Liberal Buddhism The Early Spread of Buddhism Buddhism was prominent in communities of Merchants as Buddhist moral and ethical teachings were found very simple to understand by the Merchants, thus Buddhism became an attractive alternative to the mainstream mysterious rituals of the traditional Brahmin priesthood, which seemed to cater entirely to Brahmin interests while ignoring those of the new and emerging social classes. As Commerce and Cash became increasingly important during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E., Merchants proved to be an efficient vector of the Buddhist faith, as they established diaspora communities in the string of oasis towns-Merv, Bukhara, Samarkand, Kashgar, Khotan, Kuqa, Turpan, Dunhuang - that served as lifeline of the silk roads through central Asia. Because of the liberal and carefree life style of communities of Merchants, sexual behaviour was accepted as a part of life. Most variations of Buddhist teachings do not go into details or specific for what is right and what is wrong in what it regards to ordinary activities of life. The most common formulation of Buddhist ethics are the Five Precepts and the Eightfold Path, one should neither be attached to nor crave sensual pleasure. These precepts take the form of voluntary, personal undertakings, not divine command or instruction. The third of the Five Precepts is “To refrain from committing sexual misconduct.” It says not to commit misconduct, not conduct. However, the “sexual misconduct” is such a broad term and is subjected to interpret relative to the social norms of the followers. In fact, Buddhism in its fundamental form does not define what is right and what is wrong in absolute terms for lay followers and it is mainly focussed on conducts of Buddhist monks. Details of accepted or unaccepted human sexual conducts are not specifically mentioned in any of the religious scriptures in Pali language.
Sigiriya frescoes