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"Pornography is wrong!"
Many people seek to conform to the instructions of the religion they follow. This is an idea that is far from bad if one decides to trust.
However, I think we need to get past the "should/should not". This is why I decided to ask a series of questions to different members or representatives of the major religions.
To begin this series of interviews, I chose Buddhism. Thanks to Vassika from the Triratna Buddhist Center in Paris for answering my questions.
What is the Buddhist view on pornography?
As a preamble, it must be said that Buddhism has many schools and streams, so I cannot represent all Buddhists. What you will find below are my reflections on the subject, as a practicing Buddhist in the Triratna Buddhist Order, and in the light of what I have learned from the Buddha's vision.
The Buddha lived over 2500 years ago, so he did not know about pornography.
Living ethically is a foundation of Buddhist practice, and the Buddha offered five training precepts to guide his disciples:
- Refrain from taking life (the principle of love and non-violence)
- Refrain from taking what is not freely given (the principle of generosity)
- Abstain from sexual misconduct (the principle of simplicity and contentment, where one is not led by one's desires)
- Abstain from false speech (the principle of true communication)
- Refrain from taking intoxicants (to keep one's mind clear and insightful).
They are not rules, and there is no punishment for those who fail to follow them (there is no God or other external authority in Buddhism). Buddhist ethics are based on the simple fact that our actions always have consequences for ourselves and for others.
If we act with love, generosity, respect, honesty and full awareness, our actions will be beneficial. Actions based on states of hatred, desire and drunkenness or willful ignorance will have harmful consequences for ourselves and others.
This is the third precept that applies directly to sexuality; however, all of these precepts are interrelated and are implicated in each other.
On a more subtle level, this precept invites us to be aware of all our desires and to distinguish between those that are healthy and natural and those that are neurotic in the sense that we seek in the object of our desire a satisfaction that it cannot by its nature give us.
For Buddhism, our suffering comes from such desires; we continually seek deep and lasting happiness and satisfaction in things and experiences that cannot give us them.
In sex, we sometimes seek to fulfill needs for love or intimacy, sometimes to distract ourselves from deeper dissatisfaction. The pleasure that sex brings, along with other things like chocolate, alcohol, a movie, etc., distracts us for a while and brings us a kind of fleeting happiness.
But as soon as it's over, we get in touch with the deeper dissatisfaction again, and so we enter an addictive cycle. According to Buddhism, this dissatisfaction comes from a lack of spiritual meaning in our lives and can only be fulfilled by inner wealth that does not depend on external experiences.
So, if we look at pornography in the light of these principles, we need to consider those involved in the production of images and videos as well as those who distribute or sell them, and those who enjoy watching them.
Is it an expression of generosity or greed or unhealthy desire? And do the people involved act with full knowledge of the consequences this activity may have for themselves and others?
For Buddhism, quality of mind is paramount, and pornography can be evaluated in terms of the effect it has on the state of mind of all those involved. Does it generate happiness, love, contentment, satisfaction and freedom; is it beneficial to those who use it and to those who create it?
And its purpose: masturbation? What is it for?
To answer this question, we need to separate masturbation from pornography, because there are plenty of people who masturbate without ever watching pornography. As for the people who practice both, we can refer to the answer to the first question.
For the others, as far as I know, the Buddha did not talk about masturbation, and if there are taboos or proscriptions against masturbation among some Buddhists, it probably comes from cultural views and habits and not from the Buddha's teaching itself.
Masturbation can bring some relief, pleasure and relaxation and, as a rule, does not involve other people, so it is up to each person to determine if it is something that is beneficial to him or her or at least that does not lead him or her into harmful states of mind or into a negative cycle like the one mentioned above.
1. Religions are blamed for creating guilt, and therefore for encouraging addiction. What do you think about this?
Indeed, guilt is a big part of our culture, which is basically Judeo-Christian. Guilt is associated with a sense of doing something that is judged as "wrong" by a person or by a God who has authority over us.
In Buddhism, there is no such authority, so guilt has no place. Remorse and regret, on the other hand, are seen as positive feelings in the sense that they come from an acknowledgement that we have not acted in accordance with our values (the values expressed in the five precepts above).
Buddhism offers us an ideal, the ideal of the Buddha or enlightened being, to which we can aspire and which we can become ourselves.
A Buddhist, inspired by this ideal, would do his or her best to behave in accordance with it and would regret any action that moved him or her away from it. The Buddhist path is a path of practice, essentially ethics and meditation, which helps us to become, gradually, more and more enlightened.
On this path we will, of course, miss and do things we regret. When this happens to us, we acknowledge it fully, but without guilt, and then leave it behind and try to do better afterwards.
2. Do you think that Buddhism can help people addicted to pornography? What advice would you give to one of them?
Yes, the practice of Buddhism could help people addicted to pornography, but it is important to know that Buddhism is a spiritual path that requires sincere work on oneself, and that is not always easy nor always pleasant. One goes through the practice of ethics, that is to say the observation of the five precepts mentioned above, and then through meditation to arrive at wisdom.
It is especially meditation that has a transformative effect on the mind. It allows us to develop a calmer and clearer mind, and positive emotions such as love, acceptance, joy and appreciation.
Furthermore, it gives us the ability to stay present with our experience in the present moment, whether it is pleasant or not, and the ability to appreciate and find beauty in the small things of everyday life.
All of this gradually diminishes our need to look outside ourselves for stimulation, distraction, and big or intense pleasures. Wisdom comes when we begin to know deeply that in reality there is nothing material, outside ourselves, that we can do or have that will guarantee us complete and lasting satisfaction. This wisdom brings with it enlightenment and freedom.
For all this to work, however, it is necessary to be sincerely committed to the path, preferably in the context of a "Sangha" i.e. alongside other sincere practitioners who can guide, support and encourage us in our practice.
This is especially necessary when our practice leads us to encounter aspects of ourselves that we dislike or find difficult, or wounds from our past.
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