SEXIS WRONG

A reddish white in color, like the shining petal of the lily.
How beautiful and joy-affording, then, our forms!
Adorned with all these marks of excellence!
Our fingers deft in every kind of music,
Our voices able to produce the softest sounds,
Our feet to dance and give delight to every heart—
What joy even the gods feel to see us thus!
How ravished with the thoughts of love they are!
Why do you not feel the same delight!
Why not covet the same enjoyment!
But like a man who finds a treasury of gold and gems,
Leaves all, and goes away far off,
Not knowing the happiness which such wealth
can give,
Your heart seems utterly estranged!
You ignore the joys of love and pleasure
And sit, self-absorbed and unmoved—
What a waste!
Why not partake of the world’s joys and bliss!
And let nirvana and the path of wisdom be delayed. 33
When Gotama would not succumb, the Three Daughters tried
a different tack: “Men’s tastes differ. Instead of sixteen-yearold
god desses, let us assume the shapes of women who have
given birth once, women who have given birth twice, women
of mature age, and even gray-haired old women.”
The effect of all these spectacular enticements, the sweetest
a man can be offered, on Gotama was nil. He dismissed them
as nothing more than foam and water bubbles, devoid of real
substance, plea sure as brief as a flash of lightning or an autumn
shower. Gotama said to the Three Daughters, “I am no
longer a slave to passions and lust, those razors smeared with
honey, which captivate the mind and lead to fever, pain, vexation,
and despair. My body is calm and my mind set free.”
The Three Daughters gave up in grudging admiration. Any
other man, they decided among themselves, would surely
have caved in or lost his senses trying to resist such an onslaught.
34
After withstanding the deadly, all-out assaults of the Demon
Army and the Lascivious Three Daughters, Gotama easily
handled the rest of Māra’s poisoned arrows: Boredom, Hunger
and Thirst, Greed, Sloth, Cowardice, Uncertainty, Malice, Obstinacy,
and Fame and Glory.
Having completely unburdened himself of all disturbing passions,
limiting thoughts, and every other distraction, Gotama
was ready one night to encounter Absolute Reality. First, he
passed through the four stages of meditation: observation and
reflection, pure concentration, awakened awareness, and perfect
equanimity. Later that night, the inner and outer workings
of the universe be came clear; then he experienced, intuitively,
the entire spectrum of existence; next, after contemplating
the origin of cosmic unease and realizing a way to eradicate
it, Gotama “knew what is.” Upon seeing the morning star, he
was a Buddha: “Tranquil in body, with a liberated mind; craving
nothing, mindful and detached, calm and unperturbed.”
One text states that upon Gotama’s enlighten ment, the Earth
shook like a woman in the throes of bliss—an all-embracing
cosmic orgasm that transformed human consciousness. 35
After abiding in the bliss of nirvana for 49 days, Buddha returned
to the world to proclaim his message for the welfare
of all. He knew from his own experience that wisdom was not
commu nicable, but he hoped to point out the Way for others,
See our bosoms, so enticing, white,
and lovely! / Round as the fruit of the
pomegranate tree!
helping them create the right recipe for liberation. Buddha
taught far and wide until his death at age 80. His final admonitions
were, “Every thing decays; train with diligence; rely on
yourselves, no one else.”
One of the meanings of the word nirvana is “extinguished,”
and for Gotama Buddha sexual sensation apparently vanished
upon his enlightenment, and he could no longer be inflamed
by sex. As a prince, Gotama’s life was largely centered on sexual
indulgence, and as a religious pilgrim, on sexual abstinence;
but as a Buddha, both elements were, it seems, transcended.
Buddha is portrayed in every text as being totally untroubled
by sexual thoughts or feelings throughout his long ministry
of 45 years. He was said to have exclaimed, “All the pleasures
known to men, all the pleasures known to the gods, compared
to the joy of nirvana are not even a sixteenth part.” 36
As an Awakened One, we are told, his concealed private parts
were permanently sheathed, affording no offense or danger
to anyone. 37
Soon after his enlightenment, Māra’s Three Daughters made
one last attempt to ensnare Gotama Buddha. As soon as they
appeared before him in the guise of delectable young beauties,
however, the voluptuous trio was immediately transformed
into wizened old hags. They remained in that state
until Buddha magnanimously forgave them and removed the
spell. He scolded them, “You can not test what is beyond being
tested.” 38 Later in his career, Bud dha’s rivals would similarly
attempt to entrap him with girls, with out success, and he
would spurn offers from the most powerful kings to wed their
daughters.
Throughout his life as a teacher, Bud dha associated with all
types of women, including the most famed courtesans of the
time, but treated one and all as “mothers, sisters, or daugh-
THE SEX LIFE OF THE BUDDHA 337