> >I think there is something very insightful going on here.
> Using humor
> >in such contexts undercuts a key aspect of religions, their
> solemnity.
> >This is crucial to the religions being able to impress their
> truths on
> >an audience. It is part of the whole creation of charisma and
> >authority. Since religions as a rule cannot rely on evidence to back
> >their claims, they must induce faith through overawing the devotees.
> >Pricking this pomosity is a remarkably effective way of
> disempowering a
> >religion's claim to authority.

Okay, this is interesting, I was just this past day thinking someone should
put together some witty Buddhism stories and make a book out of them. There
is one book I've been dipping into with stories from various religious
traditions and the only ones that aren't really witty are the early Buddhist
ones - I don't think they chose particularily good ones, and I think they
were retold in a way that they may have lost their original flavour.

Here's a funny one from the Jaataka Commentary:

Sakka steals an ascetic's food, and he calls together his six brother
ascetics, a sister ascetic, a servant and a maid (ascetics needed maids too
it seems...) to find out who is the thief. The first brother, to prove his
innocence says:

"May horse and kine be his, may silver, gold,
A loving wife, these may he precious hold,
May he have sons and daughters manifold,
Brahmin, who stole thy share of food away!"

The other ascetics all put their hands over their ears, crying, "No, no,
sir, that oath is very heavy!" And the Bodhisatta (the ascetic whose food
was stolen) says "Brother, your oath is very heavy: you did not eat the
food, sit down on your pallet."

And so on, through the rest of them who recite similar oaths. Then the
Bodhisatta thinks "Perhaps they imagine I am lying myself, and saying that
the food was not there when it was." So he makes an oath on his part:

"Who swears the food was gone, if it was not,
Let him enjoy desire and its effect,
May worldly death be at the last his lot.
The same for you, sirs, if you now suspect."

Sakka is confused at these odd oaths and shows up asking:

"What in the world men go a-seeking here
That thing to many lovely is and dear,
Longed-for, delightful in this life; why, then,
Have saints no praise for things desired of men?"

The Bodhisatta replies:

"Desires are deadly blows and chains to bind,
In these both misery and fear we find;
When tempted by disires imperial kings,
Infatuate do vile and sinful things.

These sinners bring forth sin, to hell they go
At dissolution of this mortal frame.
Because the misery of lust they know
Therefore saints praise not lust, but only blame."

Sakka returns the food, asks forgiveness and disappears.

**************

There's loads of wit in the Tipitaka and commentaries - the Paa.tika Sutta
of the Digha, where he can't get off his seat to go debate with the Buddha,
or the Paayaasi Sutta, with the parable of the man carrying dung on his head
in the rain.

There's the stories in the Vinaya too, like the origin story on the ninth
Sanghadisesa where a bad group of monks name a certain cow and a bull couple
after a monk X and nun Y, then when they see the cows copulating, they
spread it around that X and Y have been copulating.

Or the origin of the offence over cutting off one's male member (yes it is
against the vinaya). The story goes that a monk couldn't bear to put up
with the great lust that had arisen in his mind, so he decided the only
thing to do was to cut off the focus of his attachment, his male member.
Having done so, the Buddha found out and said "This monk has cut off one
thing, when he should have cut off another." (i.e. craving)

Or the story of Jivaka, who tells a merchant he must lie on one side for
seven months to be healed after the world's first successful brain surgery
(no anesthetic is mentioned). The man can't bear it and after seven days
stops. Jivaka says, okay if you can't do that, then lie on the other side
for seven months. Again, after seven days the man sits up. Jivaka says,
okay lie on your back for seven months. Again, only seven days. Jivaka
says "Well done. twenty-one days was enough, but if I had told you to lie
only seven days on one side, you would have never lasted so long."

Or here's a really good one from the commentary of the Sakkapanha sutta: a
famous teacher Mahaasiva was put to shame by an arahant student of his,
because he himself had not attained anything of merit. Being ashamed, he
left his position and went to practice meditation by himself. He didn't get
anywhere, so he sat down and started crying. As he did so, an angel who was
waiting to learn meditation from him, appeared and started crying as well.
The great teacher asked the angel: "why are YOU crying?" She replied that
she had such faith in him, that when she saw him crying she thought this
must be the way to become enlightened. This brought the thera to his senses
and he pulled himself together, practiced mindfulness and attained
Arahatship.

Lots more where these came from...

Suma"ngalaani,

Yuttadhammo