SN 1.10 Aranna Sutta
 

This sutta makes me think of Ajahn Sumedho (Forest Tradition)


SN 1.10 Arañña Sutta: The Wilderness


Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying near Savatthi, at the Jeta Grove in Anathapindika's monastery. Now when night was passing a certain devata, lighting up the whole Jeta Grove with her surpassing beauty, approached the Lord. Having drawn near and prostrated herself she stood to one side.

Standing there the devata said:

Those living in the forest,
Peaceful and calm, of pure life,
Eating but one meal a day:
How is it they appear so radiant?

The Lord replied:

They sorrow not for what is past,
They have no longing for the future,
The present is sufficient for them:
Hence it is they appear so radiant.

By having longing for the future,
By sorrowing over what is past,
By this fools are withered up
As a cut down tender reed.


http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/hands.gif

Thank you Aloka-D thats a nice sutta. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/hands.gif

That's a lovely sutta. Thank you for posting it.

The question seems to often arise about this series of suttas (which comprise several of the first chapters of the first book of the Samyutta), and why they refer to mythical devas, devattas, Brahmins, and Mara as if they were real. When one examines these suttas, however, one can see the common pattern of an interlocutor asking a question, or offering a poem or a view, usually based in myth, and always receiving a practical answer that is based in the Buddha's own teachings, giving the "Noble" answer.

So it's a slightly more sophisticated, "So Jesus and the Dalai Lama walk into a bar..." =P

When I first read this sutta I took 'devata' to be a beautiful female lay practitioner rather than a supernatural being. After all, we often call beautiful female celebrities', devas'...and someone can also be said to 'light up the room' with a smile or with their positive qualities.