Would a stream winner lie to their kids that Santa Clause really exists just to fit in with the local culture of small kids actually got duped by their parents into believing Santa Clause is real?
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Saint Nicholas actually existed. He was born in Turkye. He did a lot of good deeds and also liked handing out gifts. This is why in Germany we put shoes in front of our doors in the night from the 5th to the 6th of December. I loved that as a child. āNikolausā in German
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They would just tell them that itās āa secretā, whether he exists or not. 
There are ways of talking about Santa without lying. E.g. my nieces were told that this is the story lots of people tell about him. They still take it seriously and participate but itās presented as something people tell and believe, without getting into the factual side of it. Thatās how we talk about religion with them as well.
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Santa is not real?! 
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I had an adult friend who actually had some genuine trauma around how his parents really went to great lengths with the Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy deceptions and how he was confused and humiliated when he found out. He deduced that God was just made up too and was never a believer, despite the assertions of his parents that God was real. 
I like how others here have said that they experienced it as a fun and meaningful way of connecting the holiday with a myth.
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He/She would first project their consciousness in to the Santa Bhumi, to see what is going on in the workshop, and if Santa is available for questioning. If the elves are evasive, then the stream winner may conclude Santa may not exist and let the kids know. Buddha always said, check these things for yourself first. 
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There are four stages in your life involving Santa Claus.
First you believe in Santa Claus, then you donāt believe in Santa Claus, then you are Santa Claus to your family, and then you look like Santa Claus.
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Very good, you are wise fellow with actual life experience. 
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An interesting question. For a Buddhist it makes more sense to ask it in reverse:
Would a Santa Claus lie to children that stream winners really exist?
or
Can an enlightened being really believe in the existence of stream winners?
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My line is āif you donāt believe, you donāt receiveā ā¦ so I donāt confirm or deny.
Of course they still receive, but it becomes a ālove mumā instead of a ālove Santaā gift tag. Minor technicality on where it is received from
I do this because I knew the truth at 5 years old, so only have recollection of 1year of āthe magic of Christmasā, and it just felt āGrinchyā after that.
And how is believing in a Santa Claus different from believing in buddhist deities and its other spirits? If some of buddhists can come up to say āno they are real. I have experienced them!ā I am sure we can find some people in the world that would say the same about Santa Claus.(not that i am one of them)
Poor Santa Claus concept just didnāt have the chance to get absorbed into a religion or else he would have been on altar of people and lots of stories surrounding him from people who prayed to him and got answer! :))
Just one main important thing. The sutta doesnāt have santa claus in it.
Granted, the supernormal speed of santa to deliver presents in one night all over the world can be imagined if santa have super powers, like the devas have.
Donāt children who got duped into believing that santa is real do that in malls? To a fat person wearing santaās costume.
Yup . This old man concept wasnāt lucky enough to end up in suttas or else he would be as much believable as deities even by adults and not just kids. It is the element of āfaithā that makes the distinction between beliefs and mythology.
Letās say I write a fantasy book and create a creature which has a combination of various elements from many animals, and also vampire, werewolf plus zombie together, as well as many super powers from supervillains.
Maybe in 1000 years, my book got very popular and became a sort of legend.
In 3000 years, it becomes myth and some people actually might believe it to be true.
Whereas for devas, we believe that people with divine eye would be able to see and verify that these beings exists and are part of the natural world.
And Santa Claus is more of the imaginary build up character akin to fantasy.
So thatās another difference. I donāt think that anyone with divine eye would see Santa going around the globe in Christmas eve.
How many other people saw and verified the particular devas the Buddha mentioned?
Who else has seen the realms with nagas or goblins? Do we know for sure that these āplacesā exist anywhere else besides in the mind of the Buddha?
I genuinely do not know the answers to that. It might all be accepted on the Buddhas say so alone, ā¦. It might be for real legit. However, if these beings and places have been seen by others, Iād be curious to know if they had heard these accounts by the Buddha prior. 
I say this because our minds are incredibly powerful and adept at creating. I saw Santa walk in to my bedroom when I was 4 years old ā¦ but did I really? Of course not, but the idea implanted in my mind created that idea so powerfully that it looked legit to me. I presume I must have been in sleep paralysis or something where we can overlap mental projections on to our immediate environment. I wasnāt analysing it at that age tho. 
I know a number of Spiritualists who have seen the āHall of Recordsā. Massively tall, white marble columns, recessed statues ā¦ magnificent building ā¦ but is it real or are they bouncing off an implanted idea?
Iāve had a vested interest for over 2 decades in sleep paralysis, OBEās, AP, & spiritual phenomena and what I see is geographically cultural and religious ideas being manifested by peoples minds. The lines are getting blurred due to the internet and accessibility of ideas from all over the globe, ā¦ but traditionally ( from my observations) if you take something like sleep paralysis, people in the UK have a disproportionate rate of seeing an āold hagā ā¦ the US seems to have created āslender manā, Muslims create djinns, Christians create demons ā¦etc etc. Spiders were my bogey man - I havenāt done that to myself for 20 years tho. Phew lol
On a more positive tangent, in NDEās and sometimes even APās these same patterns occur where Catholics believe they met god, Christianās meet Jesus, Muslims meet Mohammed, and atheists meet their own loved ones.
So I would ask again, how many people that saw what the Buddha saw, had the seeds of that already in their mind? ā¦ and Iād take it with a grain salt unless accompanied by some other compelling evidence.
That does not mean Iād dismiss their experience - subjective as it is. I just wouldnāt take it on board as MY personal belief. Iām well aware tho that most people would do likewise with things I have an unshakable conviction in. I would tho prefer objective situations ā¦ where a deva is seen by many at once to put any doubt to rest. Has that happened? Iād be interested to read about it if so.
For the record, I donāt for a second think devas ( or ascended masters as I would put it) are not real tho. I have reason to be 100% on board ā¦ but I do feel there is room for discernment as to the nature of any particular experience. I 100% believe the Buddha saw what the Buddha saw ā¦ but what was the nature of what he saw? ā¦ and what is the nature of anyone else seeing it after the fact?
Mostly rhetorical ramblings ā¦ I donāt expect you to have answers 
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Indeed, perceptions, views colours how we see the world. Views colour perception, so thatās why we see so many different perceptions of NDE.
Christians likely see devas as angels, Santa believers maybe see devas as Santa. Lol. I dunno, just guessing here.
Just that compared to other religions, or even other systems, I think Pa-Auk system has the most track record of lay person able to develop divine eye and share to others. Itās a good thing itās not so out in the open, so it does depends on oneās kamma to be able to meet them and be close enough that they are willing to share with you. And to know more than one of them to compare notes.
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I have never heard of Pa-Auk, but I will definitely look that up now.
I suspect, like a great many things I read on here, the concept will not be foreign to me ā¦ but the terminology or structure of approach around it may be different.
I can usually sort things out by implication, applying semantics, or looking up the words. Itās slow going sometimes tho when I have to detour on 3 words in a sentence to look up their meaning. One day the terminology wonāt be all āgoobledegookā to me
Oh, and I do agree most people should not go messing with things they donāt understand. I did not get the luxury of choice tho ( for the most part) so my only āweaponā so to speak was arming myself with knowledge - as has been my past time for 20 years.
The problem is that the parents believe that Santa Clause is not real, making it a deliberate lie.
E.g. in my home country, it is common to have a neighbor dress up as Santa Clause and come with gifts, and then the entire extended family might pretend this is the real Santa because itās cute that the kids think itās real.
Iāve never participated in this because deliberately deceiving someone is icky. Iām the conscientious objector to this in my family 
!
If I had kids I would just explain to them that this is a tradition thatās meant to be fun, itās make believe, but most adults donāt think Santa Clause is real
It can still be fun and cute without needing deception IMO
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I have a story which might be slightly relevant to the topicā¦
Some years ago I found my way to meet one of the disciples of Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Piak, in the suburbs of Bangkok.
Luckily I arrived in his place when he was still meeting the lay supporters. I waited a while and got a chance to talk to him.
After he heard where I was from, he said: āFinland? Isnāt Santa Clause from Finland?ā
I confirmed that he is. Then he asked: āDo you know Santa Clause?ā
To my regret I had to say no. A slight pause followed afterwhich he continued:
āAre youā¦ Santa Clause?ā
āNo,ā I said. āā¦But if I was, I probably wouldnāt tell you, Ajahn.ā
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