Linked Discourses in the Woods

A monk in the forest lets his mind drift to thoughts of the lay life, but is warned by a local deity.

When a mendicant falls asleep in the middle of the day, a deity tries to rouse them up. But not all is at it seems.

A monk named Kassapagotta encounters a hunter in the forest and tries to dissuade him from his violent purpose. But a deity warns him not to waste his time.

When a group of mendicants leave the forest in which they had been staying, the local deities lament their absence.

A deity warns Ānanda about getting too involved with teaching lay folk.

A former partner of Venerable Anuruddha, now a deity named Jālinī, tries to tempt him with heavenly pleasures. But he has seen a higher happiness.

When Venerable Nāgadatta spends too much time in the village, a deity admonishes him.

A deity becomes concerned of the gossip about a certain monk who had become close with a family in the village. Taking the form of one of the women of the family, she tries to warn him; but he says a true practitioner is not concerned with gossip.

Hearing the sounds of a city festival, a mendicant feels lonely in the forest. A deity comes to give them solace and support.

When a mendicant gives up their habit of reciting the texts, a deity questions them. But it seems they have now found peace.

A mendicant plagued by bad thoughts is encouraged by a deity.

A deity speaks of the fearfulness of the murmuring forest. But to a mendicant it seems delightful.

A group of mendicants in the forest had fallen into bad ways, becoming conceited and confused. A deity came to admonish them, making clear that they were only speaking of the badly behaved, not all mendicants.

A mendicant takes a bath in a pond and sniffs a lotus. A deity accuses him of being a “thief of scent”. For a person living a life of purity, even such a small matter is a cause for concern.