Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Was the Buddha serious all the time? Or did he sometimes use humor and satire to teach lessons? We'll consider the Buddha's attitude towards laughter as well as his use of humor and satire in teaching and debating. Then we'll consider ways humor can be useful to our practice today.
🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: patreon.com/dougsseculardharma
🧡 You can also make donations through: paypal.me/dougsdharma
📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: digginthedharma.com
✅ Book mentioned:
Richard Gombrich, Theravāda Buddhism (2nd Ed.) -- amzn.to/3EGYhax
✅ Related videos:
The Buddha's Creation Story: Myth as History and Inspiration -- youtu.be/Vtt9q1V-kAo
Devas & Nagas in Early Buddhism -- youtu.be/ClPdO5Vib90
Do Buddhists Believe in God? -- youtu.be/6Coc7r_d_l4
Deep History of Buddhist Chariot Simile: Proto-Indo-European Roots? -- youtu.be/8_AMrB-HOSg
What Is a "Fool" In Early Buddhism? -- youtu.be/Y87ObheErVU
✅ Suttas mentioned:
suttacentral.net/an3.107/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn27/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn1/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn11/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/mn130/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/snp2.4/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn7.2/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn47.9/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn16/en/sujato
Webpage: dougsdharma.com
Facebook: facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Instagram: instagram.com/dougsdharma
Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social
Thumbnail image courtesy Ana Jimenez from Pixabay.
❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (3)
Omar
John Oborne
Debbie Mattison
Ron Peat
Michael S. Kearns
Anne
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
Dave Gorman
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Scarlett Farrow
BJ - RetreaTours™
Roland Harris
karen
Rob
John
Brady Schickinger
Jenn A.
Hieu Chi Tran
Kenneth Sorensen
Will Mosse
Sharon E.
Ken M
Mattias Sjölin
Marc Belanger
Kyaw Thurein
noted bones haver maia cash
Rebecca Duncan
00:00 Intro
00:29 Buddha on laughter and levity
02:02 Buddha's cosmological satire
03:53 Satire as deflation of divine pride and authority
09:46 Humor as debate technique
11:37 Humor as revealing humanity
13:13 Humor in our practice
14:09 "It's enough to simply smile"
Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
Was the Buddha serious all the time? Or did he sometimes use humor and satire to teach lessons? We'll consider the Buddha's attitude towards laughter as well as his use of humor and satire in teaching and debating. Then we'll consider ways humor can be useful to our practice today.
🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: patreon.com/dougsseculardharma
🧡 You can also make donations through: paypal.me/dougsdharma
📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: digginthedharma.com
✅ Book mentioned:
Richard Gombrich, Theravāda Buddhism (2nd Ed.) -- amzn.to/3EGYhax
✅ Related videos:
The Buddha's Creation Story: Myth as History and Inspiration -- youtu.be/Vtt9q1V-kAo
Devas & Nagas in Early Buddhism -- youtu.be/ClPdO5Vib90
Do Buddhists Believe in God? -- youtu.be/6Coc7r_d_l4
Deep History of Buddhist Chariot Simile: Proto-Indo-European Roots? -- youtu.be/8_AMrB-HOSg
What Is a "Fool" In Early Buddhism? -- youtu.be/Y87ObheErVU
✅ Suttas mentioned:
suttacentral.net/an3.107/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn27/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn1/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn11/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/mn130/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/snp2.4/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn7.2/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn47.9/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn16/en/sujato
Webpage: dougsdharma.com
Facebook: facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Instagram: instagram.com/dougsdharma
Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social
Thumbnail image courtesy Ana Jimenez from Pixabay.
❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (3)
Omar
John Oborne
Debbie Mattison
Ron Peat
Michael S. Kearns
Anne
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
Dave Gorman
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Scarlett Farrow
BJ - RetreaTours™
Roland Harris
karen
Rob
John
Brady Schickinger
Jenn A.
Hieu Chi Tran
Kenneth Sorensen
Will Mosse
Sharon E.
Ken M
Mattias Sjölin
Marc Belanger
Kyaw Thurein
noted bones haver maia cash
Rebecca Duncan
00:00 Intro
00:29 Buddha on laughter and levity
02:02 Buddha's cosmological satire
03:53 Satire as deflation of divine pride and authority
09:46 Humor as debate technique
11:37 Humor as revealing humanity
13:13 Humor in our practice
14:09 "It's enough to simply smile"
Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
