The Moon and Flowers
Sexuality and Buddhism.
Varabhadri

“Monks, I know of no other single form, sound, scent, savour, and touch by which a man´s heart is so enslaved as it is by the form, sound, scent, savour, and touch of a woman. Monks, a man´s heart is obsessed by these things.”

This is what we find the Buddha saying to some of his disciples in a scripture from the Pali Canon, the oldest surviving written account of the Buddha´s teaching. (…)
Good sexual relationships don´t just “happen”. They need to be worked at. That´s an important thing to realize. Making them work, once the first rushes of passion and fascination subside, means we have to start going deeper in our communication with each other. (…) But real contentment comes from being able to appreciate what we´ve got with someone, from openness of heart and mind to one another. It means learning to receive and give so that the relationship stands a chance of becoming richer and more meaningful; delighting, not binding, each other, for those who feel bound will surely one day want to break free. Having sex is a healthy human activity when two people have sufficient positive regard for themselves and each other, so that sex then becomes yet another dimension of communication between them. Sex should give us a chance to enter upon a relationship honest and self-possessed, able to be both intimate and free, relating from our inner strengths and richness, passionate, tender, respectful, playful, truly adult, delighting in, but not hanging on, to the other person.