Four Objects of Sexual Misconduct

Original text from Section 3 of the Sutra on the Five Precepts for Upasakas: The Buddha told the bhikkhus, "An upasaka should not give rise to lustful thoughts or perceptions. He should not even give rise to the mind [of lust]. How much less should he give rise to the bonds of desire, hatred, and delusion, or to the fundamental, unclean evil karma. There are four types of objects in which one commits the offense of sexual misconduct: female, male, eunuch, and hermaphrodite. 'Female' refers to human females, non-human females, and female animals. 'Male' refers to human males, non-human males, and male animals. 'Eunuch' and 'hermaphrodite' are also similarly categorized as above."

Explanation: The Buddha told the bhikkhus: An upasaka should not give rise to thoughts of sexual desire or the sensations of lust. He should not even give rise to the lustful mind, let alone give rise to the bonds of greed, hatred, and delusion, and the fundamentally unclean evil karma. Within this fundamentally unclean evil karma, there are four types of objects with which an individual commits the offense of sexual misconduct: female, male, eunuch, and those possessing both male and female sexual organs (hermaphrodite). Among them, the objects for sexual misconduct involving females include human females, non-human females, and female animals. Objects involving males include human males, non-human males, and male animals. Eunuchs are also divided into human eunuchs, non-human eunuchs, and animal eunuchs. Hermaphrodites include human hermaphrodites, non-human hermaphrodites, and animal hermaphrodites.

Fundamentally unclean evil karma refers to the karmic evil created by the fundamental afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. Other afflictions, such as major, medium, and minor secondary afflictions, are all derived from these fundamental afflictions and are subordinate to them. Therefore, evil karma created by secondary afflictions is lighter, while that created by fundamental afflictions is heavier. The production of evil karma first arises because the mind gives rise to thoughts. After lustful thoughts and intentions arise, sexual karma is created. The mind is fundamental, while the karma is subsidiary. The mind is subtle, while the subsidiary karma is coarse. In practice, one first subdues the coarse actions, then subdues the mind. Therefore, if one cannot even subdue the coarse actions, subduing the subtle mind becomes even more difficult.

The object with which any being commits sexual misconduct is not necessarily of the opposite sex. It may be of the same sex, a eunuch, a hermaphrodite, or one may simultaneously have sexual misconduct relationships with both same-sex and opposite-sex partners. The object of sexual misconduct may also not be of the same kind, but of a different kind, such as a human with a non-human, a human with an animal, or a non-human with an animal. There are extremely many types of non-humans, including ghosts, spirits, immortals, etc. In a temple, I once saw a mentally unstable woman pregnant with a ghost fetus. A headless male ghost often came to this woman at midnight, and she was utterly incapable of distinguishing good from evil or right from wrong. Her family came to the temple seeking to abort the ghost fetus, looking for someone with spiritual abilities to persuade the ghost to agree to the abortion. There was also another woman pregnant with a snake fetus, a python fetus belonging to the immortal category. The python immortal also often came to this woman at midnight. Such women have extremely heavy karmic obstructions, resulting from extremely grave offenses of sexual misconduct committed in past lives.

Eunuchs refer to beings with incomplete or defective male or female sexual organs, incapable of normal sexual function, with limited physiological capabilities. Some are born without sexual organs, while others were castrated later in life, losing their sexual organs or having them become incomplete. The karmic obstructions of such beings are also very heavy, all caused by past-life actions such as sexual misconduct.

Hermaphrodites, because they possess both male and female sexual organs simultaneously, are inherently non-binary in gender. However, they also have a predominant tendency towards one gender. Thus, hermaphrodites are also categorized as male or female. Male hermaphrodites manifest male organs more often, or manifest male organs during the day and female organs at night. Female hermaphrodites manifest female organs more often, perhaps manifesting female organs during the day and male organs at night. Such hermaphrodites cannot live in male communities nor in female communities, as their indeterminate gender makes them extremely prone to problems. These beings also have heavy karmic obstructions, similarly caused by committing much sexual misconduct in past lives. Therefore, the karmic retribution for sexual misconduct is also very severe.