- Apr 17, 2009
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Why Most Buddhist Nuns and Monks Are Celibate
In Theravada Buddhism monks are not permitted to so much as shake hands with a woman; nor may a nun touch a man. The revered Thai monk Ajaan Fuang (1915-1986) said, "The reason the Buddha didn't allow monks to touch women is not that there's anything wrong with women. It's because there's something wrong with the monks: They still have mental defilements, which is why they have to be kept under control." Mahayana celibate orders generally are not quite so strict about not touching.
Good God of Abraham people, stop seeing Muslims in every thread...
I had no idea that Buddhists were strict about that.
Ajaan Fuang got that part right about men having "mental defilements'. Which I suppose is a nice Buddhist way of saying we can file crap unless it's about sex or sports or power tools. Great phrase isn't it?
You know what is interesting? The position of women in all this. Whether it's Christians, Muslims, Jews or Buddhists. Women are covered up or seperated or not to be touched because men can't possibly be expected to "not defile" themselves or control their urges. It touches upon the issue of rape too, where women are blamed for being to scantily dressed.
Absolutely. I believe there are women Buddhist and Hindu nuns (or some kind of equivalent) and they don't ever seem to be the problems in situations like this. The Muslim women cashiers/baggers/clerks at the stores in my area don't ever have an issue of interacting with men.
Religious men are just too dangerous to let loose in public with their "mental defilements".And of course, the cure for that is celibacy?
Actually....I think celibacy is part of the problem...too unnatural!
But culture after culture...women seem to scare the shit out of men.