Devas & Nagas in Early Buddhism

What role did deities and supernatural creatures such as nāgas play in early Buddhist mythology? We'll consider three ways the Buddha used and transformed mythic elements of his day to reinforce the dharma. 📙 Check out my new book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: https://books2read.com/buddhisthandbook 🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes:   / dougsseculardharma   🧡 You can also make donations through: https://paypal.me/dougsdharma ☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org. 🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: https://digginthedharma.com/ ✅ Suttas mentioned: Mucalinda Sutta: https://suttacentral.net/ud2.1/en/sujato (Nāga) Devadūta Sutta: https://suttacentral.net/mn130/en/sujato (Yama) Kevaḍḍha Sutta: https://suttacentral.net/dn11/en/sujato (Brahma’s foolishness) Mahāmaṅgala Sutta: https://suttacentral.net/snp2.4/en/su... ✅ Other references: https://www.themindingcentre.org/dhar... https://www.themindingcentre.org/dhar... Webpage: https://www.dougsdharma.com/ Facebook:   / onlinedharmainstitute   Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma Instagram:   / dougsdharma   Threads: https://www.threads.net/@dougsdharma Thumbnail images courtesy of Patrizio and Pexels from Pixabay. ❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons: Anonymous (3) John Oborne DunJing Jimmy Maa Debbie Mattison Fine Art Steve H. Ron Peat Matthew Smith Shantha Wengappuli Karma_CAC Jorge Seguel Christopher Apostolof GailJM Brett Merritt David Bell T Pham VCR Upayadhi Andi and Erik ATGuerrero686 Michael Scherrer khobe schofield Alex Perdomo Benji Forsyth Blaze Way Sonny Flink Steve Marlor Joy L Lee Andrew Tom Anthony Tucker Karlee R Ethan M Billy in Singapore Olivia Otter Carl Lennartson xiao mao Jeff Harvey Andrew Ingrouille Kenneth Grandchamp Doug Fonner Rene Gariepy Russell Needham Smoggyrob Mac Roja Bernardo Clémence Ortega Douville Kwan Alex Scott Johnston Richard J Beninger Nathanael O. Arnquist SaturnianMandala Trin P Letesa Isler Dorien Izel Robert Paterson Jake Tobiason Louvenia Ortega Steve S. Richard Rappuhn Sarah Kress John Aaron Paul Niklewski Kong Ing Kai Dave Gorman rhys reed Osanda Wijeratne Scarlett Farrow 00:00 Intro 02:45 Leveraging familiar myths 04:21 Innovating the dharma with myth 05:43 The Mahāmaṅgala Sutta 06:19 The Devadūta Sutta 07:58 The Kevaḍḍha Sutta 09:58 Buddhist mythic inversions 11:28 Mucalinda the Nāgarājā 13:12 The Buddha’s attitude Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!