clw_uk wrote:Is there a rule that one cant be a homosexual and join the sangha?
There is, however, a rule that one who joins the sangha must abstain from all sexual activity, both hetero- and homo-.
clw_uk wrote:Tying into another topic, i read somewhere that in thailand their was a request to expel 1000 monks from the sangha because they were homosexual. Is there a rule that one cant be a homosexual and join the sangha?
I think the story he's talking about is regarding the Pali term "pandaka".
The PTS dictionary defines this word:
Paṇḍaka [cp late (dial.) Sk. paṇḍa & paṇḍaka; for etym. see Walde, Lat. Wtb. under pello] a eunuch, weakling Vin i.86, 135, 168, 320; iv.20, 269; A iii.128; v.71; Sdhp 79. -- With ref. to the female sex as paṇḍikā at Vin ii.271 (itthi˚).
It seems likely to me that the term can be broken down into: panda+akka. Doing a quick search, this article
goes more into the meaning. In the Sanskrit, pandaka is used to refer to homosexuals, hermaphrodites, and eunuchs.
So, what is the story about? The Buddha expelled 100 eunuchs or 100 weaklings from the bhikkhu order? A monk in this article
explains the story as being a group of promiscuous homosexuals (thus translating pandaka in a way that includes promiscuous homosexuals) :
...there was a case of a gay monk who was overcome by sexual desire and could no longer restrain himself. He was seducing his friends and novices to have sex with him. They rejected him so he left the monastery and had sex with men who were elephant keepers and horse keepers. When news spread around the entire Buddhist community that he was homosexual, the Buddha was alerted to the problem and he issued a rule for the community not to give any ordination to a homosexual, and those ordained gays are to be expelled.
Regardless of what pandaka means and the view of gays in the early bhikkhu order, it's definitely true that a lot of homophobia unfortunately developed later on in Buddhist history among some monks and laypeople.
In that last article, what the bhikkhu says here is really insulting and homophobic:
According to their explanations, all homosexuals and sexual deviants were once offenders of the Third Precept (prohibiting sexual misconduct) _ at least in their past lives, and they must pay off their past sins in their present life.
Great. And women can't be Buddhas or Maras. Radical orthodoxy can be ridiculous, at times.