<p>Since you tagged this with "accademic Buddhism" I'll point you to "<a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00K8CQ2T8" rel="nofollow">Family Matters in Indian Buddhist Monasticism</a> where the author reads all the various ancients rules for dealing with monastics that had family obligations of various types.  I've only read the first chapters-- I don't want to pay $41 for the thing. The author's thesis is that the ideal of the "Rhinoceros Horn"-- quitting all social ties to wander away alone, was an ideal that people liked the sound of, but didn't really want to follow through with it.  So they maintained contacts with their family after ordaining. Sometimes, married couples would ordain at the same time, ordain at with kids, and so on. What it remind me of were some sort of modern commune.</p>

<p>Anyhow, that's just ancient Indian Buddhism. The institution varies from place to place.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-02T01:12:20.933Z
2014-10-02T01:12:20.933Z
MatthewMartin
<p>Is the pursuit of having children to raise and teach good morals unwholsome or wholsome?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-01T18:13:08.977Z
potential duplicates: [How to combine Buddhism with being a parent?](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2170/how-to-combine-buddhism-with-being-a-parent) and [Should a Buddhist have Children](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2403/should-a-buddhist-have-children). Also see http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2352/buddhist-path-x-romantic-relationships-and-sons
Andriy Volkov
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-01T18:25:52.600Z
@AndreiVolkov yikes, they're all so similar. May be Jeff can tell us if any of the other questions have answers to his, and if not, maybe he can elaborate on this?
yuttadhammo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-02T01:40:40.470Z
Using the words "unwholesome/wholesome" makes me wonder whether the question is related to [kleshas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleshas_(Buddhism)#Abhidhamma:_Ten_defilements_and_unwholesome_roots). I guess that any activity can be "pursued" in an unwholesome way: e.g. with greed, with hate, etc. If so perhaps the only question then is whether this activity ("the pursuit of having children to raise") *can* be "pursued" in a wholesome way ... and whether 'academic-buddhism' has written anything about that.
ChrisW
<academic-buddhism>
Pursuit of raising children ok?
# Pursuit of raising children ok?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-01)

Is the pursuit of having children to raise and teach good morals unwholsome or wholsome?

**Tags:** academic-buddhism

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: potential duplicates: [How to combine Buddhism with being a parent?](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2170/how-to-combine-buddhism-with-being-a-parent) and [Should a Buddhist have Children](http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2403/should-a-buddhist-have-children). Also see http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/2352/buddhist-path-x-romantic-relationships-and-sons  
> **username_2**: @AndreiVolkov yikes, they're all so similar. May be Jeff can tell us if any of the other questions have answers to his, and if not, maybe he can elaborate on this?  
> **username_3**: Using the words "unwholesome/wholesome" makes me wonder whether the question is related to [kleshas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleshas_(Buddhism)#Abhidhamma:_Ten_defilements_and_unwholesome_roots). I guess that any activity can be "pursued" in an unwholesome way: e.g. with greed, with hate, etc. If so perhaps the only question then is whether this activity ("the pursuit of having children to raise") *can* be "pursued" in a wholesome way ... and whether 'academic-buddhism' has written anything about that.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-10-02. Score: 1

Since you tagged this with "accademic Buddhism" I'll point you to "[Family Matters in Indian Buddhist Monasticism](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00K8CQ2T8) where the author reads all the various ancients rules for dealing with monastics that had family obligations of various types. I've only read the first chapters-- I don't want to pay $41 for the thing. The author's thesis is that the ideal of the "Rhinoceros Horn"-- quitting all social ties to wander away alone, was an ideal that people liked the sound of, but didn't really want to follow through with it. So they maintained contacts with their family after ordaining. Sometimes, married couples would ordain at the same time, ordain at with kids, and so on. What it remind me of were some sort of modern commune.

Anyhow, that's just ancient Indian Buddhism. The institution varies from place to place.


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