Editing Religion and sexuality (section)

==Dharmic religions==

===Buddhism===
{{Main|Buddhism and sexuality}}
{{See also|Buddhism and sexual orientation}}
The most common formulation of [[Buddhist ethics]] are the [[five precepts]] and the [[Noble Eightfold Path]], which say that one should neither be [[Upādāna|attached]] to nor crave sensual pleasure. These precepts take the form of voluntary, personal undertakings, not divine mandate or instruction.

Of the five precepts, the third vow is to refrain from sex with another's spouse, someone under age (namely, those protected by their parents or guardians), and those who have taken vows of religious celibacy.<ref name="cunda kammaraputta sutta">{{cite web|title=Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta|trans-title=To Cunda the Silversmith|others=Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu|publisher=Access to Insight|year=1997|id=[[Anguttara Nikaya|AN]] 10.176|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.176.than.html| access-date = 2011-03-14|quote=Abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dhammatalks.net/suttacentral/sc/zh/ma128.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218064551/http://www.dhammatalks.net/suttacentral/sc/zh/ma128.html|archive-date=18 February 2017|url-status=dead|title=Upāsaka Sutra from Madhyam āgama: Chapter 11|language=zh}}</ref> In [[Chinese Buddhism]], the third vow is interpreted as refraining from sex outside marriage.<ref>P. 106 ''A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: With Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali Index'' By Lewis Hodous, William E. Soothill</ref>

[[Sangha (Buddhism)|Buddhist monks and nuns]] of most traditions are expected to refrain from all sexual activity and the [[Sakyamuni Buddha|Buddha]] is said to have admonished his followers to avoid unchastity "as if it were a pit of burning cinders."<ref>{{cite book | last =Saddhatissa | first =Hammalawa | title =Buddhist Ethics: The Path to Nirvana | publisher =Wisdom Pubns; New Ed edition | date =December 1987 | page =[https://archive.org/details/buddhistethics0000sadd/page/88 88] | url =https://archive.org/details/buddhistethics0000sadd/page/88 | isbn =978-0-86171-053-9 | url-access =registration }}</ref> While laypersons may have sex within marriage, monastics are not to have any sexual conduct at all.

===Hinduism===
{{Expand section|date=August 2018}}
{{See also|History of sex in India|Hinduism and LGBT topics|Kama}}
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[[File:Индия2.jpg|thumb|Erotic sculptures at the main [[Hindu temple]]s of [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments]]]]
Religiously, [[Hindus]] begin life at the [[Brahmacharya]] or "student" stage, in which they are directed to chastely advance themselves educationally and spiritually to prepare themselves for a life of furthering their ''[[dharma]]'' (societal, occupational, parental, etc. duties) and ''[[karma]]'' (right earthly actions); only once they reach the [[Grihastya]] or "householder" stage can they seek ''[[kama]]'' (physical pleasure) and [[artha]] (worldly achievement, material prosperity) through marriage and their vocations, respectively.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.patheos.com/library/hinduism/ethics-morality-community/gender-and-sexuality|title=Gender and Sexuality|website=www.patheos.com|language=en|access-date=2019-02-28}}</ref>

According to the [[Dharmasastras]] or the religious legal texts of Hinduism, [[marriage in Hinduism]] is an institution for reproduction and thus is naturally limited to heterosexual couples. Furthermore, sex outside of marriage is prohibited. The [[Manusmriti]] list eight types of marriage of which four are consensual and encouraged and four are non-consensual and discouraged. However, popular practices did not necessarily reflect religious teachings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hinduwebsite.com/marriage.asp |title= Hindu Marriages Purpose And Significance|website=www.hinduwebsite.com|language=en|access-date=2019-12-14}}</ref>

The ''[[Kama Sutra]]'' (Discourse on Kāma) by Vatsayana, widely believed to be just a manual for sexual practices, offers an insight into the sexual [[mores]], [[sexual ethics|ethics]] and societal rules that were prevalent in ancient India. The erotic sculptures of [[Khajuraho]] also offer insight. Abhigyana Shakuntalam, a drama in Sanskrit by [[Kālidāsa]], cited as one of the best examples of shringara rasa (romance, one of the nine rasas or emotions), talks of the love story of [[Dushyanta]] and [[Shakuntala]].<ref>"History of Indian Theatre: Classical theatre", by Manohar Laxman Varadpande, p. 123, {{ISBN|9788170174301}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India (3 Vol. Set) |publisher = Sterling |author = Pran Nath Chopra |page=160}}</ref>

=== Sikhism ===
A disciplined [[Sikhs|Sikh]] is expected to be in control of sexual desire at all times.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blake |first=Simon |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/863556177 |title=Faith, values and sex & relationships education |date=2002 |publisher=National Children's Bureau |others=Zarine Katrak, National Children's Bureau |isbn=1-900990-32-6 |location=London |pages=55 |oclc=863556177}}</ref> ''[[Kaam]]'', or ''excessive'' lust, is one of the [[five thieves]], or vices, that interfere with one's spiritual journey.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Harbans |title=The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |date=1992–1998 |publisher=Punjabi University |isbn=9788173803499 |location=Patiala |page=419}}</ref> Normal and healthy amounts of sexuality and lust are not condemned nor considered ''kaam''.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Singha |first=H. S. |url= |title=Sikh Studies - book 7 |publisher=Hemkunt Press |year=2005 |isbn=9788170102458 |location= |pages=65 |oclc=967096375}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dilagīra |first=Harajindara Siṅgha |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37769917 |title=The Sikh reference book |date=1997 |publisher=Sikh Educational Trust for Sikh University Centre, Denmark |isbn=0-9695964-2-1 |edition=1st |location=Edmonton, Alb., Canada |pages=108–109 |oclc=37769917}}</ref>