A sharing on the Tipitaka .....
QUESTION :
Bhante, the Buddha was so intelligent and His teaching is so wonderful. What I want to know is- Is there any Buddhist humour in the Tipitaka?
Regards,
ANSWER :
As far as I know, there is no Buddhist humour in the Tipitaka. We were told that the Buddha never use this method as it seemed desrespectful to the Dhamma -his very profound teaching. Even in the commentaries, humour is rarely seen. It seems that the commentators followed the Buddha’s foot-steps. However, it seems amusing Pali sentences do appear in the Pali Grammar book. An illustration, “Devadatto diva na bhutto thulo.” It means: “Devadatta does not take food in day time but he is fat.”
You may smile if you interpret this in the opposite to uncover the hidden meaning which is : “Devadatta takes food at night, and thus he is fat.” I can’t exactly say if this Pali sentence is humour, sarcasm, irony or satire.
In today's context, we do see teaching monks conveying the Dhamma with a pitch of humour as a means to captivate the student's attention. Even preaching monks may on occasions use jokes to keep the listeners attentive. As for me, do I make jokes? Of course, I do if it helps to convey a learning point better.
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With Metta,
~ U Cittara
15 October 2023
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