Just for comparative discussion, here is a discussion of Catholic theological attitudes toward celibacy and sexual continence. Perhaps someone who knows the vinaya traditions well could comment on how they do or do not differ from the similar disciplines in Catholicism.
Clerical celibacy and continence also goes a long way toward preventing the loss of Church property to inheritance by a priestās children. 
Iām deeply skeptical of the purity argument from the Catholic side.
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Thereās nothing magical about sex. When someone has jhanas sensual desire is suppressed to a point sex is seems like a gross pleasure comparatively. Jhanas also make it possible to live in jungles with minimum of sense pleasures, and be contented with very little. However I often wondered how celibates in other religions managed. I presume masturbation would not be considered inappropriate, especially in the more urban church settings where silence of the christian or other religious monastic settings might be absent.
I wonder if there is an important historical difference in Catholicism between priestly celibacy and monastic celibacy.
But returning to Buddhist monasticism, it seems to me that one obvious motivation for celibacy is that a bhikkhu who has a taste for sexual intercourse is ultimately going to end up siring a child, and that child will have to be supported. I assume both traditional custom and the authorities would say the responsibility for support lies with the bhikkhu himself or the sangha. Obviously these kinds of entanglements with worldly life, economic obligations and and attachments to particular families are incompatible with a wandering, renunciate life devoted to physical and mental seclusion in pursuit of spiritual liberation.
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Catholicism teaches that masturbation is a sin, for everybody. I think the Catholics also attempt to teach their clergy disciplines and techniques for spiritual restraint. But I donāt know how effective they are, given their chronic problem with sexual misbehavior and abuse. The Catholic Church does have a deep contemplative traditions, but I donāt know what percentage of their clergy is engaged in them.
What percentage of Theravada Buddhist monks, I wonder, regularly attains the jhanas?
Not a lot, so these problems are common to all ordained folk. Some lay people have the same problems too, I hear!
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I find amazing how people are able to extrapolate all sorts of crazy theories from extreme cases mentioned as the origin stories logged for the sake of backing the creation of the rules themselves.
These absurd views are as out of context as someone looking at a country penal code, with all its provisions and penalties and especulate that the whole of its population may be a bunch of criminals!
A case of a bhikkhuni which gets pregnant from a bhikkhuās semen is found in the origin story for NP4:
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Share with us your understanding of the hypothesis, if you donāt mind?
I feel that the cultivation of the jhanas is akin to running a 4 minute mile. Some can develop jhanas more naturally, while for others, they might be unreachable for various reasons. Someone like Leigh Brasington can go up and down the jhanas at will, and have his neurology tested as he transitions from levels of jhana. Others, like the great scholar Bhkkhu Bodhi, might struggle due to a severe headache condition, or just having his mind so gifted in text analysis and translation.
So, I feel that the ability to cultivate jhanas is a rare gift. Some gravitate to these altered states more naturally, the same way that some runners reach the 4 minute mile, and some great runners (like Usain Bolt) could only hope to achieve a 6 minute mile. Some monks are gifted the way Roger Bannister was; others are gifted like Usain Bolt, but the 4 minute mile is only an impossibility.
I only hope that monks and nuns never measure themselves by the ability to achieve jhanas, or never drift into a state where they believe themselves to be streamwinners, and exclude others from their world that they feel are not streamwinners ( as in the case of ĆÄį¹avÄ«ra, who seems to have been perhaps a disturbed individual). I think many of us know who the great, wise, kind, and valued monks are in our midst, and the achievement of jhanas should never be a measuring stick, IMO. Not that this is what you were suggesting, Danā¦I just liked your question.
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I think thereās a big distinction between the two classes. Maybe not in the rules, Iām not sure, but the Catholic monastics are pretty respectable compared to the priests imo. The current pope has been pretty good and has shown himself to be a kind human being, probably in part due to his time as a monk.
That seems to be in line with my basic understanding @upasikaMichael. So if thatās true, and Buddhist monks actually have some success in maintaining celibacy, it must be because of aspects of the standard training that donāt include jhana.
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Yes, Dan, agreed. I do feel though, that the jhanas have to be given extreme importance. I canāt claim any experience with jhanas, but I did do a stint of three years as an anagarika in the lay world, and can say that the practice of the 8 precepts makes delving into these altered states practicable. Thereās a real provable connection between the renunciate practices and the meditative cultivations. Of course, others may have different experiences, but at least for me, as a sample group of one for myself, the deeper meditations were more accessible and more available the more detached I was from the lay world, and its ideas, impulses, and attractions. Being celibate helps. Renunciation is where itās atā¦ It was a practice that made for less friends, social engagement, and invitations in the lay world, but certainly better meditations. 
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Thanks @Gabriel_L. Iād actually been wondering about that rule, and what the purpose could beā¦ Now I know 
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ā¦ Carholicism is huge, and diverse. As are human beings in all the flavors in which they can be viewed.
Almost any generalization about Catholics, or any group, even by one who grasps that identity, are likely to be disputed. Any generalizations by one who identifies (or is identified with) another affiliation may well be considered offensive.
So i recommend avoiding generalizations, or practicing very reserved limited language in them.
Metta to all.
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There is a huge difference, as well as a dramatically convoluted history.
Only the West Roman Church has celibate priests. The East Roman Church has married (or non-celibate) clergy and celibate monastics. Same with the Egyptian Church and the Syriac.
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Thank you for your detailed answer Kay 
Very much appreciated. I just thought Iād comment on your remark I quoted above. I donāt know enough about Ajahn Brahmās life, but having watched some videos of his, since they are very funny 
, I understood that even when he ordained his initial plan was to become a monk for just a few years and then go back and get married, so it seems that at the time he thought that sexuality was not incompatible with the path - even though he had already experienced some deep meditations and so was already advanced on the path.
I have tendency to be rather overly detailed. But thank you for this. 
I think I have to go back to what I said before about that middle placeā¦where itās not an either, orā¦
I suspect that after finding himself in robes, he moved further along within that āmiddle spaceā.
Alsoā¦
In attempting to reflect on the nitty gritty of your question, I have reflected on my own life. Iāve been happily married for a long time and for an even longer time, Iāve been attending regular meditation retreats. It is so much easier to have stiller, happier meditation experiences when many of the distractions of the kamaloka (world of the 5 senses) are absent, so one can devote oneās time and energy more fully to the world of the 6th sense (mind).
So I think it goes back to the notion of development/cultivation (bhavana) that we have in Buddhism. Itās a process we grow into as we notice the benefits for ourselves.
I think there are two more specific things to take note of also:
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While one is actually in deep meditation (of whatever type) one is not engaged, (at that specific time/moment) in sensuality and vice versa. Thus it is possible to have the wider context of oneās life to be more sensual and still meditate well.
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However, in order to truly make the most of your talents (or past life conditioning), then youāre better off creating a broader context which supports your formal meditation practise. Thus youāre more likely to have deep meditation more often, if the broader context of your life is one that moves away from engagement with the external/five sense world as much as possible.
Hope this helps. These are great questions, by the way!
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Apologies for the multiple, consecutive postingsā¦ Iāve only just had a chance to read a bit more of the thread.
Both these statements, I know the first made in jest , reminded me of how strong conditionality can be. How many of us have a particular habit we would like to give up but canāt understand why we donāt? Or how many of us ask ourselves why we donāt meditate more often, even though we love to do so?
I think, due to the tightness and strength of conditioned views and practises in the world, this is never going to happen.
So, taking this conditionality, which @Christopher has also written about in a previous comment, as one of the bases of understanding we need to grow, we can then have a different approach to morality.
Morality in Buddhism, as I understand it, is not linked to comparison with others, nor to guilt or punishment. It is not a demand from an external source. It is not a judgement, nor is it about āstrictnessā or rigidity.
It is always about compassion and understanding towards ourselves and others.
It requires an understanding based in the concept of ānatural phenomenaā. It presents us, in a neutral sort of way, with a notion that consequences follow certain mental, verbal and physical actions. And that the reverbrations of these consequences may not only be felt in the world external to us, but also in the one that is internal and personal to us.
Thus Sila becomes a foundational extension of renunciation, of letting go.
The heightened Sila of the monastic, involves a greater letting go. Unfortunately, this greater āheightā means if they fall, itās going to āhurtā more. This is something we can experiment with in our own lives as lay people also.
@karl_lew shared his experiences with sugar. Iām going to, with apologies to Karl , pretend for a bit that he occasionally has times where he partakes of sugar:
He knows how it feels for him to have long stretches without this substance and what it feels like when he has a little bit or a lot and how long it then takes for him to go back to that other state of wellness, which he had when he was abstaining completely.
This is similar to what itās like with sexuality and meditation. We can experiment.
There is a sense of being (on rare and limited occasions for me) in a higher (almost literally) place - where there is a serenity and peace that is akin to being in a high, open place where you can feel easily connected to the sky and clouds and open spaces; where you might perhaps, more easily see the spread of the world below you.
Reaching down to grab and hold something lower down, depending on the weight and conditioning of it, can drag you down to feel the heavy - potato sack like - clay of your body and all itās clamourings become loud again. All itās pain and yearnings and needs once again need to be worked on, once again need to be over come and transcended in order to re-experience even a little bit of real peace. And sometimes it can take a very long time.
The accumulative power of living with a particular Sila, for longer and longer time periods, cannot be underestimated.
I believe the Buddha said that when a monastic breaks a precept, it is like falling from an elephant. But when a lay person breaks one, it is like falling from a horse. Iām not sure of the exact story or reference. But there is something worth considering here. Not so that we feel bad about ourselves or compare ourselves; but so we look within with a desire to understand.
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Hello,
What if the rapture that one feels when practicing āsuccessfulā jhana was but sublimated sexual energy/libido ? And if so why would sex once in a while even if intense, be an obstacle to Jhana ?
Comments welcome ! Thank you