SEXIS WRONG

The Sex Life
of the Buddha
John Stevens
The Buddhist experience relies on higher truths, and it does
not really matter, ultimately, whether or not there was an historical
Bud dha; however, the traditions and legends that surround
the life and teaching of Gotama, the Awakened One,
born in what is now Nepal sometime around 500 b c e, are
based on perceptions that shape the Buddhist vision of the
universe.
Even texts compiled by puritan Buddhists contain a wealth
of in formation on his birth, early manhood, and sexual
experiences, and it is not difficult to flesh out the romantic
legend of Gotama in loving detail. 1
Her eyes were clear as a blue lotus
leaf and her lips red as a rose.
The requisites for being the mother of a Buddha, for instance, are
clearly delineated: She must be beautiful in facial appearance,
figure, limb, and bearing; virtuous, of pleasant disposition,
polite, patient, modest, chaste, obedient, reflective, and
religious-minded; gra cious and not facetious or quarrelsome;
skilled at feminine pursuits; pure in body, mind, and speech;
free of evil thoughts, anger, ha tred, and the “faults of ordinary
women.” 2
Queen Māyā met all these requirements and was a stunning
beauty as well: Dark, perfumed curls surrounded her unblemished,
per fectly proportioned face; her eyes were clear as a
blue lotus leaf and her lips red as a rose; her teeth shone as
brightly as the stars in the sky, her breath was as fragrant as incense,
and her voice as soft as a dove’s; her body was smooth,
firm, and lusciously shaped. Queen Māyā was, in short, ravishing
to the eye and heart, “radiant, allur ing, and gleaming with
a sheen of gold,” so comely that even the gods envied her. In
fact, she was called Māyādevi, “Goddess of Il lusion,” because
her body was too beautiful to be believed. 3 Her husband, King
Śuddhodana, was the ideal mate, supremely handsome, with
a powerful, well-formed body, and neither too young nor too
old.
Although the mother of a Buddha need not be a virgin, she
must not have borne a child, and once the would-be Buddha
enters her womb, she naturally becomes devoid of all lustful
thoughts and emotions.
That is why, it is said, when Queen Māyā realized she had conceived
“spiritually”—tradition states that the Buddha-to-be
de scended into her womb as she slept—she
asked her husband to al low her to take a vow of
celibacy (along with vows not to kill, lie, steal,
cheat, slander, engage in worldly talk, or be
covetous, angry, or foolish). The king readily agreed and, we
are told, thereafter re garded her as he would his mother or
sister.
Exactly ten (lunar) months later, Māyā gave birth to a child
un sullied by blood, mucus, or other discharge. The newborn
was per fectly formed and was able to speak and walk, startling
everyone present by immediately taking seven steps and
declaring himself “the Honored One of Heaven and Earth.” He
received a natal bath from two water dragons, and flowers
poured down from the sky. Seven days later Queen Māyā suddenly
died, 4 and the infant was adopted by Mahāprajāpatî, his
mother’s sister and his father’s sec ond wife.
Not long after Gotama’s birth, a soothsayer named Asita visited
the palace to examine the unusual child. “This boy is destined
to become a great leader,” the sage declared solemnly. “If he
remains in the palace he will become a universal monarch, but
if he enters the religious life he will become an enlightened
330 EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT SEX IS WRONG