[koolhouse]

Hi everyone

I have read this discussion before but never the puredhamma version.

My question: is there something inherent about the action of acting or if lets say an architect, or any other profession that could inspire passion or aversion to others is subjected to the same thing. 

SN 42.2 Tālapuṭa Sutta

“…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.”

Thanks!

[koolhouse]

Ps sorry could not find the edit  post option to correct bad grammar.

[Lal]

Let me describe the sutta in simple terms.

Once Tālapuṭa, the dancing master, came to the Buddha and asked, “Bhante, I have heard that those who entertain people with dancing, acting, comedy, etc., are bound to be reborn in the Deva realm called pahāsā devās. What is your opinion on that?”

The Buddha told Tālapuṭa not to ask him that question.

But Tālapuṭa insisted.

The Buddha explained to Tālapuṭa that such “entertainers” are bound to be reborn in the animal realm or hell, not in a Deva realm. 

You can read the English translation in the link at marker 2.5 to learn about Buddha’s explanation of why they are bound to be reborn in the animal realm or hell.

• People are already ignorant about the adverse consequence of attachment to “pleasurable activities.”
• “Entertainers” such as dancers, actors, and comedians only help perpetuate that ignorance. Also, people waste their valuable time on such things instead of learning about the true nature of the world (such as how the “distorted saññā” makes them think/believe there are pleasurable things in this world: “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā)“).

_______

There is no “editing capability” to correct grammar while writing in the forum. You need to use a word-processing software like Google Docs or Word, and there are free versions of them. I have corrected some of the grammar in your comment. 

[koolhouse]

Thanks Lal

But isnt pretty much every run of the mill person ignorant of the consequences of attachments and help in their own way to perpetuate that? Or would you say actors do it in a more persistent way.

 

 

[Lal]

Yes. Many activities/professions fall under that category.

• However, there are many professions that are much better: For example, the health industry (doctors, nurses, researchers, etc.), education (teachers, etc.), and those professions that make life livable by providing essential services like farmers, delivery services, etc. But they also are engaged in inadvertent “immoral activities.” For example, in medical research, scientists need to perform experiments on living animals.
• Mainly bhikkhus can live a life (mostly) devoid of such complications.

[koolhouse]

Thanks Lal

[Christian]

It applies pretty much to every person who does not understand Dhamma. Imagine the whole world does not understand the concept of math yet they are using it without awareness of being used, some people will give the right answer, but most people will write random numbers and get the wrong outcomes of their calculations.

• This reply was modified 2 days ago by Christian.

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