Desire can be "good" in Buddhism?

Don't look at my bikini butt, okay, you perverts? It's just flesh for sitting on toilet seats.*

.

Good (beneficial) "desire"

I want to meditate now to make progress.

Chanda: "intention," "desire," "will." 1. As an ethically neutral psychological term, in the sense of "intention," it is one of those general mental concomitants or factors (cetasika, Table II) taught in the Abhidhamma (the "Dhamma in Ultimate Terms"), the moral quality of which is determined by the character of the volition (cetanā) associated with it.

The Commentary explains it as "a wish to do" (kattu-kamyatā-chanda). If intensified, it acts also as a "predominance condition" (see paccaya 3).

• 

  OK, now shut up, Nerd (iStock)

  Definition of terms: "GOOD": wholesome, skillful, beneficial. "BAD": unwholesome, unskillful, leading to an increase in suffering when karma (deed) eventually ripens and fruits into karmic-resultants in spite of the fact that a deed performed now may seem to bring about an immediate increase in pleasant feeling.

2. As an evil quality it has the meaning of "desire," and is frequently coupled with terms for "sensuality," "greed," and so on, for instance: kāma-cchanda, "sensuous desire," one of the Five Hindrances (nīvarana); chanda-rāga, "lustful desire" (kāma). It is one of the Four Wrong Paths (agati, motivated by greed/chanda, hate/dosa, delusion/moha, or fear/bhaya).

Simplistic, wrong: Buddhism explained in 1 minute?

3. As a good quality, it is a wholesome (kusala) will, motive, or zeal (dhamma-chanda) and occurs, for example, in the formula of the Four Right Efforts (padhāna): "The meditator rouses will (chandam janeti)..." If intensified, it becomes one of the Four Roads to Power (iddhipāda).

Bad (harmful) "desire"

Oh, hells yeah, look at that butt!

Tanhā (lit. "thirst"): "craving," the chief root of suffering [behind ignorance], and of the ever-continuing cycle of rebirths [known as samsara].

"What, O meditators, is the origin of suffering (disappointment, unsatisfactoriness, off-kilter woe)? It is this craving that gives rise to ever-fresh rebirths and, bound up with [sensual] pleasure and lust, now here, now there, [continues wandering on, trying] to find ever fresh delight.

"It is [threefold:] sensual craving (kāma-tanhā), craving for [eternal] existence (bhava-tanhā), and craving for non-existence (vibhava-tanhā)'' (D.22).

Tanhā is the eighth link in the formula of the Dependent Origination (paticcasamuppāda). Compare also at the kinds of "truth" (sacca).

Corresponding to the six sense-objects, there are six kinds of craving, craving for:

1. visible objects (sights),
2. sounds (auditory experiences),
3. fragrances (aromas),
4. tastes (flavors),
5. tactile impressions (bodily contact),
6. mental impressions (rūpa-, sadda-, gandha-, rasa-, photthabba-, dhamma-tanhā). (M.9; D.15)

Corresponding to the threefold existence, there are three kinds:

1. craving for sensual existence (kāma-tanhā),
2. craving for fine-material existence (rūpa-tanhā) [in the many celestial/dimensional "heavenly" (sagga, deva-lokas) realms],
3. craving for immaterial existence (arūpa-tanhā) [in the four formless worlds] (D.33).

If I can't get butts, I'll scarf dopamine-chocolate

There are 18 "thought-channels of craving" (tanhā-vicarita) induced internally, and 18 induced externally; and as occurring in past, present, and future, which total 108. (See A. IV, 199; Vibh., Ch. 17 Khuddakavatthu-Vibhanga).

According to Dependent Origination, craving is conditioned by feeling; on this see DN 22 (section on the Second Ennobling Truth).

As for "craving for [continued or eternal] existence" (bhava-tanhā), it is said (A.X.62):

"No first beginning of the craving for [continued] existence can be perceived, O, meditators, before which it was not and after which it came to be. But it can he perceived that craving for existence has its specific [cause and] condition. I say, O, meditators, that craving for existence also has its condition that feeds it (sāharam) and is not [subsisting] without it. And what is that condition? It is 'ignorance,' one must reply."

Will robo-toilets or -dogs fix world?

(The Daily Show) Tech Yeah! AI actress film, "robo-toilets"? | Grace K

*Deposit used chocolate here.

Craving for [continued] existence and ignorance are called "the outstanding causes that lead to happy and unhappy destinies (courses of existence)."

(See The Path of Purification, Vis.M. XVII, 36-42).

The most frequent synonyms of tanhā are rāga ("lust," "greed," "passion") and lobha ("greed"). See the "roots" of good and evil, the skillful and the unskillful, at mūla).

• Karma: Ten Courses of Wholesome and Unwholesome Action
• The Roots of Good and Evil (Buddhist Publication Society, Wheel Series 251/252/253)
• Will Tilly Norwood be the new Gal "IDF Zionist" Gadot?
• Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary via palikanon.com (chanda and tanhā); Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tantric sex or exploitation by Tibetan gurus?

I knew and helped cover it up like a Vatican Pope in Rome, but I was 'Pope' of Potala Palace

(Natasha Yehenara) Tantra: Dharma or sexual exploitation?

I'm giving this boy an extra juicy special "transmission." Outsiders wouldn't understand!

He has little boys suck his tongue, but that's culturally allowed or secret tantra?

• Tantra
• Tantric sex
• Vajrasana (yoga)
• Buddhist tantric literature
• Vajrayana
• Esoteric Buddhism
• Tibetan Buddhism

Sex and Suffering on Valentine's Day

(Matt on Buddha's Wisdom) SEX in BUDDHISM: not a moral rule but a deeper question

Valentines is a heart-shaped box of chocolates

Valentine's Day (aka Saint Valentine's Day, Feast of St. Valentine [1]) is celebrated annually on February 14th [2].

This celebration of going from Lust to Love like the Go Go's, it originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine, and through later folk traditions it has also become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world [3, 4].

Cupid is Mara and Kama

There are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various Saint Valentines connected to February 14th [5], including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century [6, 7].

According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer [8]. Numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love: Tradition maintains that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry by the Roman emperor [7]. An 18th-century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer's daughter a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell before his execution [9].

Will consumers buy cheap cards?

The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14th [10, 11]. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries, when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the "lovebirds" of early spring.

In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion for couples to express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").

Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid [who acts like the India god Kama, Greek Eros and Aphrodite, Roman Venus, and Buddhist Mara].

No sex please. We're Ameboids 'n Gatchularians

In the 19th century, handmade cards gave way to mass-produced greetings [12] thanks to capitalism. In Italy, Saint Valentine's keys are given to lovers "as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver's heart" as well as to children to ward off epileptic fits (called Saint Valentine's Malady) [13], which could be thought of as an overwrought lover's obsessive mania, like St. Vitus' Dance. More

Jewish sex: stripping vs. old men

"Stripping vs. Old Men Sex" - Russian Vicka Margulis (stand up comedy)

Ghost Month continues: Shadow Realm

Get outta my way! Hungry ghosts are after me!

"Ghost Month" (the Seventh Month of the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar, corresponding to Sept. 6 to Oct. 6, 2025) is the time of the Ghost Festival (Yulanpen). It is observed among the Chinese diaspora population of the world, particularly in Chinatowns, Malaysia, Singapore, and anywhere Mahayana Buddhism dominates. Hungry ghosts or petas (Sanskrit pretas) are miserable being who have been reborn deprived due to unskillful karma (deeds).

• Wisdom Quarterly coverage: Hungry Ghost Festival

Guanyin feeding (Stephen Asma)

If hungry ghosts, demons, and malignant spirits are living beings, and Buddhists cherish all sentient beings, how do we exorcise them when they create obstacles in our lives? Why did Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) convert angry subhuman beings into "protectors of the Dharma" (Dharmapalas)? Why did the great Tibetan sage Milarepa have long conversations with ghosts and demons? How do can humans protect against curses and black magic? What are Buddhism’s Protective Verses (Parittas), and how do we chant them? These questions are answered in this “Buddhist Guide to Exorcism: A Spirit Handler’s Guide” and demonstrate some of the methods. More: Buddha Weekly

The Hungry Ghost Realm: A Buddhist Teaching of Hope in Addiction

Maha Moggallāna (Ven. Mulian)

(Mythos & Logos) Complete Archives: Mythos & Logos. The Realm of Hungry Ghosts (peta-loka) is a plane of existence in Buddhist cosmology, an unfortunate destination, an afterlife marked by deprivation, suffering, and dependency.

The journey of one of the Buddha's chief disciples, Maha Moggallāna (Sanskrit Maudgalyayana, Chinese Mulian), to this realm provides a first step for how to break the vicious cycle of addiction borne of trauma.

Many of us have a "hungry ghost" (peta, preta) lurking inside of us. If anyone is struggling, please reach out to a professional as there are many great organizations, including ‪@TWLOHA‬, filled with people trained and willing to help.*

• VIDEO: Buddhist Exorcism: Spirit-Handlers Guide - The Paritta Protection from Demons, Ghosts, Curses (Buddha Weekly)

Politics of hungry ghosts: Israeli imperialism

• (BBC World Service) Gaza: Dying for Food - BBC Gaza World Service Documentaries

Background Briefing with Ian Masters · September 23, 2025 - Dulcie Leimbach | Arthur Caplan | Maha Nassar

Trump trashes countries of the world at UN in front of the world’s leaders (Ian Masters, Background Briefing, Sept. 23, 2025, KPFK.org)

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:31 Bhavachakra at Punakha Dzong, Bhutan, photographed by Bernard Gagnon, licensed under Creative Commons
• 00:49 The Six Realms of Birth, Edo Period Japan, British Museum
• 01:13 Ghosts from the Bangkok National Museum
• 01:26 Hungry Ghost Scroll, Kyoto National Museum
• 02:06 Unending Hunger
• 02:09 Hungry Ghost Scroll, Kyoto National Museum
• 02:50 Haunting Ghosts from the Thirty-Seven Nats
• 03:15 Dr. Gabor Maté, In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
• 03:54 Hungry Ghost Scroll, Kyoto National Museum
• 04:39 Maudgalyayana [Maha Moggallana] Rescuing His Mother, Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum
• 05:05 From Darkness
• 05:08 Ven. Maha Moggallana at Wat Olak Madu, Kedah, photographed by Ven. Anandajoti Bhikkhu, licensed under Creative Commons
• 05:38 Hungry Ghost Scroll, Kyoto National Museum
• 06:37 Yulanpen Sutra, Mahayana canon
• 07:12 Shakyamuni Buddha from the Dazu Rock Carvings, photographed by Michael Gunther, licensed under Creative Commons
• 07:42 Mulian Saves His Mother, 19th Century China
• 08:26 Into Light
• 08:30 Silk Roundel with Endless Knot Symbol, 19th Century China, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• 09:00 Rahans Receiving Offerings, 19th Century Burma
• 09:18 Hungry Ghost Scroll, Kyoto National Museum
• 09:57 Offering at Hong Kong Ghost Festival, photographed by Rose Tim Wing Mxuiek, licensed under Creative Commons
• 10:10 Begging monk in Himeji, photographed by Nesnad, licensed under Creative Commons
• 10:20 Mukaebi of the Bon Festival, photographed by Batholith
• 10:55 Conclusion
• 10:59 Homeless man in New York, photographed by CGP Grey, licensed under Creative Commons
• 11:09 The Drinker by Albert Anker
• 11:26 Sinhalese manuscript, photographed by Wellcome Images, licensed under Creative Commons
• 11:51 Floating Lanterns, photographed by San Lie, licensed under Creative Commons
• 12:25 Hungry Ghost Scroll, Kyoto National Museum Ambient - The Ambient by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

ABOUT: Mythos and Logos are two ancient words that can be roughly translated as “Story and Meaning.” Support the channel by subscribing, liking, and commenting to join the conversation. Patreon: mythosandlogos. The purpose of this channel is to share the important stories at the foundation of human cultures throughout history. These include mythology, legends, folktales, religious stories, and parables from the dawn of history to the modern day. This channel provides interpretations and insight into these stories, to find and apply their meaning to contemporary life. All stories covered are treated academically. This channel makes no claims regarding the historical, scientific, or religious truth of these tales. Rather, its goal is to find the meanings understood by their authors and apply them to the modern world.

*All channel income from October 31-November 30, 2021, donated to To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) to help the Hungry Ghosts around us every day. Thanks for supporting an organization that helps those who are struggling.

• Parittas: Protective Buddhist Chants (Theravada Pali canon)
• Mythos & Logos, Oct. 31, 2021; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Socrates: Nature of lust and women

Socrates: Females pray men never see this

Hey, baby, you gonna eat that fruit? - No, we are. Bite it. - Who, me? But, but... - Just do it.

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Come here, sucker. I want to tell you something.

(Refuge of the Male Mind 🧠) June 20, 2025: In this provocative video, let's explore bold ideas inspired by Socrates' philosophy on human relationships, power, truth, and emotional manipulation. This is content that challenges modern narratives and reveals perspectives many would prefer remained unspoken. Prepare to question everything.

How this content was made: altered or synthetic content, with sound or visuals significantly edited or digitally generated. Learn more

Women and Misogyny in Ancient Greek Philosophy

Annica Collette, Women in Antiquity, Nov. 27, 2018

Reyer Jacobsz. van Blommendael, Socrate, ses deux épouses et Alcibiade, 1675

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Do women love, hate, or lovehate each other?

The subject of women in antiquity is a fascinating but admittedly difficult pursuit. Women’s voices in ancient times were largely ignored or silenced in literature, historical narratives, philosophical discourse, and political life.

Since pursuits in the philosophical realm were predominantly viewed as the domain of elite men, women, slaves, and other [social] minorities are often left out of the narrative. This makes it extremely difficult to find reliable sources on women in ancient times, what their lives were like, and how they carried themselves.

However, this is not to say that women did not participate in such activities. There is, in fact, some surviving evidence of female philosophers who were arguably just as influential and talented at their craft as their male counterparts (Wider, 1986).

• 

  The Missing Thread (D. Dunn)

  The same is true of Early Buddhism, where Prince Siddhartha's wife, Bimba Devi (known to the world as Princess Yasodhara) went on to become a fully enlightened nun and the fiercest disputant in all the land, challenging any man or monk in debate. But all of this is as hidden as the story of "Mary" in the Bible. Here, however, one glorious woman is dissipated by being given many names -- Bhaddha Kacca, Kaccana, Bhadda Kaccānā, Subhaddakā, Bimba Devi, Bimba Sundari, and eventually Yasodhara. See: Rāhulamātā ("Rahula's mother").

Socrates (Women in Antiquity)

Much of what we know about women in these times come from male sources and therefore needs to be closely analyzed and examined for biases and misinformation [not to mention disinformation].

Women were often mentioned by male philosophers concerning their roles in society and were frequently scrutinized for their perceived flaws in character inherent to their gender.

One prominent example of this was the wife of Socrates [one of them], Xanthippe, who was portrayed as nothing more than a nag and distraction for her husband’s philosophical pursuits (Wider, 1986).

Analyzing all aspects, both male philosophical opinions on women and the women themselves, provides important insight into the lives of women in antiquity.

If only Jordan Peterson knew anything instead of AI using his voice

Prominent Men on Women Progressive Views on Women Socrates and Plato

Alcibiades and [bi] Socrates?

Socrates (470-399 BCE) was a classical Greek philosopher and is said to be one of the fathers of Western philosophy. Socrates as a historical figure is shrouded in mystery, as he left no written records of his teachings. What survives of his ideas comes from the accounts of his students, such as Plato (427-347 BCE) and Xenophon (430-354 BCE), and it is important to note that they may have adapted Socratic thought to suit their own personal beliefs. More

• Refuge of the Male Mind 🧠, June 20, 2025; Annica Collette; Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Chant for stuff: Soka Gakkai Buddhist CULT

Namu myōhō renge kyō (南無妙法蓮華経): Devotion to Mystic Dharma of Lotus Flower Sutra

Pseudo-spirituality books like The Secret, Passion for Profits (Family Guy's Brian writes a bestseller 

Dharma Vlog: Cults and weird Buddhism

(Doug's Dharma) Dougie discusses some experiences with a teacher who was in a couple of cults, plus an example of "weird Buddhism" that provides a bit of a life lesson.

• Why Buddhism isn't a religion (Doug's Dharma)

Beneficial? Lend a hand in exchange for fun benefits. Check out Doug Smith's Patreon: dougsseculardharma. Donate: paypal.me/dougsdharma. Visit the Secular Buddhist Association webpage: secularbuddhism.org. Doug's material: secularbuddhism.org/author/doug.

How to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo | English

(Soka Gakkai Official) Is "wishcraft" real? What does Nam-myoho-renge-kyo mean? [Don't worry about it. That's not important. Just chant it, and don't stop!] How can I start chanting? This short film introduces the daily practice of "Soka Gakkai Buddhists" and demonstrates how to chant [their magic mantra].

• Other power over self-power (tariki over jiriki)
• Who made up the magic Lotus Sutra?

The Soka Gakkai is a global community-based Buddhist[-ish] organization that promotes peace, culture, and education centered on [faith, not asking questions, and suspending critical thinking, but you get stuff] respect for the dignity of life.

The CULT of Soka Gakkai

(Prophet of Nonsense) The Many Cults of Japan: Soka Gakkai

The Many Cults of Japan: Soka Gakkai

(Prophet of Nonsense) Formerly Shinto Japan is full of religious crazies. Here are the Buddhist ones.

Its members in 192 countries and territories study and put into practice the humanistic philosophy of [blind faith-based] Nichiren Buddhism. Soka Gakkai members strive to [make money and material riches by magic and] actualize their inherent potential while contributing [tithing it to the cult and] to their local communities and responding to the shared issues facing humankind.

No wonder Japan hates religions

(Let's Ask Shogo) How Japanese people came to hate religions

The conviction that individual happiness and the realization of peace are inextricably linked is central to the Soka Gakkai, as is a commitment to dialogue and nonviolence.

Subscribe to channel: sgivideosonline. Website: sokaglobal.org, Facebook (sgi.info), Instagram (sgi.info), Twitter (sgi_info).

• Doug Smith (secularbuddhism.org), Aug. 10, 2017; Prophet of Nonsense, Oct. 31, 2020; Let's Ask Shogo, Nov. 1, 2023; CC Liu, Sheldon S., Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Bashur, what did Jess and Sid know?

When is He coming? I've been waiting a long time, and He seems late. It's like "Waiting for Godot" down here, Bashur. What could possibly be holding Him up?

• It is unclear who or why certain Bashur material was pulled off YouTube. We did not pull it. Until it returns, there is more. Above are two replacement videos until more psychic material about Jesus (Jess) and the Buddha (Sid) surfaces.

Channeled Wisdom: Bashar's Manifestation Formula: ATTRACT anything

Channel Darryl Anka puts on a show, or is a spirit entity/counsel/collective calling itself "Bashar" running through a channel named Darryl? Possessing, stepping into, entering, it must be that the energies and personality traits of one mix with the other. Or why would Bashar have such a funny way of saying "HI!" like an ET imperfectly with human ways? None of that matters. What does matter is what he's saying. Is it true, is it useful, is it of benefit to humanity? If nothing else, it sure is a lot like the kind of stuff Abraham and Seth and these disembodied teachers (probably a lot of them from biblical and Sumerian, Akkadian, Persian times, too). At least Bashar has a sense of humor and while sounding jerky is not actually a jerk.

Bashar reveals: Why our soulmate hasn’t arrived yet? (Bashar Channeled by Darryl Anka)

(Path of Knowledge) Oct. 8, 2024: Explore more deep spiritual insights and exclusive content on Gaia. Start a journey with a 7-day FREE TRIAL here: https://www.gaia.com/invite/join?utm_... Subscribe for more. @pathofknowledge111.

In this video Bashar, channeled by Darryl Anka, uncovers why our soulmate hasn't appeared yet. It's not about time but timing. Bashar explains how our focus on time and waiting can block the natural flow of reality. Discover how to embrace the present moment, trust in the organizing principle of synchronicity, and follow your passion to align with the perfect timing of life's events. Learn to appreciate every experience, even those you don't prefer, as essential steps in your journey to finding true love. Stop waiting and start living in the now! Enjoyed the video? Hit 'Like' and subscribe for more transformative content! It costs nothing to you and means a lot to us.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with the official Bashar organization of Darryl Anka and Bashar Communications and the statements and opinions I (Path of Knowledge) express are my own interpretation of the information that has been shared by Bashar. The Bashar information is covered by copyright laws so if you'd like more information or materials, please visit their website at bashar.org. They appreciate your interest and excitement about exploring the Bashar information.

Fair Use Notice: This video contains content that is used under the fair use doctrine of the United States copyright law. This includes content that is transformative in nature, used for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. All credit for the manifestation techniques discussed in this video goes to Bashar and his team. We do not claim ownership of any of the original ideas or teachings presented by Bashar. This video is intended to share and discuss Bashar's insights on manifestation for educational and informational purposes only.

For more information and original content, please visit Bashar's official channels and resources. Official website: bashar.org Instagram: basharchanneling. YouTube channel: basharchanneledbydarrylanka.

LUST: Bodies are sexy and beautiful

You're, like, a total hottie and that makes me feel something gooey on, like, the inside, y'know?

.

The new fluidity aims to make us all bi, gay, NB

The body (form) is thought to be most obviously “me,” what “I” regard as the most tangible part of my “self.”

Around it therefore are constructed many views, all of them distorted and perverted to some extent, which prevent insight arising into the body as it really is.

This book, Bag of Bones, is a small Buddhist anthology relating to the body in various ways. It presents material which, if contemplated by the earnest and sincere student of the Dharma, will eventually provide fruitful insight and, thereby, freedom from the many cravings, obsessions, addictions, lusts, desires, and fears centered on the body.

Such thirst for pleasures in which the body is the instrument (though it is in the heart-mind where they dwell), awaken and intensify greed of all kinds, for instance, for food and sex and ego boosts of all kinds.

Greed (attraction, grasping, clinging, addiction, attachment) often accompanies pleasurable sensations. Therefore, desire (craving) needs a rather bitter medicine to combat it.

How can anybody say this body is unattractive?

So the number of items contained here on the unattractiveness of the body, its decay and death — all unpleasant matters — is high. Some of the material concerned with bodily unattractiveness is like a healing balm that need only be taken while the disease of greedy-lust is active. Afterwards, it may be discontinued and set aside.

It is important to understand this so as not to form the mistaken impression that the Buddha advocated viewing all beauty as loathsome. There is a great deal of beauty in this world, not all of which causes us to become obsessed with harmful things.

It is only that there is a hook hidden in beauty, an unseen danger that gets tangled with the greed in one’s heart and leads to more and more complications and difficulties.

Fears center around aging and disease, decay and death. They are never overcome by pretending they do not exist. Ostriches are said to bury their heads in the sand at the approach of enemies.

Only resolutely facing the inevitable features of life can bring insight and the dispelling of fear. The Buddha’s instructions on how to contemplate the body are addressed to those who are able, through their lifestyle, to practice them.

This means in effect monks and nuns, novices, together with dedicated lay people. The former group have this contemplation given to them by their monastic teachers at the time of going-forth from the homebound to the left-home life, which is when we might most need such a medicine to combat lust.

Gallery of the World's Ugliest Women : r/dalle2

Lust hurts and often harms anyone, but it can completely destroy the high life of someone training in monasticism.

Laypeople keeping the Five Precepts have contentment with their partners as an important part of their practice. Sex is a natural part of their life but should still be restrained and kept within the bounds of the Third Precept. If not, how much trouble might follow!

But some few may wish to live without sexual attachments, and this cannot be done in the way of Dhamma (the Buddha's Teaching or natural truth) by ignoring the power of our human sexual drive or by repressing and suppressing it.

Only when it is treated with mindfulness (nonjudgmental awareness and observation) can it be transcended. It does not last forever. It is overcome by the first meditative absorption and uprooted by the stages of enlightenment.

The aspect of mindfulness needed for this is the subject, or rather the interrelated subjects, of this book.

Bhutan: Last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom

In today's world we are subjected to a mass media bombardment of sensuality. Sex especially is used as the bait (attractant) to sell things, a titillation of sensory experience.

When this is continued, defilements of mind, notably lust, greed, and attachment, are sure to be strengthened. When this has happened, the result is not more happiness but only an increase of disappointment (dukkha, stress, ill, woe), suffering, trouble, and difficulties.

I stared until they started to look like skeletons, bags of bones, all of them. I ought to let go, become a monk, and gain enlightenment because flesh and bones are gross. I didn't tell them.

.

The medicine for such over-indulgence and over-stimulation is given here. It is said that this subject of meditation is unique to the Buddha’s Teachings, the Dhamma, and that elsewhere it is not clearly taught.

This is unsurprising as we find that desire is sometimes accepted as being “natural.” Wherever desires are viewed as “natural,” that is, inherent in one’s nature or self, nothing much can be done about them.

But the Buddha analyzed desires into those which are wholesome — the zeal to practice Dhamma, for instance — and the unwholesome ones, among which are greediness and lust.

They may not be gross either, as in the case of the meditator who is greedy for bliss, or visions, psychedelic experiences, and attached to such things.

The Buddha has provided the medicine for all unwholesome desires, and according to our various ways of life we can use it to effect partial or complete cures.

When the emphasis is so much on sensuality, youth, and beauty as we find now, the darker sides of life get pushed away and attempts are made, always unsuccessful, to sweep them under the rug. Those who try to do so will not be pleased with the exercises contained in the Buddha’s contemplation of the body as it really is.

• Patikulamanasikara: Purposely focus on the unattractive (asubha)?

Look at those breasts and butt colon!

Such things will appear to them as morbid and unnatural, offensive and repulsive. Yet, they are also a part of this life and should not be ignored. And if the effort is made to ignore what is unpleasant about the body, sooner or later one will be jolted into the recognition of these things.

Such jolts are not pleasant. Rather than leave it until one is forced to know the body’s unpleasant sides, it is better to acquaint one’s emotions with this knowledge gradually. In this spirit, Bag of Bones is being published.

Unfortunately, being only a book, it cannot give person-to-person advice on special problems. It can only offer some general guidelines to people who are interested in reducing their greediness and lust.

It's only skin deep for reptilian hybridization

A word of warning: meditation on the unattractiveness of the body can be very potent and should only be practiced with moderation and care, especially if one has no personal contact with a teacher of Buddhist meditation.

If fear and anxiety, or other extreme unwholesome emotional states arise after practice of it, then it will be better to lay it down and take up loving kindness (mettā) or recollection of the Buddha (Buddhānussati) as one’s meditation instead.

This book, therefore, is not so much for beginners in Buddhism but rather for those who have already practiced for some time. May it inspire many people to practice the Dhamma more intently!

• Wheel 271, Bag of Bones: A Miscellany on the Body (Australian Theravada Buddhist monk Ven. Khantipalo, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka; excerpt edited by Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly