XPost: alt.zen, alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan   
   From: peter@dharma.dyndns.info   
      
   As a Buddhist of over 30 years, I found the Trimondi book to be absurd.   
   I read that the Trimondis were financed by the German Communist Party to   
   write an anti-Buddhist propaganda book against the Dalai Lama. I also   
   read that the Trimondis are two German Communists with suspected links   
   to the Bader-Meinhoff terrorist organization. Stick with respected and   
   trusted Buddhist authors.   
      
   Edit: Well, you seem to have stumbled on a land mine with the Trimondi   
   book. Probably any other link is better than that one. One mistake   
   Trimondi makes is to take that which is a metaphor, visualization, or is   
   to be imagined as literal. This is one of the main reasons that the   
   tantras are not taught to beginners. One thing to keep in mind is that   
   one of the fundamental tenets of Buddhism is to not harm others. So   
   anything you've read that seems to indicate the contrary is probably a   
   metaphor for something else, such as defeating one's ego-centeredness   
   rather than an actual physical enemy.   
      
   As for Buddhism and sex. There's no such thing as a tantric orgy. If you   
   heard of such a thing happening, it's just purely indulgence in a   
   regular worldly orgy.   
      
   And you should know that yes, Buddhists have sex. Otherwise we'd have   
   died off a long time ago. It's monks who generally don't have sex,   
   except that a very few Tibetan monks have wives. The point of abstaining   
   from sex for a monk is to simplify their lives so they can practice the   
   dharma. If there are sexual feelings, they are acknowledged and worked   
   with just like any other thought. As with any emotion, passion is   
   suffering when it has the aspect of attachment. Also, Buddhists do not   
   partake of sex in a way that harms others.   
      
   New Tibetan Buddhist students should be taught Buddhism in a gradual   
   manner, beginning with the fundamentals of Hinayana and Mahayana, and   
   lastly, after probably years of study, begin to study the tantras,   
   which, as I have said, are quite susceptible to misinterpretation,   
   particularly for non-Buddhists and people new to Buddhism.   
      
   BTW, I think you will never read what I have added because you don't   
   allow contacts or emails, so I can't draw your attention to it, but if   
   you actually do check back here, you may email me if you would like to   
   continue this discussion.   
      
   http://tinyurl.com/9ra3kyv   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)