...it’s only human, says OSHO
Laughter is one of the things that’s most repressed by society all over the world. Society wants you to be serious. Parents want their children to be serious, teachers want their students to be serious, the bosses want their employees to be serious, the commanders want their armies to be serious. Seriousness is required of everybody. Laughter is rebellious.
When the teacher is teaching you and you start laughing, it will be taken as an insult. Your parents are saying something to you and you start laughing — it will be taken as an insult. Seriousness is thought to be honourable and respectful. Naturally, laughter has been repressed so much that even though life all around is hilarious, nobody is laughing. If laughter is freed from its chains, from its bondage, you will be surprised — on each step, you will find something hilarious happening. Life is not serious. Only graveyards are serious, death is serious. Life is love, life is laughter, life is dance, song.
Why So Serious?
But we will have to give life a new orientation. The past has crippled life very badly; it has made you almost laughter-blind, just like there are people who are colour-blind. The constant repression of laughter has made you laughter-blind.
Situations are happening everywhere, but you cannot see that there is any reason to laugh. If your laughter is freed from its bondage, the whole world will be full of laughter. It needs to be full of laughter; it will change almost everything in human life. You will not be as miserable as you are. In fact, you are not as miserable as you look — it is misery plus seriousness that makes you look so miserable. Just misery plus laughter, and you will not look so miserable!
Just look around at life and try to see the humourous side of things. Every event that is happening has its own humourous side, you just need a sense of humour. No religion has accepted sense of humour as a virtue. I want a sense of humour to be a fundamental quality of a good man, of a moral man, of a religious man. And it does not need much searching; you just try to see it, and it’s everywhere...
But we will have to give life a new orientation. The past has crippled life very badly; it has made you almost laughter-blind, just like there are people who are colour-blind. The constant repression of laughter has made you laughter-blind.
Situations are happening everywhere, but you cannot see that there is any reason to laugh. If your laughter is freed from its bondage, the whole world will be full of laughter. It needs to be full of laughter; it will change almost everything in human life. You will not be as miserable as you are. In fact, you are not as miserable as you look — it is misery plus seriousness that makes you look so miserable. Just misery plus laughter, and you will not look so miserable!
Just look around at life and try to see the humourous side of things. Every event that is happening has its own humourous side, you just need a sense of humour. No religion has accepted sense of humour as a virtue. I want a sense of humour to be a fundamental quality of a good man, of a moral man, of a religious man. And it does not need much searching; you just try to see it, and it’s everywhere...
Laughter, The Best Medicine
Seriousness has become almost part of our bones and blood. You will have to make some effort to get rid of seriousness, and you will have to be on the lookout — wherever you can find something humourous happening, don’t miss the opportunity.
Everywhere there are people who are slipping on banana peels — just nobody is looking at them. In fact, it is thought to be ungentlemanly. It is not, because only bananas slip on banana peels.
Laughter needs a great learning, and laughter is a great medicine. It can cure many of your tensions, anxieties, worries; the whole energy can flow into laughter. And there is no need that there should be some occasion, some cause. Even just sitting in your room, close the doors and have one hour of simple laughter. Laugh at yourself. But learn to laugh.
Seriousness has become almost part of our bones and blood. You will have to make some effort to get rid of seriousness, and you will have to be on the lookout — wherever you can find something humourous happening, don’t miss the opportunity.
Everywhere there are people who are slipping on banana peels — just nobody is looking at them. In fact, it is thought to be ungentlemanly. It is not, because only bananas slip on banana peels.
Laughter needs a great learning, and laughter is a great medicine. It can cure many of your tensions, anxieties, worries; the whole energy can flow into laughter. And there is no need that there should be some occasion, some cause. Even just sitting in your room, close the doors and have one hour of simple laughter. Laugh at yourself. But learn to laugh.
In one apartment house, people were puzzled about one thing. Every couple was fighting, throwing pillows, throwing things, breaking cups and saucers, shouting at each other, husbands beating wives, wives screaming. The only problem was with one gentleman.
From his flat, they never heard any one fighting; on the contrary, they always heard laughter.
So they caught hold of the fellow as he was coming from the market and said, “First you have to tell us that what the secret is — why do you laugh when everybody fights?” The fellow said, “What happens is, she throws things at me. If she misses, then I laugh; if she hits me then she laughs.” Seriousness is a sin.
So they caught hold of the fellow as he was coming from the market and said, “First you have to tell us that what the secret is — why do you laugh when everybody fights?” The fellow said, “What happens is, she throws things at me. If she misses, then I laugh; if she hits me then she laughs.” Seriousness is a sin.
Lightness Of Being
Laughter has tremendous beauty, a lightness. It will bring lightness to you, and it will give you wings to fly. And life is full of opportunities. You just need to be sensitive and create chances for other people to laugh. Laughter should be one of the most valued, cherished qualities of human beings — because only man can laugh, no animal is capable of it.
Because it is human, it must be of the highest order. To repress it is to destroy a human quality.
Laughter has tremendous beauty, a lightness. It will bring lightness to you, and it will give you wings to fly. And life is full of opportunities. You just need to be sensitive and create chances for other people to laugh. Laughter should be one of the most valued, cherished qualities of human beings — because only man can laugh, no animal is capable of it.
Because it is human, it must be of the highest order. To repress it is to destroy a human quality.
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