BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1"'But do you emit semen having attacked with the same hand you use to eat thegifts of the faithful?'"'Yes, my friends.'"This rule, in its outline form, is one of the simplest to explain. In its details, though,it is one of the most complex, not only because the subject is a sensitive matter butalso because the Commentary deviates from the Vibhaṅga in its explanations of twoof the three factors that constitute the full offense.The three factors are result, intention, and effort: emission of semen caused by anintentional effort. When all three factors are present, the offense is a saṅghādisesa.If the last two — intention and effort — are present, the offense is a thullaccaya.Any single factor or any other combination of two factors — i.e., intention and resultwithout making a physical effort, or effort and result without intention — is notgrounds for an offense.It may seem strange to list the factor of result first, but I want to explain it first partlybecause, in understanding the types of intention and effort covered by this rule, it isnecessary to know what they are aimed at, and also because result is the one factorwhere the Vibhaṅga and Commentary are in basic agreement.Result. The Vibhaṅga states that semen can come in ten colors — a classificationderived from a diagnostic practice in ancient Indian medicine in which a doctorwould examine his male patients' ejaculates as a way of diagnosing their health.After presenting a long series of wheels based on these ten colors of semen, theVibhaṅga arrives at the simple conclusion that the color and quality of the semenare irrelevant to the offense. This suggests that a bhikkhu who has had a vasectomycan still commit an offense under this rule, because he can still discharge thevarious components that go into seminal fluid — minus only the sperm — at orgasm.Although the Vibhaṅga adds that semen is discharged when it "falls from its base,"it does not discuss this point in any detail. The Commentary discusses threeopinions as to precisely when this happens in the course of sexual stimulation.Although its discussion is framed in terms of the physiology of ejaculation asunderstood at the time, its conclusion is clear: Semen moves from its base when"having made the whole body shake, it is released and descends into the urinarytract" — in other words, at the point of orgasm. The Commentary further explainsthat semen falls from its base when it enters the urinary tract, because from thatpoint on the process is irreversible. Thus if the process of sexual stimulation hasreached this point, the factor of result has been fulfilled even if one tries to preventthe semen from leaving the body at orgasm by pinching the end of one's penis.Once in the urinary tract, it has already fallen from its base, so whether it thenleaves the body is irrelevant as far as the factors of the offense are concerned.Although some sub-sub-commentaries have ventured a more cautious opinion thanthe Commentary's — saying that semen counts as having fallen from its base whenthere appears a small amount of the clear alkaline fluid produced by the prostate78