sexualityare commonly associated with hunger and thirst, whereas chastity, veg-
etarianism, and sobriety are forms of non-desire. What drives humans is
desire during life and to rebirth after death. The Buddhist monk seeks to
control desire by following monastic regulations and practicing the
Eightfold Path prescribed by the founder.
By adhering to the path, a monk not only seeks to quell his desire, but
he must also control his body, which is described as an impure entity, as
with the following negative set of images: nine open sores leaking putrid
stuff; a boil filling with overflowing pus; or an infected wound that never
heals. In short the human body is foul, and the female body is even worse,
being described as a razor coated with honey, a cave filled with snakes,
or poisoned creepers. An emblematic aspect of female defilement is men-
struation, whose cyclical nature reminds an individual of changes and
decline. Texts continuously remind and warn monks about the dangers of
female attraction, which undermines any chance of attaining liberation.
Since Buddhist texts are written by males and manifest a predomi-
nately male viewpoint, their discussion about sexuality focuses primarily
on males. In conjunction with the Buddhist teachings about desire and the
human body, heterosexual activity is strictly prohibited for monks, and
it is reason for expulsion from the monastic order. Bestiality is actually
less reprehensible than heterosexual relations, but it can still get a monk
expelled from the order, as it does for the recorded tale of a monk who
trains a monkey, which is only discovered when the monkey offers her-
self to other monks. Monastic texts also have a regulation against eunuchs
because monks must be capable of performing sexually while also con-
trolling their desire. In addition, trans-sexuality is not encouraged, but it
is not condemned by monastic rules, even though it is judged weird and
pitiful. A serious offense for monks is masturbation, which can lead to
temporary exclusion from the order, although nocturnal emissions are not
considered equivalent to masturbation. The intention to have a wet dream
is an offense. Nuns are given detailed warnings about masturbation that
includes not inserting any object into their vaginas.
In India, generally speaking, homosexuality is associated with decline
and decadence, but it is widespread among the Chinese and Japanese.
Japanese monks keep young boys, a practice called nanshoku (male
love), which is an essentially age-structured rather than a gender-struc-
tured practice with older monks having relations with young boys. The
Japanese make a distinction between active and passive with the latter
designation reserved for women and young boys (chigo). The passive
role does not carry any negative connotations, although the practice of
homosexuality is generally condemned. Homosexuality is obscured by
a secret language as, for instance, chrysanthemum (kiku), which is a