The Basis for Determining Whether the Precept of Sexual Misconduct Has Been Violated

The mind is the chief culprit of transgression. If there is a sexual act without a lustful mind, then no precept is violated. At the very least, the Mahāyāna takes the mind-precept as primary, mainly observing the wholesome or unwholesome attributes of mental activity and mental nature. Bodhisattvas on the bhūmis who have attained meditative concentration (samādhi) at the level of the first dhyāna or above have eradicated the fundamental lustful mind; in order to guide and embrace sentient beings, they sometimes have no choice but to engage in sexual acts, yet in doing so their minds remain unmoved, without craving or desire—that is, during the act there is no physiological reaction at all, and no mental activity is stirred, so they fundamentally cannot violate the precept. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra also says that a person who has severed sexual desire, when engaging in the act, feels it to be like chewing wax—tasteless and flavorless, without any pleasure, without any mind craving enjoyment. Only such a mind does not violate the precept.

But if one does not have meditative concentration at the level of the first dhyāna or above, and has not eradicated the affliction of craving and desire, the mind has no self-mastery and will inevitably cross the line and violate the precept. Therefore, those who are not abiding in meditative concentration of the first dhyāna or above must never attempt to test their own attainment of the Path, and must not imitate such behavior. You cannot claim that you too are unmoved in mind and will not violate the precept. With insufficient wisdom, one cannot understand what "unmoved mind" means, and often one cannot make an accurate and truthful judgment.

The Mahāyāna bodhisattva precepts in the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra are bodhisattva precepts taught specifically for bodhisattvas on the bhūmis who possess the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna. Pre-bhūmi bodhisattvas (pūrvabhūmika bodhisattvas) cannot uphold them and cannot accomplish this, let alone ordinary worldlings. Yet nowadays some groups confer the Yoga bodhisattva precepts upon ordinary worldlings—the person conferring the precepts does not himself even have the qualification to receive and uphold such precepts, so how could he be qualified to confer such precepts on others? It is simply nonsense. Most sentient beings in the Sahā world are children of greater or lesser immaturity, utterly willful and capricious, and very hard to teach and transform.

The sexual misconduct prohibited by the five precepts is a precept concerning external marks. One must clearly distinguish what is sexual misconduct and what is proper sexual conduct. "Proper" refers to conduct between husband and wife that conforms to the law and accords with the wishes of both parties; in terms of the precepts it does not violate the five precepts, though occasionally it may violate the bodhisattva precepts. "Improper" is the opposite—it is illegitimate, infringing upon citizens' rights and interests, and harming the interests of the parties involved or of related persons. Unmarried cohabitation violates neither the law nor the precepts, but it contravenes modern public order and good morals. In ancient times there was no marriage system, no registration or certificates and the like; by modern rules, even couples who were husband and wife would count as unmarried cohabitation, but because such conduct was recognized by both families and by society at large, it did not violate the moral norms of that time, and therefore also counted as "proper."