Style and Function of Humor in the Pāli Canon

So when we analyze the style and function of humor in the Canon, we have to remember that both style and function vary with the source. But even when we take these variations into consideration, the Canon’s humor has some overall features that make it distinctive.

After all, the compilers of the Canon were the ones who chose which speech to report and which not to report, so when they are quoting sarcasm or crude jokes, it’s valid to ask what larger purpose the quotations are meant to serve.

In general, we can say that humor in the Canon seems aimed at serving a specific purpose on the path: to develop discernment. It does this in two distinct ways.

One aspect of discernment is to view things from a certain distance. As the Buddha says, to gain the knowledge that frees you from attachment to things, you need to view those things as something separate (SN 35:80).

In Dhp 28, his image of discernment is of a man standing on a tower or a mountain, viewing the world below:

When the wise person drives out
heedlessness
with heedfulness,
having climbed the high tower
of discernment,
sorrow-free,
he observes the sorrowing crowd—
as the enlightened man,
having scaled
a summit,
the fools on the ground below.

Now, the sense of distance here is not harsh or unfeeling. Wise people also feel compassion for the sorrowing crowd. But still, they are no longer embroiled in those sorrows because they have learned how to develop distance from the causes of sorrow within themselves. Their compassion for others is tempered with the larger perspective that comes from a knowledge of kamma: You try to help others act in ways that lead to their happiness; but they have the free will to resist your help, and so you have to accept their free choices with equanimity.

The Buddha himself, on the night of his awakening, learned about the principles of kamma by watching all beings in the universe in a process of dying and being reborn in line with their kamma. The sense of detachment that came from the vastness of that vision was what enabled him to gain detachment, and ultimately freedom, from the actions of his own mind.

So a sense of distance is a necessary part of the path, and a wise sense of humor can be a useful tool in promoting it. The process of separating yourself from an old attachment is easier when you can see, in a good-humored way, how foolish the attachment is.

This reflection by Ajaan Geoff is from the book, The Buddha Smiles—Humor in the Pāli Canon, (pdf) pp. 5-6. [Pāli Canon verse, Dhammapada II—Heedfulness 28, translated into English by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.]