Empty your mind of all thoughts.
Let your heart be at peace.

Watch the turmoil of beings,
But contemplate their return.

Each separate being in the universe
Returns to the common source.
Returning to the source is serenity.

If you don’t realize the source,
You stumble in confusion and sorrow,
When you realize where you come from,
You naturally become tolerant,
Disinterested, amused,
Kindhearted as a grandmother,
Dignified as a king.

Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,
You can deal with whatever life brings you
And when death comes, you are ready.

Translation by Stephen Mitchell

I love this particular passage from the Tao te Ching, particularly “You become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king.”

It is quite interesting that the word ‘amused’ is used. In the post on the Bhagavad Gita was the line, “I alone am real, Arjuna, looking out, amused, from deep within the eyes of every creature.”

We don’t normally associated humor with enlightened beings or states of mind. I remember back in the ‘60’s there was a popular picture of Christ who was shown with his head thrown back laughing. It was quite shocking to many people, subversive almost. Isn’t spirituality supposed to be serious? Isn’t it undignified to treat ‘holy’ people or principles in this lighthearted way?

I’ve often seen videos of the Dalai Lama and in all of his talks there are many instances when he is smiling and laughing. There are also the famous statues and representations of the Laughing Buddha, a roly-poly fat guy just laughing his head off. This amusement seems so foreign to the picture many have of the stern-faced Jehovah sitting on a high cloud with a judgmental snarl and a score card.

What’s so funny about enlightenment – or the lack thereof? Perhaps it is because we expect that state of mind to be something different, something other than the everyday. A state so rare and out of reach that only really serious people need apply; only serious people have the determination and commitment to reach “it.” Time on this earth is short and if you ‘want to be saved,’ you better stop playing around.

With that kind of thinking, no wonder the Buddha is laughing. Can we really believe that during those three years of his preaching, Christ wasn’t a happy guy? How can you heal the sick and raise the dead and deliver the message that we are all immortal and loved by a Divine Father and not be totally blissed out quite a bit of the time?

I have had the good fortune in my life to be in the presence of several people who were truly holy – and they all had a wonderful sense of humor. While they acknowledged the poignancy and suffering of life, they also saw beyond the roles and the temporary forms we inhabit to the eternal joy from which we came and will return. Compassion arises because our suffering is the result of a spiritual ignorance.

In both the Bhagavad Gita and the Tao te Ching, we are reminded that God looks through our eyes at the play we acting in and because He knows the truth, that it is just a play, he is amused at how seriously we take it.

I am reminded of times I smiled when watching my children playing good guys/bad guys and how intense and serious they were. They would get angry or sad or confused or triumphant, deeply feeling all the emotions. When I would call them home to supper they would stop their games and all bad feelings would be forgotten.

When we feel overwhelmed or fearful of this life we are living, we need to remember our source and destination. Until God calls us home, “you deal with whatever life brings you and when death comes, you are ready.”

 

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