Origin and Function of Narratives in Sermon of Pra Paisal Visalo

Abstract

This article on “Origin and Function of Narratives in Sermon of Pra Paisal Visalo" was a part of the research titled, “Narratives in Sermon of Pra Paisal Visalo”. The findings revealed that narratives in sermon of Pra Paisal Visalo consisted of 6 types: a) a narrative of unidentified individuals, b) History of Buddha, History of Buddha's disciples and biography of current Buddhist monks, c) a narrative of the disciples or famous people in society, d) a fictional story such as common and Zen tales, e) a historical story, and f) a story of the people whom Pra Paisal Visalo knew and got familiar with. 

     Additionally, each type of narratives served various functions: 1) a narrative as an introduction to Buddhist principles referred to a story that was told before the sermon, then, Pra Paisal Visalo connected the Buddhist principles by introducing them to solve the problems of that story., 2) a narrative as a main point of the story referred to a narrative used as a leading part of knowledge and understanding in the important content of sermon such as characters of a famous person appearing only in that Dharma episode., and 3) a narrative as an inserted story refers to a short story or example incorporated into the sermon’s content, such as stories of ordinary people who were not famous or many short fables, were different from a narrative used as an example of sermon, which were more emphasized the importance of the stories