In an article about Dr. Madan Kataria, India’s “Laughing Guru,” in the August 30, 2010 issue of The New Yorker magazine, author Raffi Khatchadourian asserts,
“Kataria believes that true mirthful laughter can have a liberating, transformative effect – one that momentarily erases all practical concerns, fears, needs and even notions of time, and provides a glimpse into spiritual enlightenment. This puts him at odds with the world’s major religions, where laughter is rarely celebrated, and where virtue and spiritual self-awareness are usually matters of discipline and solemnity.”
The idea that laughter or humor is incompatibility with spirituality could not be further from the truth. First, there is the testimony of Kataria’s new teaching, “laughter yoga,” itself. This is a movement founded on the core belief that we can attain spiritual peace and come closer to God simply by laughing. It could be described as the injunction, “lighten up,” elevated to the role of therapy and it is growing rapidly in popularity. Laughter yoga is based on a very simple but radical premise: not only is laughter infectious, but a joke or humorous stimulus is not strictly needed to induce laughing. Instead, one simply begins to laugh on the spot, with no prompting whatsoever. When a group of two or more people engages in this activity, at first the laughter sounds and feels forced. Then an amazing thing happens: the sound and sight of impromptu stage laughter, produced as if on cue, magically begins to tickle the funny-bones of the participants. At this point, the real laughter begins, and it is infectious.
In the article, Kataria explains that originally he began his therapy sessions by telling actual jokes, but after two or three days, his repertoire of jokes ran out and the old ones had become stale. So he simply began laughing on the spot and encouraged his followers to join in. Those who engage in laughter yoga have reported significant improvements in their physical, mental and psychic well-being. It seems that “laughter is the best medicine” is a truism, and why should it be so surprising that elevating our moods can in turn elevate our spirits and souls?
But laughter yoga is not the only evidence of the role of humor in spirituality. In his Autobiography, Yogananda recalls being amused by many of his followers, youthful peers and devotees. He describes with delight the boyish antics of his beloved students in his school at Ranchi, and when one reads these anecdotes, one cannot help but hear his rollicking Indian accent, bubbling over with good humor at every turn. Similarly, the Dalai Lama is described in a New Yorker profile by Evan Osnos in the October 4, 2010 issue as being of a self-deprecating, humorous disposition:
“To get those around him to relax, he has honed a sense of ‘radical informality.’ He giggles, makes jokes about digestion, cleans his glasses with a handkerchief…”
Warm, kind smiles like Nelson Mandela’s, gentle laughter and expressions of humorous amusement and bemusement are all characteristics of true spiritual leaders. There may also be solemn or stern spiritual masters, but the point is that solemnity is not a requirement or a prerequisite of spiritual leadership. If anything, the contrary is true. Great leaders like the Dalai Lama communicate by their example that simplicity is a virtue, that humor is an attribute of simplicity, and that it can be simple to live a good, virtuous and spiritually attuned life. A positive sense of humor, together with an attitude of innocent delight in the sights, sounds and smells of this world, are all a hallmark of attunement, harmony and compassion. As such, they are to be embraced and emulated enthusiastically. A case in point: Yogananda’s guru, Sri Yukeswar, is described as being stern and demanding, but even with him, there are moments when the youthful devotees in his ashram elicit at least a smile of fond amusement if not a belly laugh from their formidable master.
One of the underlying life lessons Yogananda imparts to us in his Autobiography is that we can find as much spiritual inspiration on the hot, crowded plains of the Indian Subcontinent as in the lonely, craggy peaks of the Himalayas, despite his youthful and determined desire to go to the mountains to seek God. This point is aptly illustrated by the stereotype of the Western seeker who hikes to the peaks of the Himalayas to search out hapless hermit gurus—gurus who are so advanced and unworldly that one imagines they have entirely forgotten what it is to laugh at a joke.
Just as we can find God as readily in Calcutta as in Kathmandu, we can find God in persons with good humor just as readily as in formal and solemn clerics. God is a living principle that not only operates us, but operates inside of us at our request and with our consenting acquiescence. God is always in good humor because God is Good. To put it another way, God is in at least as good a humor as we choose to be.
Bird of Spirit 