The definition of sexual misconduct according to the Buddhist teaching

This is a fragment from the chapter on karma from my book The Four Profound Thoughts Which Turn the Mind Towards Amida Dharma. I post it again here as an answer to many questions related with sexual misconduct that were asked by my readers. Here you have a few passages from the sacred texts and explanations that will help you understand for example, many of my statements that refer to homosexuality as sexual misconduct. Please read it carefully. I am not presenting you with this teaching in order to condemn you, but to simply show the Dharmic truth on this matter. The chapter on karma from which this fragment is quoted first showed the karmic effects of such acts for those who rely on their own power (jiriki) while later explaining the indiscriminate salvation offered by Amida Buddha for the sinners who entrusted themselves to Him. So this fragment does NOT deny Amida's salvation but simply shows how karma works if we practice sexual misconduct and we do not accept Amida's helping hand. 

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The sexual energy is extremely powerful, but if one does not keep it under control or does not sublimate it, then it will constitute an immense obstacle against liberation from samsara. There are many types of sexual misconduct mentioned in the sutras and treatises of various Masters, like for example, not being faithful to one's wife or husband[1], having sex with another's partner, with those who are under age, with non-humans, with someone of the same sex, with one's parents or blood relatives, a nun or a monk who took the precept of abstinence, to have sex in the wrong places (temples, outside of one's room), wrong time (during daytime), in the wrong orifices (anus or mouth) which are not made for sexual intercourse[2], sexual relations that are harmful, etc. Here are a few quotes on sexual misconduct and its consequences, from Shakyamuni Buddha: 

“If one has sex at an inappropriate time or place, with someone who is not one’s wife, or not a woman (homosexuality), one is guilty of sexual misconduct. [...]

If one has sex with oneself or someone by the road, beside a pagoda or temple, or in an assembly, one is guilty of sexual misconduct. If one has sex with someone who, though under the protection of the king, or parents or brothers, has kept a tryst or accepted one’s invitation or payment, one is guilty of sexual misconduct. If one has sex beside a holy statue or painting, or a corpse, one is guilty of sexual misconduct.  One is guilty of sexual misconduct if, while having sex with one’s wife, one thinks of her as another woman; or if, while having sex with another’s wife, one thinks of her as one’s own wife. Sexual misconduct can be grave or minor. If it is driven by strong afflictions[3], it is grave; if it is driven by weak afflictions, it is minor.”[4]

 Talking about wives who cheat on their husbands, Shakyamuni Buddha said: 

„With hateful mind, cold and heartless,

Lusting for others, despising her husband;

Such a wife is called a slayer.

[...]

 The types of wives here called a slayer,

A thief, and the wife like a tyrant,

These kinds of wives, with the body’s breakup,

Will be reborn deep in hell.”[5]

 Also, Shakyamuni makes the following statements with reference to homosexuality and pedophilia:

 "Likewise, endless varieties of punishments in a future life are described for the wrong deed of sexual intercourse between two men.

 The one who commits misconduct with boys[6] sees boys being swept away in the Acid River who cry out to him, and owing to the suffering and pain born of his deep affection for them, plunges in after them."[7]

 Describing the neighbouring hells, Master Genshin, the sixth Patriarch of our tradition, quotes from the Mindfulness of the Right Dharma Sutra (Saddharma smrtyupasthana Sutra in Skr, Shobonenjogyo in Jpn) and comes to the Place of Much Suffering where “are doomed to suffer such men as are guilty of sodomy. Here the victim, seeing the man he lusted with, embraces him with a passion like a hot flame which completely consumes his body. After he has died he comes to life again and runs away in great terror but only to fall over a terrible precipice where he is devoured by crows with flaming beaks and by foxes with mouths of flames”[8]. 

The third Bodhisattva precept related with sexuality says: 

"A disciple of the Buddha must not engage in licentious acts or encourage others to do so. Indeed, he must not engage in improper sexual conduct with anyone.

A Buddha’s disciple ought to have a mind of filial piety – rescuing all sentient beings and instructing them in the Dharma of purity and chastity. If instead, he lacks compassion and encourages others to engage in sexual relations promiscuously, including with animals and even their mothers, daughters, sisters, or other close relatives, he commits a Parajika (major) offense."[9] 

No matter if some modern people disagree, the sutras, that is, Shakyamuni Buddha's own words, but also the words of many Buddhist masters like for example Genshin (the 6th Patriarch of our school), are very clear on what it means to engage in sexual misconduct and the karmic results of such an act. As in all Dharma matters, what Buddha said weights more than the opinions of unenlightened beings of various times.

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[1] Since the moment a man and a woman are together all rules of behavior apply automatically, no mater they are officially or religiously married. I mention that during the time of Shakyamuni’s presence in human form there were no Buddhist ceremonies for marriage, these being a modern invention.

[2] "What are inappropriate body parts? The mouth, the anus [...]". Master Asvagosha as quoted in The Great Treatise on the Stages on the Path to Enlightenment, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, New York, p. 220

[3] If it is driven by destructive and negative emotions, exaggerated desires, anger, strong jealousy, etc.

[4] Sūtra of the Upāsaka Precepts (Upasakasila Sutra), fascicle 6, Chapter 24a

[5] Anguttara Nikaya, II, 41

[6] Children in general.

[7]  Saddharma-smrtyupasthana Sutra. Shantideva also quoted that passage from the Saddharma-smrtyupasthana Sutra in his work Śikṣāsamuccaya (Compendium of Training or Compendium of Precepts).

[8] Genshin said he quoted that passage in his Ojoyoshu from Mindfulness of the Right Dharma Sutra (Saddharmasm tyupasthana Sutra in Skr, Shobonenjogyo in Jpn). See, Ojoyoshu, in The Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, second series, volume VII, 1930, translated from Japanese by A.K. Reischauer, http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.ro/2014/03/genshins-ojoyoshu-free-english-edition.html

 [9] Mahayana Brahmajala Sutra (Bommo Kyo), also known as Brahma Net Sutra.