Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
User avatar
Aloka
Posts: 7797
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:51 pm

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by Aloka »

.

I think perhaps this Brian Ruhe video was meant to be fun (but I didn't laugh !)


User avatar
Benjamin
Posts: 260
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:41 am
Location: Taiwan

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by Benjamin »

In regards to the idea of fun/humor in teaching, I think it greatly depends on the audience.

If you listen to Thanissaro Bhikku's talks at dhammatalks.org, you will not find any instances of humor or laughter in his talks. I'm assuming these are the daily talks given to monks and recorded for the website. However on audiodharma, you will find a great deal of talks from retreats with him, where he uses humor and laughs a great deal. I think he understands when it's appropriate to use or not, and while he is of course just one example, my point is that sometimes humor can be skillful means (in my opinion).



Cheers
:candle: :buddha1: :candle:
pegembara
Posts: 3454
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:39 am

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by pegembara »

Of course. But know that all the fun and games will have to end eventually. That is a certainty. It is much better to be at peace than to have fun.
And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech.
User avatar
ground
Posts: 2591
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:01 am

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by ground »

Aloka wrote:Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun ? I'd be interested in reading other peoples comments about this.
Actually buddhism can be great fun, but something that can be fun is not necessarily experienced as fun. E.g. some people can laught about themselves and others can not. Why is this? So getting involved in buddhism is getting involved in experiencing oneself in that context. There may arise lots of reasons to laugh about oneself, oneself identifying with and appropriating ideas which are perceived to be buddhism, perceived as something different from oneself but not merely one's own experience in this context. This may be great fun. :sage:
User avatar
BlackBird
Posts: 2069
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:07 pm

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by BlackBird »

David N. Snyder wrote: Just as there is sometimes the 'arahantification' of sotapannas -- that is some who believe a sotapanna has virtually the same traits of an arahant;.
Something very important that could easily have been glazed over by the majority. :goodpost:
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

Path Press - Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli's Dhamma talks
taintless
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:49 pm

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by taintless »

By fun do you mean like:

Partying, using recreational drugs, hooking up, chatting, trolling, playing computer games, listening to music etc.

If so, yes. It is possible

Of course, most of the above actions would not be recommended by most forum users here, but I recommend experimenting, to at least know what you're missing, and if you find it to be useless or unskillful, then abandon it!
SarathW
Posts: 21183
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:49 am

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by SarathW »

Have fun but make sure no hangovers.
As far as I know only fun you can have without hangover is Nirvana because it is unconditioned. :)
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
User avatar
Aloka
Posts: 7797
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:51 pm

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by Aloka »

taintless wrote:By fun do you mean like:

Partying, using recreational drugs, hooking up, chatting, trolling, playing computer games, listening to music etc.

If so, yes. It is possible

Of course, most of the above actions would not be recommended by most forum users here, but I recommend experimenting, to at least know what you're missing, and if you find it to be useless or unskillful, then abandon it!
No. I didn't mean partying etc. Been there, done that, moved on. No inclination for further 'experimenting' thanks.

However, I've attended talks by various teachers who have used humour and laughter - and I find that fun, as well as many other things. Life is short and I don't necessarily need to go around with a grim expression on my face just because I'm aware of anicca and dukkha !

.
chownah
Posts: 9336
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 2:19 pm

Re: Is it possible for practising Buddhists to have fun?

Post by chownah »

I think that if you are practicing Buddhism then having fun is a bonus but when it is time to stop practicing and start actually DOING it then you might discover that all of that fun having is actually a big comedown compared to what is possible.
chownah
Post Reply