Birds and Bees: wild forms of Sex

A look at sex in the wild: Birds do it, bees do it...

The position and treatment of animals in Buddhism is important for the light it sheds on Buddhists' perception of our relation to the natural world, humanitarian concerns in general, and the relationship between Buddhist theory and practice.

Animals in Buddhism
Animals have always been regarded in Buddhist thought as sentient beings, different in their intellectual capacity but capable of suffering. In the popular beliefs of Mahayana Buddhism, animals possess Buddha nature and therefore possess the potential to become enlightened.

The doctrine of rebirth, moreover, holds that any human can be reborn as an animal, and any animal a human, albeit a much rarer occurrence. An animal might be the rebirth of a relative. And if one looks back far enough through innumerable past lives, one would eventually see that almost every living being was related to oneself in some way.

The Buddha taught that sentient beings currently living in the animal realm have been our mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, children, and/or friends in past lives. Therefore, one can not make a definitive distinction between karmic laws applicable to animals and those applicable to humans. Ultimately, humans and animals are part of a single family of living beings where all are interconnected. Even their pleasure does not differ so much as we might imagine.

Monkey "prostitution" Male macaques groom females in exchange for sex, according to a study that examined the market underpinnings of macaque sex. According to the research, based on 20-months of observation in an Indonesian nature reserve, a female is three times more likely to mate with a male if he grooms her first. Supply and demand also comes into play: males spend more time grooming when competition for female attention is greater. Scientists refer to this practice as a biological market. (Shuji Kajiyama/AP)

Dolphin "foreplay" For playful dolphins, mating seems just like another carefree and pleasurable way to pass away the day. Along with some typical male posturing for access to females, there's plenty of chasing, rubbing, nuzzling, and stroking all of which constitutes foreplay. The belly-to-belly copulation act itself lasts less than a minute, but is often repeated several times over the course of an hour. (NOAA)

Panda "porn" Captive pandas require pornography to help them get in the mood. In the wild, biologists say pandas mate without much of a hitch. But since the wild population in China's mountain forests hovers around just 1,600 individuals, there's a push to boost the panda population in zoos around the world. And that's where the problems lie. Many pandas lack interest in their arranged mates. And some inexperienced males who give it the old college try fail to engage the appropriate body part. As an aid, some zoo keepers attempt to arouse the bears and teach them proper technique with specially made DVDs: a.k.a. "panda porn." When that fails – and it often does – artificial insemination is considered a last resort. These tricks combined with a better understanding of what makes the panda libido tick are beginning to pay off. The captive population has boomed in recent years. (Wichai Taprieu/AP file)

"Hot" plant sex Plant sex has ancient roots. The males in a group of plants called cycads, which have been around for at least 250 million years, get all hot and bothered as a means to compel pollen-covered insects deep in their cones to fly forth and find a female to pollinate, according to scientists. The plants begin the process by emitting a fragrance that lures little insects called thrips into their cones. After a few hours of the thrips feasting and rolling around in there, the cycads heat up as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit, which turns their sweet smelling fragrance into a stench. The thrips flee, some landing on benign-smelling female cycads and thus completing the pollination cycle. (Irene Terry / Univ. of Utah) More on sex>>

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• Behavior regarding animals
• Vegetarianism
• Release of animals
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In Buddhist cosmology, animals are believed to inhabit a distinct "world," separate from humans not in space but in terms of mental states. That world is called Tiryagyoni in Sanskrit (Tiracchānayoni in Pāli).

Rebirth as an animal is considered an unfortunate rebirth, usually involving more suffering than pleasure relative to the human world. Buddhist commentarial texts point out many instances of suffering associated with the animal world:

• Even where no humans are present, animals are attacked and eaten by other animals.
• Or they live in fear of such things.
• They endure extreme changes of environment throughout the year.
• They have no security of habitation.
• Animals living among humans are often slaughtered for their bodies.
• Or they are taken and forced to work and beaten.
• Beyond this, they suffer from ignorance, not knowing or understanding what or why this is happening to them with any clarity.
• They are unable to do very much about it, acting instead primarily on instinct.
• More on animals>>