Catherine O'Hara sings the classic "Sally's Song" (from The Nightmare Before Christmas by Danny Elfman). Where has she been reborn for a life of acting? The Sixth Dimension the Elfman's warned about? The Hell of Laughter the Buddha warned about?
SUTRA: The Hell of Laughter for actors?
Ven. Thanissaro, "Considering a career in acting? You may want to reconsider..." (edited by WQ)
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| I just wanted to make people laugh ('n be famous) |
"Enough, headman, set that aside. Do not ask it." But a second and third time...Talaputa, the head of an acting troupe, repeated his question.
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| Speak truth with compassion. |
"Any beings who themselves are not yet free of lust, anger, delusion (greed, hatred, wrong view), who are bound by lust, focus with even more lust on things inspiring lust presented by an actor on stage in the midst of a festival...such actors — themselves intoxicated and heedless, having made others intoxicated and heedless — with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in what is called The Hell of Laughter.
"But if one holds a view like this: 'When an actor on the stage, in the midst of a festival, makes people laugh and gives them delight with an imitation of reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, that person is reborn in the company of the laughing light beings,' that is one's wrong view.
"Now, there are two destinations for a person with wrong view, I declare, either hell [apāya, naraka] or the animal plane."
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| How could no one have told me sooner? |
[The Buddha said:] "That is what I was trying to communicate by saying, 'Enough, headman, set that aside. Do not ask it.'"
"Venerable sir, I am not crying because of what the Blessed One said to me, but rather because I have been deceived, cheated, and fooled for such a long time by that ancient teaching lineage of actors who say, 'When actors on the stage, in the midst of a festival, make people laugh and give them delight with an imitation of reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, they are reborn in the company of the laughing light being.'" Source: Right Livelihood: samma ajivo (accesstoinsight.org)
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara (March 4, 1954–January 30, 2026) was a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter, whose career spanned over 50 years.
She started in sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dramatic roles. She received several accolades including two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2017. O'Hara started her career in the sketch comedy series Second City Television (1976–1984), where she won the Primetime Emmy Award. She gained acclaim acting in films such as:
- After Hours (1985),
- Heartburn (1986),
- Beetlejuice (1988),
- Home Alone (1990), and
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
- Waiting for Guffman (1996),
- Best in Show (2000),
- A Mighty Wind (2003), and
- For Your Consideration (2006).
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993),
- Chicken Little (2005),
- Over the Hedge,
- Monster House (2006),
- Where the Wild Things Are (2009),
- Frankenweenie (2012), and
- Elemental (2023).
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