyone, regardless of the "deserving".
Bundokji
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Re: What was the buddhas opinion on sex workers and are they deserving of respect?

Post by Bundokji »

In the dhammapada, which is relevant to lay Buddhists, the Lord Buddha taught:
Unchastity is the taint in a woman; niggardliness is the taint in a giver. Taints, indeed, are all evil things, both in this world and the next.
The above verse is relevant to women sexuality, marriage and fidelity:
The Story of a Man Whose Wife Committed Adultery

While residing at the Veluvana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses (242) and (243) of this book, with reference to a man whose wife committed adultery.

Once, the wife of a man committed adultery. He was so ashamed on account of his wife's misbehaviour that he dared not face anyone; he also kept away from the Buddha. After some time, he went to the Buddha and the Buddha asked him why he had been absent all that time and he explained everything. On learning the reason for his absence, the Buddha said, "My disciple, women are just like a river, or a road, or a liquor shop or a rest house, or a water-pot stand at the roadside; they associate with all sorts of people. Indeed, sexual misconduct is the cause of ruin for a woman."
https://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/v ... ?verse=242

Marriage is akin to ownership while prostitution is akin to renting (female rupa being the property). The prostitute is not guilty of infidelity, but of not acting according to archetypal expectations - hence not conducive to lay spirituality.
And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness!"

This was the last word of the Tathagata.
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