Buddhism and Homosexuality

Among religious communities in America, there seems to be a considerable amount of debate surrounding homosexuality. I thought I would share one possible Buddhist perspective on this issue, so that the frame of the discussion can extended beyond the Judeo-Christian tradition.

The Christian argument against homosexuality is entirely scriptural; that is, it relies on the assumption that the word of God in the Bible is infallible. Yet when considering Buddhism, such justifications are implausible. Although there are massive corpus of Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha taught that one should not believe in something just because he had said it, because someone else had said it, because the scriptures said it, or because that it your view. He instead that one should test this teaching of his in daily life to see if it works, and further to test it to see if it can alleviate the suffering of oneself and all other beings. Buddhism thus teaches that one should not depend upon written words, and therefore it would be ridiculous and antithetical to the teaching of the Buddha to to try to consider Buddhist scripture to be infallible. This is not to say that Buddhism teaches that its own scriptures are useless and not worthy of being followed, but rather that they should not be seen as fundamental.

Yet what do the written teachings have to say on the topic of homosexuality? First, let's examine the Theravada school of Buddhism, which is the oldest and is practiced today mainly in Southeast Asia. This tradition is generally centered on the monastic practice, so most of its moral teachings are intimately connected to the practice of nuns and monks, who each take vows that include those preclude any sexual activity, homosexual or otherwise. This celibate standpoint makes the position on homosexuality rather ambiguous. Indeed, certain moral precepts indicate that one should not engage in homosexual activities, but others state the same restrictions on heterosexual activities. The basic teaching that the Buddha is offering here is that sexuality is neither inherently good nor inherently evil, but that indulgence in the pleasures of the body inevitably leads to suffering. He thus recommended that nuns and monks remain celibate, so they could focus on their spiritual practice. However, for those who are not part of monastic practice, the Buddha taught that in order to preserve the well-being of all living things, one should "refrain from sexual misconduct," which primarily meant adultery and non-consensual sexual activities. Nevertheless, Buddhism does not teach the sacredness of marriage and neither does it regard procreative sex and necessarily better than non-procreative sex.

What do other schools of Buddhism have to say on this issue? This question is difficult to answer because in many countries Buddhist teachings and pre-existing cultural practices have become intertwined. So while the Dalai Lama, who is the head of a certain school of Tibetan Buddhism, has said that homosexual behavior is inappropriate for Buddhists, he also unequivocally supports tolerance and human rights for all. Is this a contradiction? The Dalai Lama has himself suggested that this bias is result of the cultural conditioning, because it does not accord with the spirit of the Buddha's teaching. Japanese and Chinese Buddhism has a similar situation: homosexuality is "discouraged" out of cultural tendencies rather than Buddhist thinking.

In general, the Buddhist attitude towards sexual activity is that sexual desire is a hindrance to spiritual awakening and furthermore that indulgence or attachment to sensual pleasure leads only to suffering. Thus in the eyes of Buddhism the only worthwhile sexual relationships are those that are mutual and supported by long-term commitment to a partner. In this the sense, heterosexuality and homosexuality are looked at in an equal light. The primary message of the Buddha is one of love and compassion for all beings. Hence, although sexuality is not seen as something to be celebrated, Buddhism still teaches that one should love and support people of all sexual orientations.

It should be noted that the Buddha's message is very similar to that of Jesus and other religious teachers. These people who realized the heart of things intimately knew the importance of loving and respecting everyone. Indeed, not only did they know the importance of such a compassionate mind, but further they realized that this very mind was what they were all originally seeking.