I have read somewhere (possibly Dalai Lama) that certain sexual activity comes under sexual misconduct (like Oral, Anal ...). So my question is whether using breast for sexual activity is considered sexual misconduct.

I tried to find the answer and looked into theses questions on the site https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/5979/the-third-precept-and-prostitution https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/9307/buddhist-attitude-towards-prostitution-and-non-procreative-sexual-activity https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/1367/how-is-sexual-misconduct-explained-in-regards-to-the-five-precepts But I couldn't find the exact answer. So hope this is not a duplicate. The explanation I have heard regarding the third precept is for men to avoid having sex with certain types (20 types) of women. So my understanding is that a married man going to a prostitute doesn't break the third precept. Please explain if this is correct or not.

According to this answer, it seems like masturbation is not considered sexual misconduct or breaking the third precept. However, the whole point (in general) of keeping the precept is to make good kamma both in mind and body. Masturbation alters the mind state and creates bad mind-made kamma. So ideally, shouldn't it also be considered as sexual misconduct and breaking the third precept?

What is it? Is sex just for pleasure with your partner breaking a precept? Eg with a condom. And is being circumcised bad over personal preferences/ (hygiene,aesthetic)? is oral and anal sex bad? Is masturbation bad? And is circumcising your sons bad?

The 3rd precept is: >I undertake the training rule to avoid sexual misconduct. How is this precept explained? Marriage is defined differently in different cultures, so are the commonly accepted rules in a given society considered as non-misconduct? If not, how should one determine the scope of misconduct according to the precept?

I have heard from the Vimalakirti Sutra that Vimalakirti was a householder who drank and visited prostitutes; but he was foremost in wisdom and Buddhist practice?! I heard the Buddha sent monks to him to observe and study under his guidance?! Is this true?! Why would the Buddha do this?!

It is well known that there are periodic crises in Buddhism, usually - it seems - involving sexual misconduct. I also know that e.g. Vasubandhu claimed that aryans - even if they could still have sexual desire - were incapable of sexual misconduct. Does that mean that everyone involved in these crises are complete fakes or have retrogressed? Quite famously, an important Tibetan llama was even convicted of child rape : can anyone defend the claim any a "tulku" of this sort is a Buddha behind bars?

Is the upasakasila sutta based on the Tipitaka (Pali Canon) or is it based on the Mahayana teachings? Also, I understand that Buddhism doesn't condemn LGBT, but in the Upasakasila Sutta, it is written: > "If sex is practised under the inappropriate times (times not allowed by precepts), [at] inappropriate place[s] (places not allowed by precepts), with non-female[s], with virgin[s], with a married wife, if sex relates to self-body, it is known as sexual misconduct." Does this mean being gay (or lesbian, or being a part of LGBT) is considered sexual misconduct and therefore violated the 3rd precepts?

If a person have a small Buddha statue in their room and they (sorry) masturbated in that room, is it considered sexual misconduct? Sorry if this question is unappropiate.

I've been restless for these past few days. Once I have an unappropiate thought about a holy figure, and I think it was unintentional (not sure though). But then I kept thinking about it over and over again (I tried to analyse whether it is intentional or not). My questions are: 1. Is sexual thought about holy figures unforgivable sin? 2. Am I creating bad karma by thinking about it over and over again? 3. What advice do you have for me? I keep on feeling really guilty and keep on thinking about it.

**Namo Buddhaya** Being well aware of the different posts about this topics, I wished to know how it came to be that the Noble eightfold path presented by Bhikkhu Bodhi would specify that Right action is to refrain only from sexual misconduct : > (3) Abstaining from sexual misconduct (kamesu miccha-cara veramani) > https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html While in the Magga-vibhanga Sutta it is refraining from unchastity, as stated here : > "And what, monks, is right action? Abstaining from taking life, > abstaining from stealing, **abstaining from unchastity**: This, monks, is > called right action. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn45/sn45.008.than.html I have also stumbled upon this sutta where the translations between Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi and Venerable Ajahn Sujato differ from "refraining from sexual misconduct" to "refraining from sexual activity", while the pali version does state "abrahmacarya" which does suggest chastity as right action within the noble eightfold path, which seems like an undeniably substantial difference. https://suttacentral.net/sn45.8 Does it imply that lay followers still engaging in the sexual act while monks giving it up are both following the Noble eightfold path ? Or would there be yet a reason for such a distinction in translation? May you all be well.

I met a woman, far, far below me in status and physical, and mental, attractiveness. I told her I was in love with her, and now refuse to retract that, or to explain why I refuse to. In fact, this woman is very mentally ill, and she seems distressed by me... It's not misconduct, because I'm not lying - right -- *whoever* else I'm involving myself with?

My girlfriend does oral sex and she likes to swallow my sperm during sex. Will these activities violate any precep? Will swallowing of semen violate the no killing precet and are sperm cells considered sentient beings? I would prefer simple answers since I have a little understanding of Buddhism as this point.

If one weren't able to have a proper room in which to establish a shrine, could the bedroom be a suitable place to put a statue of the Buddha ? As expressed by Lama Yeshe, sexual misconduct would include sexual activity if it is "near holy objects, such as the guru or the Triple Gem." (reference [Taking the Mahayana Restoring and Purifying Ordination](https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/taking-mahayana-restoring-and-purifying-ordination)) , thus reassessing how I approach the situation. Considering this, would shrouding the shrine with a cloth or in a cabinet be sufficient to keep it there in such a place when not practicing ? Many blessings to you.

I remember reading in a sutta that the Buddha said not engaging in the sexual act is considered right action. Does anybody know the place where that is written? I don’t remember where I read it.

As far as I understand, Vipassana meditation trains **attention** and **equanimity**. Both sound as great skills to have in order to battle addictions. However, after having attended a 10-day Vipassana course, I still don't fully understand how this technique can be applied to overcome a strong addiction to *FMO and **PMO. I mean, the technique, as teached in the 10-day course, pretty much trains you to be equanimously aware of your breath and the physical sensations in your body through continuous body scans. However, I'm left clueless about how that technique can be somehow generalized and applied in the concrete case of facing strong, compulsive cravings of PMO/FMO. In fact, the 10-day retreat forced me to go in such an abrupt, extreme cold-turkey abstinence that the cravings started to build up and during the middle and end of the course I was multiple times overpowered by the urge to fantasize, during the breaks and even during the meditation sessions. Thinking in hindsight, the urges to fantasize became stronger because in those days I experienced a lot of frustration due to reasons which had nothing to do with sex. I experienced back pain and also annoying breathing problems due to nasal congestion, and I guess that made me lose motivation and made me vulnerable to the urges to fantasize. I want to make clear though that I didn't masturbate nor watched porn during the whole retreat, because it was pretty much impossible due to the inexistent privacy (I was surrounded by people all the time, and the bathrooms were not very private either), and of course I didn't have access to any electronic device. So I didn't break the shila, unless you consider sexual fantasies as shila breaking. After I came back from the retreat, I was immediately and magnetically drawn back to PMO/FMO, overpowered by the urges built up by my last day's constant sexual fantasies. On the bright side, though, this retreat was an excellent opportunity to learn more about myself and showed me how impressively strong my addiction to FMO/PMO is. In fact, even in a retreat environment and deprived of privacy and access to internet, I am still very vulnerable to sexual fantasies. So, I would be very grateful of any practical advices on how to apply Vipassana to overcome PMO/FMO addiction. Has any body faced this addiction and successfully managed to break free from it by applying Vipassana? Is Vipassana meditation enough to overcome the addiction or should I resort to other meditation techniques, or other life style changes for that matter? Any practical tips/suggestions/help will be deeply appreciated. *FMO = Fantasizing, Masturbation and Orgasm **PMO = Pornography, Masturbation and Orgasm I borrowed these handy accronyms from the NoFap community.

Would the Buddha have considered engaging in anal sex as breaking the 1st and/or 5th precepts? I would like to know this as I am trying to better understand the 5 precepts.

We all know the limits of a married person.We all know the definition of cheating in Buddhism. But Buddhism existed in a time Porn did not exist. So if a married person watch porn is it cheating?

I'd like to know if masturbating with his/her boyfriend/girlfriend, during a sex cam session for example, is a sin ? Is showing one's private parts to his/her bf/gf is a sin? Does it take part in breaking the 3rd precept ?

I have been four years a practicing Buddhist in England. I am struggling now in bringing understanding to my experience, I would be greatful for any insight, and I appreciate that it is hard to communicate fully on the internet. I know there has been sexual misconduct within this particular Order before. I have within the last five months been a victim of sexual coercion and minor abuse with another Mitra in the Sangha (I use the terms and definitions provided by my communication with the helpline I rang). I am struggling to stay with my own experience now, as my need for safety has become tenfold. And my relationships within the Sangha I find now to be deeply tense, as my friends within the Order who I spoke to about this responded with advice that it would be helpful to bring compassion to this other Mitra in this situation. I am sorry to say that I feel frightened that this would be the response... Is it helpful, skillful, to give my energy to this Sangha that seems to tolerate sexual miscunduct, up until it is themselves who are experiencing it? I apologise for my confused sentences, and really, anything you can say that would help to bring light to this I would be very greatful for. I don't wish to call myself a victim, and for the purpose of bringing compassion to the situation... to get help, it seems that the culture understands my experience to be that of a victim. Many thanks.