What is the purpose of the monastic celibacy? The sangha was established by the Buddha for those wishing to devote themselves single-mindedly to his path of awakening. The Buddha designed monastic life to be one of radical simplicity, with the minimum amount of unnecessary distraction. Romantic attachments, sexual relationships, and their usual outcome –parenting- are all incompatible with the training he devised. They would also compromise the symbiotic relationship between the mendicant order and society at large which the Buddha envisaged. The Buddha discovered that the more subtle forms of happiness and the experience of true well-being are rarely accessible, […]