Talaputa Sutta: To Talaputa the Actor
From TheBuddhism.Net
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Rajagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel’s Sanctuary.
Then Talaputa, the head of an acting troupe, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: “Lord, I have heard that it has been passed down by the ancient teaching lineage of actors that ‘When an actor on the stage, in the midst of a festival, makes people laugh & gives them delight with his imitation of reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of the laughing devas.’ What does the Blessed One have to say about that?”
“Enough, headman, put that aside. Don’t ask me that.”
A second time… A third time Talaputa, the head of an acting troupe, said: “Lord, I have heard that it has been passed down by the ancient teaching lineage of actors that ‘When an actor on the stage, in the midst of a festival, makes people laugh & gives them delight with his imitation of reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of the laughing devas.’
What does the Blessed One have to say about that?”
“Apparently, headman, I haven’t been able to get past you by saying, ‘Enough, headman, put that aside. Don’t ask me that.’ So I will simply answer you. Any beings who are not devoid of passion to begin with, who are bound by the bond of passion, focus with even more passion on things inspiring passion presented by an actor on stage in the midst of a festival. Any beings who are not devoid of aversion to begin with, who are bound by the bond of aversion, focus with even more aversion on things inspiring aversion presented by an actor on stage in the midst of a festival. Any beings who are not devoid of delusion to begin with, who are bound by the bond of delusion, focus with even more delusion on things inspiring delusion presented by an actor on stage in the midst of a festival. Thus the actor — himself intoxicated & heedless, having made others intoxicated & heedless — with the breakup of the body, after death, is reborn in what is called the hell of laughter. But if he holds such a view as this: ‘When an actor on the stage, in the midst of a festival, makes people laugh & gives them delight with his imitation of reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of the laughing devas,’ that is his wrong view. Now, there are two destinations for a person with wrong view, I tell you: either hell or the animal womb.”
When this was said, Talaputa, the head of an acting troupe, sobbed & burst into tears. [The Blessed One said:] “That is what I couldn’t get past you by saying, ‘Enough, headman, put that aside. Don’t ask me that.’”
“I’m not crying, lord, because of what the Blessed One said to me, but simply because I have been deceived, cheated, & fooled for a long time by that ancient teaching lineage of actors who said: ‘When an actor on the stage, in the midst of a festival, makes people laugh & gives them delight with his imitation of reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of the laughing devas.’
“Magnificent, lord! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has the Blessed One — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to the Blessed One for refuge, to the Dhamma, and to the Community of monks. May the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge, from this day forward, for life.”
Source : http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn42/sn42.002.than.html
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Aww this teaching hits close to home for me. I don’t know why but I have been obsessed with actors and their glamorous life since young and this has continued a long time even into adulthood. But these days I think it’s almost like a con when you promise false happiness to people. Watching a 2.5 hrs movie makes me happy? Wearing fancy clothes and make up and getting attention is good? No offence but it’s the life of treachery. But surely those who are in the profession couldn’t be elated either. No wonder there are reports of actresses being divas because who likes to have their hair and makeup and clothing touched by another person umpteen times a day and they have do redo the shots several times. So I ask myself what is the fascination about? I’m sorry but it seems one can’t win with samsara. If one has wrong view one is destined for hell or an animal womb. It’s just too sad that wrong view has been our no. 1 enemy since day 1. Now onto defeating the enemy with wisdom blessings from Manjushri. 🙂
A very good article about wrong view / perception.
It is delightful to know that when presented with truth to Talaputa, instead of deluding himself and getting angry at Lord Buddha, he accepted it with respect and followed Dharma whole heartedly thereafter.
This is reflected in present times, often, when our Guru tells us the absolute truth, some of us cannot accept it and run away from him. We continue to deceive ourselves and think that whatever was told to us [acting ancient teaching lineage…. lol] is true and our Guru is wrong.
Then why seek refuge in our Guru if we do not trust him?
Thank you, Rinpoche.
so since no one answers my question I will comment on it thanks to what I have heard from my Teacher, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin…and my root Guru Geshe Michael Roach, who said that Rinpoche was offered positions in movies before and he declined because he was so humble. One time there was a visiting monk who said he was the head of some Buddhists and he didn’t believe him at first and Rinpoche did not say and he later asked him and it was actually true. The Ganden Tripa for one time of ten years was kept inn a warehouse surrounded by four sheets. Geshe Michael helped to translate for the movie, Kundun, which was about the life of the Dalai Lama and I was an extra in Thinner, by Steven King btw. Usually the mo is also dictated by karma. Richard Gere is an actor as well as Keanu Reeves and David Duchovney, Barbara Streisand, and the Beastie Boys and also there are some famous people like Russell Simmons who have the same Yoga Teacher as me.
question and answer was that no one know’s everything except Buddha and that the idea is that monks don’t do that. I was only able to relate this from my limited knowledge from what Tsem Tulku has teaching. Beyond the wedding, what other occasions are innapropriate to wear red?
q this reminds me of a question i had for Tsem Tulku and want it answered and I will add a little of my story inspired by it…i went to pick up some new clothes the other day with one of my companions and it turned out that all that they had was the color red which just happens to be the color of monk’s robes and since i have refuge vows i thought it was auspicious and plus, it was the only shirt that fit me despite it being used and have a few stains ok? Anyway I had been talking to my friend about vegetarianism and how I had eaten all vegetarian and how a true vegetarian is also a Buddhist and how wearing red is considered inauspicious if at a wedding…which means that you shouldn’t go if you. Ok, and I got this from Tsem Tulku Rinpoche then funny…I told him and then I see man walking down street in exact same color shirt and say maybe it is good luck for the monk
Fortunate is Talaputta to have heard the wisdom of the Buddhas. If we do acts that is of the nature of indulgence, and cause others to indulge no good can come out of it.
This is a very interesting story about wrong view. Thank you for sharing this, Rinpoche. It shows that sometimes society may mislead us into a false path and thus we should return to the Dharma always and never leave.