When I was first reading the Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha would talk about his attendant Ananda in very homoerotic terms. Nobody had ever mentioned anything about this so I didn’t think much of it at the time. just seemed kind of weird… the way in which the Buddha would gossip to others about how hot his (MALE) personal attendant Ananda is.

the handsome anada reciting the buddha's teachings

Finally, I decided to conduct some search about this. and I found that there is actually evidence which shows homoerotic elements in the relationship between the Buddha and his attendant Ananda. The best example is in the Jataka – accounts of the Buddha’s former lives. In these texts, there are some steamy accounts of the Buddha and his male attendant Ananda. A common theme of the Jatakas is love and devotion between men. It glorifies the homosexual relationship (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). But think about it….. Two men who are always together….. Day and night….. Ananda is dedicated mind, body, and soul to the Buddha, and was known to be a very attractive boy. And lets face it, if the Buddha is starved of women, wouldn’t he not feel some attraction towards this handsome boy who is always by his side? In fact, it is the Buddha who chooses to have this handsome boy by his side at all times.

The reality is that in monastic life, there has been a certain laxity towards homosexuality. I mean, what do you get when you take a bunch of guys and starve them of women? It’s the same as what you get in prisons. Homosexuals. Monks are still human after all.

Further evidence points to the Dob dob in Tibetan Buddhism. A monastic fraternity who would fight over boys (for sexual relationships). In other words, they were openly paedophiles. Just as many of the ancient greek philosophers were.

This topic, of homoeroticism in Buddhism has been kept surprisingly quiet. Perhaps it’s time to bring the Buddha out of the closet?