Last night I shared a post by the Venerable Subhuti Bhikkhu (Bhante Subhuti) in which he discusses the meaning of the Third Precept. Clearly, much of what he said is anathema to current, Western ideas of sexuality and sexual liberation but it all struck home for me.
For most of my adult life, I have been fascinated in one way or another with women and sex. I have spent countless hours thinking about both and, before marriage, actually pursuing them. And, what do I now have to show for it? An addiction to the sense pleasure and an inclination that, if followed, can only lead me downward.
Perhaps the most poignant reflection discussed by Bhante is the fact that current sexual mores and practices are very new indeed and depend on this whole, unstable edifice of mass consumer capitalism to exist. Once the idea of material plenty evaporates and hardships begin, childbirth will again be fraught with mortal perils for mother and child. Without easy access to birth control and to abortion, how liberated will anyone truly be?
I, too, have at times bemoaned the date of a sexless marriage but, as I have been coming to see recently, this supposed curse truly is a blessing when handled correctly.
May I practice the path of brahmacariya well.
May I never be separated from the Dhamma.
May I always be reborn in favorable training circumstances.
May I enter the Stream in this very life.
Cattāri Brahmavihārā 
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