reproduction
I mentally decided to investigate this thought with more precision and effort. The following thoughts I feel are worth sharing in this post.
So the concepts of mating, sexual relationships, and reproduction has been a topic I've subconsciously held at bay ever sense I started to look into Buddhism more seriously. I had a fairly powerful hormonal urge recently that I think really instigated this question to rise to the forefront of my consciousness.
To start with, I am going to restate and reanalyze the first and second noble truths within Buddhism. The first noble truth is: suffering. The first noble truth is just explicitly the concept of suffering. Try to envision the first two noble truths as a cause and effect chain. When you think of an object moving for example, something first had to cause the object to go into motion. With suffering in relation to human beings, you find the that this thought occurs: what caused suffering to start? According to Buddhas discoveries, suffering is a default constant feature of human awareness. Just as being a living human being is always tied to the inescapable feature of thinking, a smaller feature contained within the realm of thought is the alert system to notify the mind that something troublesome is occurring. In its attempts to alert the mind of whatever arbitrary thing is the cause for the alert system to be sounded, it creates more and more of an alert presence within the mind to then be acknowledged. The second noble truth is: the cause of suffering. I am now going to ask you to visualize this alert system within the mind ask a cause and effect chain in relation to our reaction to pain. First lets start with the neutral instance of getting into a cold body of water. Second I ask you, after the initial moments have passed, you are alerted in your mind by the nervous system that your body is being subjected to a very negative state of cold. So first, there is the neutral moments of time in which your body is passing into the body of water. These moments are of such a short length of time we often don't really think of such moments as containing much meaning. Although this appears to be the case, this example is just to mentally observe the process of the mental alert system. So in relation to time, the moments in which the mind is alerted of it being subjected to unfavorable cold conditions is the later moments of time after entering the body of water, that the alert system has generated enough presence within the mind to successfully signal the unfavorable conditions to the conscious mind.
Now I want to turn to sexual relationships and the idea of human reproduction. Is it a byproduct of the minds alert system to engage in sexual acts? So much of sexuality is generated by desire or craving. How about the longing to want to become an attractive and ideal sexual partner? Is the idea of all things that are activities that form from the basis of sexual craving, acts that are then from a fundamental negative basis? The idea of wanting to be a decent choice of a sexual partner seems to be quite a natural human psychological action. Striving for the development and realization of states that then bolster one into a position that then places you as a adequate sexual companion (within the social climate) seems to be a very natural and expected activity for a person. What then is the cause of suffering according to Buddha? The cause of suffering is craving, yearning, grasping, reaching, and ultimately desiring. So doesn't striving to reach such a point of being from a sexual basis become negative or a impure defilement that yields the exact conditions for charging the mind with contents that point toward suffering?
Since I think the answer to these questions are very mysterious, sexual conduct is one of the most powerful and challenging topics in seeking to overcome suffering. The Buddha was referenced to state that the power instilled within sexual conduct was so immense that if it was coupled with another challenge that was equally powerful he was quite certain he would not have been able to attain nirvana. This is a very interesting point that I think is reflected within other religious disciplines also. I think for monks and nuns within Catholicism, celibacy is also another strict regulation. Celibacy is also for monks and nuns within Buddhism. I am unsure about Hinduism, but I do know that renunciation, asceticism, and mortification played a large role in early Hinduism. I believe complete renunciation and abstinence are also major features integrated into Judaism, Jainism, Islam, ect.
The idea of becoming a person highly attractive and an object of intense craving, seems to be a pursuit within the context of Buddhism that is directly contradictory to the second noble truth, thus of a very negative nature. To want to shape and construct oneself to become a person that instills immense craving for another seems to be a practice that only makes becoming free from suffering much more difficult for others. Craving is that which causes suffering. How terribly confusing and discouraging it is to consider such a thing! Sexual thought is something that naturally began developing and growing within our minds around the age we hit puberty. I know for me, such thoughts had immense influence and greatly shaped who I became. I have also heard from Buddhist monks online that not all of us are not born at a position to become a monk. I think I am at the point in the interconnected sea of Samsara to estimate that I am quite unsure if I will ever be remotely close to being able to purify myself enough to attempt to walk the path to nirvana. I can say that I am very certain that I am doing my best currently to put one foot in front of the other! Everyday I face different and new conditions for this spiritual struggle, as we all do.
And bigger yet, the entire question about reproducing and starting a family. Is the idea of trying too attain a sexual partner for the purpose of reproducing a negative thing? Creating offspring that are absolutely dependent upon you for their well-being seems like it is now just a firm and physical realization of the alert system that is already present within ones consciousness. So a even more powerful realization of this alert system is produced by then having offspring. How can offspring be referred to in such a negative manner? Well in Buddhism all forms of existence that are outside the realm of nirvana are subject to the 4 noble truths. Considering that all living entities are beings that are still in the cycle of death and rebirth (reincarnation), they are still being subject to suffering. I think ultimately the choice of sexually reproducing is a byproduct of the fact that we are subject to dukka (suffering). Still, the entire period of existence within Samsara consists of many different frames and instances of experience. Focusing so heavily upon what the label associated with the act of reproducing is, is beside the point, that of the ultimate goal of striving to attain nirvana is the best thing I can point toward. All I know is that aerobic physical exercise has greatly helped me psychologically. Physiologically it is seems to be very healthy and within the lifestyle that homo sapiens evolved from.
Cheers!
周培森