Heartland

Originally published in the heartland website on 28 July 1999

According to Buddhist Tradition:
Sexual Minority Buddhists and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct

A updated article by Steve Peskind can be found HERE

According to Buddhist Tradition: Sexual Minority Buddhists and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct” copyright Steve Peskind, 1999 (The original version of this newly revised and edited article appeared in the Shambhala Sun Magazine, May, 1998.) This article may be re-printed in publication with permission of the writer.

June 11, 1997: Leaving the Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco, having just met with the Dalai Lama, the words, “according to Buddhist tradition” reverberated in my head. Stepping out into the June sunlight, I felt tired, calm, enormously grateful–and disappointed. I was grateful for the Dalai Lama’s willingness to meet with gays and lesbians to discuss their concerns about Buddhist teachings on sexual misconduct, and for the press release from the Office of Tibet supporting human rights “regardless of sexual orientation.” But I was disappointed that he chose not to speak personally and directly, beyond Buddhist “tradition”, to the real harm of some of these traditional misconduct teachings, and their irrelevance for modern Buddhists and others. I wondered, does the Dalai Lama, who many consider the embodiment of Avalokiteshvara, who “hears the cries of all sentient beings and responds skillfully,” really hear the cries of sexual minority Buddhists?

The story of our meeting with the Dalai Lama begins with an article in the February/March,1994 issue of OUT Magazine, which quoted the Dalai Lama as saying: “If someone comes to me and asks whether it is okay or not, I will first ask if you have some religious vows to uphold. Then my next question is, What is your companion’s opinion? If you both agree, then I think I would say, if two males or two females voluntarily agree to have mutual satisfaction without further implication of harming others, then it is okay.” Gay men, lesbians, and others reveled in reading the OUT article. We copied the article, sent it home, sent it…everywhere! We reprinted it in community newsletters that made their way around the world. A major spiritual leader, “the favorite lama of the world” as a friend referred to him, had finally told it like it is. We thought. We did not realize that “vows to uphold” include the Buddhist Refuge Vow — which makes one a lay buddhist– not “just” vows of monastic ordination, according to the Dalai Lama.

In 1996, North Atlantic Books published BEYOND DOGMA: DIALOGUES AND DISCOURSES, a collection of talks and discussions from the Dalai Lama’s 1993 visit to France, a visit which took place after his OUT magazine interview, and which offered, in question-and-answer format, “a re-visioning of Buddhism for the next millenium.” On page 46 he responds to the questions from Buddhist interviewers: “What are proper sexual attitudes? What do you think of homosexuality, for example?” The Dalai Lama replies:

“A sexual act is deemed proper when the couples use the organs intended for sexual intercourse and nothing else. Homosexuality, whether it is between men or between women, is not improper in itself. What is improper is the use of organs already defined as inappropriate for sexual contact. Is this clear?”

My immediate reaction on reading this was: “No. This is not clear!” Was the natural behavior of my sexual orientation a violation of the moral precepts of Tibetan Buddhism and consequently negative karma in itself? As a sexually active gay man, a longtime Buddhist practitioner, and an AIDS services provider for the last 18 years, I asked myself, “What happens when “new” Buddhists, often refugees from harshly judgmental “Divine Revelatory” religions, read this? What about men and women around the world living and dying with AIDS? How will they feel?” Although the proscriptions were not discriminatory against “homosexuality” per se, they were clearly discriminatory in their impact on homosexual men and women (and even prohibited most of the AIDS Safe Sex Guidelines!). Stating that homosexual orientation is okay, but that homosexual behavior is not, creates a terrible double bind for any gay Buddhist who “believes” the Dalai Lama’s teachings as publicly stated and published, including many, if not most, Buddhists in Asia who regard the Dalai Lama as the world’s preeminent spokesman for Buddhism.

On the basis of the discrepancy between the OUT article and BEYOND DOGMA, I wrote an open, public letter to the Dalai Lama in January of 1997, noting that many of us who so admired him were confused and distressed by the seeming inconsistency of his statements and their worldwide ramifications. I respectfully requested that he “in whatever manner and venue he chooses, speak personally to the Buddhadharma, the truth of homosexuality and homosexual behavior.” That letter resulted, through the agency of the Office of Tibet, in the June 11 private meeting between the Dalai Lama and seven gay and lesbian Buddhists and activists in San Francisco. The Office of Tibet was genuinely concerned about a gay/progressive public protest of the Dalai Lama’s “sexual misconduct” statements during his appearance at the highly publicized and star-studded conference, “Peace Making: The Power of Non-Violence” held in San Francisco in June, 1997.

At the meeting I asked the Dalai Lama about a statement he had made at an international press conference the day before in conjunction with the conference, which, by the way, while focusing on such topics as minority violence, violence against women, and environmental violence, failed to feature one designated gay or lesbian speaker on homophobic violence in ANY of its six plenary sessions. A reporter from a major San Francisco newspaper had asked the Dalai Lama to comment on the morality of homosexual behavior, and he replied:

“We have to make a distinction between believers and unbelievers. From a Buddhist point of view, men-to-men and women-to-women is generally considered sexual misconduct. From society’s point of view, mutually agreeable homosexual relations can be of mutual benefit, enjoyable and harmless.” The Dalai Lama went on to say that the same Buddhist scripture that advises against gay and lesbian sex urges the same for heterosexuals.

“Even with your wife, using one’s mouth or the other hole is sexual misconduct. Using one’s hand, that is sexual misconduct.” He added, “The Buddha is our Teacher,” the historical reference for all Buddhists.”

The next morning in his diplomatic suite in the Fairmount, I asked him, “If the Buddha is our teacher, where and when did he teach that homosexual partners are inappropriate, that homosexual behavior is sexual misconduct?” The Dalai Lama candidly responded, “I don’t know.” Lourdes Arguelles, lesbian Professor of Education at Claremont Graduate School then asked, “Where and when did the Buddha give the teachings on inappropriate sexual organs?” Again, he replied, “I don’t know.”

During the meeting the Dalai Lama confirmed for us another sexual proscription according to Buddhist tradition: heterosexuals are prohibited from having sex more than five consecutive times with a partner in one night. Jose Cabezon, a gay Buddhist scholar, promptly asked him, “If the purpose of the proscriptions is to reduce sexual activity, how does it make sense to allow a man to have sex with his wife up to five times a night, while saying that it is sexual misconduct for a man to have sex with another man even once in his life?” The Dalai Lama roared with laughter, saying,” You have a point there!”

Earlier, in laying the groundwork for the discussion, he had asked all of us, “Sex is for procreation, right?” Our collective silence was our response. When I asked, “Which of the proscribed behaviors regarding partner, organ, or excessive frequency do you personally consider most important?” he responded with a thoughtful look, not saying anything.

In preparation for the meeting the Dalai Lama had traced the sexual misconduct teachings back to the Indian Buddhist scholar Ashvaghosha, and said they may reflect the moral codes of India at the time, “which stressed moral purity.” These teachings also appear in the writings of Shantideva who described “special hells” for male homosexuals. And the Tibetan writer Gampopa(1079-1153), a founder of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage, explicitly prohibits homosexuality in his commentary on the third precept(i.e., “false conduct with regard to sensuality”).

On June 11, 1997 the Dalai Lama stated that he was open to the possibility of Buddhist tradition changing eventually in response to science, modern social history, and discussion within the various Buddhist sanghas. He said that he was aware of scientific studies showing homosexual behavior among animals. To which, Tinku Ali Ishtiaq of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission responded,”Yes, even among intelligent animals!” The Dalai Lama laughed in response. He then urged all of us to go forth and advocate our interests, basing our action on Buddhist principles of “rigorous investigation and non-violence.” He noted that he is not unilaterally empowered to change tradition: “Change can only come on the collective level,” he said, “through an international consensus of Buddhists.”

Religious teachings on sex–make that “wrong sex”– have long fed an “atmosphere of permission” for violence against sexual minorities — an atmosphere which, in all too frequent extreme cases, helps give rise to self-destructive behavior in sexual minority men, women and children and results in brutal violence against sexual minorities like the internationally publicized murder of Matthew Shepard, and others since him. This is true in the West and it is true in the East. Clearly, some of the traditional Buddhist teachings are violent to the truth and lives of Buddhist sexual minorities and sexually active Buddhists. It’s still questionable whether the Dalai Lama, whose words carry much weight in the court of world opinion, really “gets” the impact of Buddhist tradition labeling the way we make love as “wrong” and “sexual misconduct.”

And the historical evidence reveals that the Buddha himself didn’t give such teaching at all. According to the oldest Buddhist teachings, the Buddha cautioned against “misconduct of sensual desire.” He warned of mental stains from “drowning in sensual pleasure” –harmful and disturbing intentions and actions arising from wrong perception and the subsequent dualistic fixation on self and other. He did not mention sex, inappropriate organs and partners. During the June 11 meeting the Dalai Lama clearly stated that “the goal for all Buddhists is Nirvana”–complete freedom of mind — free of wrong perception, dualistic fixation, defilements and hindrances. He did not clarify, however, how sex as an expression of emotional intimacy, or moderate and respectful recreational sex, or gay tantric sex for that matter, in any way impedes full awakening, freedom and peace of heart.

The meeting was warm, serious and too hurried. The 45 minutes was a 15 minute extension to the 30 minutes which the Office of Tibet originally allotted for “this historic meeting.” The Dalai Lama encouraged the seven of us and others to hold conferences on Buddhism and sexuality and other pressing concerns, including Tibetan Buddhist full-ordination of women as nuns which is presently not offered by the predominantly male Tibetan tradition. Although the Dalai Lama opposes violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation, he did not commit himself to helping reconsider, correct or change Buddhist sexual misconduct teachings still on the books which impact negatively on sexually active buddhists and can fuel homophobic reactions and psycho-spiritualviolence among Buddhist teachers and students. Famous for saying, “When science points to or proves a truth contrary to Buddhist teaching, then Buddhist teaching must change,” he said as we were leaving his suite, “Changing Buddhist tradition will be much harder than advocating for your human rights.”

So it’s up to us to effect change, and through our sincere practice for sexual minority Buddhists and others, “to live and embody” a Buddhist response to oppressive traditional teachings. Sexual minority Buddhists continue this effort with the full support of Buddhist teachers who are quite awake on the subject of sexual right action, teachers such as Khandro Rinpoche, Drukchen Rinpoche, the late Dudjom Rinpoche, Lama Tarchin Rinpoche, Gelek Rinpoche (the late Allen Ginsberg’s Lama), Robert Aitken Roshi and others. We must continue to respectfully insist that the tradition change to honor the full truth of who we are.

Four years ago, I asked Khandro Rinpoche, the gifted young woman Tibetan Lama about her views on homosexual behavior and the dharma. This eldest daughter of Mindroling Rinpoche and Kagyu and Nyingma lineage holder offered the following response as part of her public teaching in San Francisco on “AIDS: Compassion and Skillful Means”:

“With respect to sexual relations, guidelines for all are the same no matter who one is. Homosexuality is nothing different, nothing new. This is something that was there a long time ago–in Tibet, in the East, in the West, everywhere. Human beings have always been human beings. It has come into more focus today. People talk about it more openly. A sexual relationship is very much a personal choice. Spirituality is everybody’s matter.

“One can grow spiritually by being a monk, through getting married, through homosexual relations. If you really love another man as a man, no problem. Within the Buddha’s doctrine itself homosexuality is nothing special, nothing new. Such a thing as realization means being free from attachment to whomever it may be–a man to a man, a man to a woman, a woman to a woman, or whomever it may be. Each person is responsible for his or her own mind, own thoughts, emotions, understanding, awakening, realization. It’s possible for a homosexual person. It’s possible for all sentient beings.”

We cannot control tradition and politics. We cannot control psychological and physical violence born of delusion. But Buddha’s way is not about the “control” of suffering; it’s about responding with open awareness and sustained effort to the whole display of our experience, including suffering. The Dalai Lama has no illusions of being a Buddhist “Pope” and accurately observed that he is not unilaterally empowered to change Buddhist tradition. But he is empowered to speak for himself. His personally understanding and speaking to the irrelevant, false aspects of sexual misconduct teachings will certainly help the cause of sexual minority Buddhists and others.

POSTSCRIPT: The following is the latest public statement by the Dalai Lama on sexual misconduct, excerpted from an interview with Alice Thomson, The Telegraph, London, May 7, 1999:

“His Californian followers sometimes find his advice difficult.

“They want me to condone homosexuality. But I am a Buddhist and, for a Buddhist, a relationship between two men is wrong. Some sexual conduct in marriage is also wrong,” he says. “For example, using one’s mouth and the other hole.”

“This too is wrong,” he adds, shaking his hand up and down vigorously. I look at the translator perplexed. “Masturbation, madam,” he says. The Dalai Lama laughs as I blush. “If an individual has no faith, that is a different matter,” he says. “If two men really love each other and are not religious, then that is OK by me.”

To respond to this article, please contact the author c/o The Buddhist AIDS Project or at (415)522-7473, And, you may attempt to send a message to the Dalai Lama through his North American Representative, Dawa Tsering at the Office of Tibet, or his international office . For the Dalai Lama’s sake and the benefit of all aware beings, I urge you, your friends, sympathetic Buddhist teachers and clergy from other faiths, politically active contacts, and others to contact the Dalai Lama’s representatives and speak to the irrelevance and harm of these traditional Tibetan teachings for people of “good faith and spiritual intention” and all aware beings.