Did the Buddha have sex?

“‘The ascetic Gotama has given up unchastity. He is celibate, set apart, avoiding the vulgar act of sex.’ Such is an ordinary person’s praise of the Realized One”
https://suttacentral.net/dn1/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin
So is there no record of Buddha ever having sex? And this would also rule out masturbation?
Is there any account of him dealing with his sexual urges…perhaps as an adolescent prior to his Awakening?

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He had a son so he was not a virgin.

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Oh, very interesting. I wonder at what point he changed his mind. Do we know what happened to his son?
Seems like it would have been a burden to have a father who was the Buddha?

His son was Rahula and he appears in a number of suttas. He became a follower of his father.

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Thanks for the info. There is much I need to learn.

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Having overcome the hindrances in the victory over Mara which took 7 years, the Buddha was able to formulate effective strategies for overcoming these hindrances.

"When, near the river Nerañjara, I exerted myself in meditation for attaining to security from bondage,[1] there came Namuci[2] speaking words of compassion…

“Sensual desire is your first army,”

—Sutta Nipata 3.2, ‘The Great Struggle’

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His son also became an Arahant and died before the Buddha did.

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Thank you Paul1, indeed sexual desire was quite the hindrance, and at 72 I can’t say I miss it. lol I think I will dig into “The Great Struggle” for more of an education. :heartbeat:

And thank you for that piece of info. Can you say where you read that for my reading? Thanks! :grin:

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Just the opposite:

I am known as “Fortunate Rāhula”, because I’m accomplished in both ways: I am the son of the Buddha, and I am seer of truths.

Thag 4.8 Rāhulatheragāthā

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Thank you. I have many questions: Was this Rahula merely a great student of the Buddha? Was it in his genes? Is there a great refenrence for this son of Buddha? I would like to read moreabout it.
Thank you much!

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Just do a search on the main site and it will not only give you the suttas he is mentioned in, but also a brief excerpt from the Dictionary of Pali Proper Names:

https://suttacentral.net/define/rāhula

There are three very famous suttas that the Buddha taught to his son found in the MN:

There is also SN 18 Rāhula Saṁyutta

You can find the full DPPN entry for him here:

https://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/r/raahula.htm

For all the great disciples, a good reference is this book:

although I don’t think Ven. Rahula has his own chapter there.

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Thanks! Exactly what I needed. Joyful reading!
I will take your suggestions to heart!
Metta!

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The explanation of Majjhima Nikaya 62 is there are topics listed as a preparation to mindfulness of breathing, to clear the mind. The practitioner would choose the ones applicable to their situation.

This process is specifically described here:

“There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. As he remains thus focused on the body in & of itself, a fever based on the body arises within his body, or there is sluggishness in his awareness, or his mind becomes scattered externally. He should then direct his mind to any inspiring theme."

—Samyutta Nikaya 47.10

Which can be downloaded for free courtesy of the BPS website:

:grin:

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But it sounds like @Rosie is confused even about the Buddha’s basic biography, so I recommend starting with that first:

:blush:

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About that there can be no doubt. My reading of the suttas and Buddha’s life have been haphazard…spotty you might say. But I have regained some diligience, and with your help here, pointing the way, I will persist.
Those are some excellent references and I shall be ready with a book report soon! :laughing:Thanks again for you all’s presence in my life!

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" He was, however, dissatisfied with his lot, and one day when, with Virūpakkha, he was on a visit to Sakka, Sakka recognized him, and finding out that he was dissatisfied, suggested to him a remedy."

This was fascinating, and I suppose I lack the proper understanding. But if he was ‘dissatisfied with his lot’ perhaps he should have pracitcied more detachment? Isn’t dissatisfaction with our lives a chief cause of suffering? Yet he was rewarded with a more ‘satisfactory’ life?

He was “rewarded” by karma for his action of inviting the Buddha and his monks to a meal offering, not for his dissatisfaction.

Yes, if he had practiced renunciation and meditation in that lifetime, perhaps he would have been enlightened at that time and wouldn’t have had to be reborn at all. But as it is, he did not practice detachment and so had to “suffer” (as you say) through many more lifetimes until the arising of our Buddha.

For those of you following along at home, @Rosie is reading the Pāli Names entry: Rāhula (the section about his past life in the time of the Buddha Padumuttara wherein he made the aspiration to be reborn as a Buddha’s son)

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Ah, thank you Venerable Sir, for your instruction, which I honestly admit I do crave in this life. I have spent some time as a moderator here at D & D, but retired in an effort to spend more time learning. And it has already happened. :smiley:

And thank you for this clarification, both validating my understanding and illuminating the deeper meaning this passage.
I have much to learn.
Metta!!!

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"“Everything that has a beginning has an end.”
This is worthy of meditation!
Thank you!

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