Spirituality And Sense Of Humor

[Sick Boy]

Hello. Do you think that working towards spiritual growth takes out your sense of humor?

Continuous search for truth wounds your ability to look for the irony and funniness in everything?

Do you think that making jokes and share them to make other people laugh is a way to boost your ego, showing how smart you are?

I'm a newbie in the spiritual community but I am starting to realizing these things, and they are making me a bit afraid.

Thanks.

[Neo]

It's an interesting question. Despite making a few jokes on this very site, this journey, thing, is coinciding with a time in my life where I learn to value seriousness. It's never been important to me before now. I've worked for major corporations and banks and lived in a religion too where I though everything had to be funny. It hit me like a tonne of bricks, I mean the importance of it. It maybe underrated, I think every woman has at the top of their list "sense of humour" and seriousness goes out the window, but this whole world is serious.

[Saarah]

@Sick Boy if someone was demonising others, judging, being non-accepting, dogmatic and defensive, these are also about seriousness, taking yourself too seriously 

maybe spiritual growth is more about a quiet form of seriousness, still lighthearted and playful but serious about life in the respectful, appreciative way

 

 

[Prabhaker]

@Sick Boy Laughter brings inner energy to the fore. When you really laugh, for those few moments you are in a deep meditative state. Thinking stops. It is impossible to laugh and think together. When you really laugh, suddenly, the mind disappears. And the whole Zen methodology is how to get into no-mind.

[Sick Boy]

1 hour ago, Saarah said:

@Sick Boy if someone was demonising others, judging, being non-accepting, dogmatic and defensive, these are also about seriousness, taking yourself too seriously 

You can use sarcasm, a form of humor, to attack others. I don't think those qualities are matched necessarily with seriousness.

I found this quote of Ken Wilberg very interesting:

"Too many representatives of too many movements [...] meditation, spiritual studies – seem to lack humor altogether. In other words, they lack lightness, they lack a distance from themselves, a distance from the ego and its grim game of forcing others to conform to its contours... They should all trade two pounds of ego for one ounce of laughter"

Thanks for everyone's responses. If you have anything more to add is very welcome, I'm very interested on this topic.

[Dodo]

An important part of what ive learned in life, is that its easy once you can laugh at yourself. You then become an endless source of laughter for yourself. A mini enlightenment maybe, maybe :-D.  

I also think we shouldnt take enlightenment seriously.. We make god laugh when we act so serious, imagine looking at a bunch of serious looking babies... They know nothing, thats why they serious.. :-D 

Ps: but they think they know it all

Edited September 2, 2016 by Dodoster

[Dodo]

3 hours ago, Sick Boy said:

Do you think that making jokes and share them to make other people laugh is a way to boost your ego, showing how smart you are?

If you don't believe in the illusion of the ego, you can still act the ego out for normal human interactions, without being lost in it (I guess). Enlightened with ego you can laugh about. Even better! (I guess)

 

Edited September 2, 2016 by Dodoster

[Saarah]

47 minutes ago, Sick Boy said:

You can use sarcasm, a form of humor, to attack others. I don't think those qualities are matched necessarily with seriousness.

Sarcasm is just humour on the surface, essentially it's used by a person to keep their ideas or self image held up, boosting the ego as you say, someone who takes themselves seriously feels the need to do this (it's also cowardice, doing it in a non-direct and somewhat jokey way keeps tensions low and avoids possible conflict with another) lack of seriousness comes about better when all this need for defensiveness and ulterior motives is let go of

i guess you're talking more about just any humour at all, but if it's humour in a vindictive way, that's not really humour is it, it's more about a persons seriousness 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Actually I think humour is very useful in spiritual development. A deep sense of humour about life itself is very grounding. People who take life too seriously are missing the point and tend to be more wrapped up in themselves and disconected from reality. Just think about reality itself, it's ridiculous. It's totally absurd and absolutely histerical. There's no reason for extistance whatoever. It's like a huge joke, or like Skapespere said, like a play.
"All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players"
Here's a link to the whole quote - https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/you-it-act-ii-scene-vii-all-worlds-stage
In India they have group laughing meditation! -

 

[Dodo]

10 minutes ago, Atticus said:

Actually I think humour is very useful in spiritual development. A deep sense of humour about life itself is very grounding. People who take life too seriously are missing the point and tend to be more wrapped up in themselves and disconected from reality. Just think about reality itself, it's ridiculous. It's totally absurd and absolutely histerical. There's no reason for extistance whatoever. It's like a huge joke, or like Skapespere said, like a play.
"All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players"
Here's a link to the whole quote - https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/you-it-act-ii-scene-vii-all-worlds-stage
In India they have group laughing meditation! -

 

What i wanted to say but didnt have the guts to. Life a play... Shakespeare stole it from me! Wait no, i mustve been Shakespeare in previous life. Brb going on a Ego trip. It feels fantastic! Can i get a hello there!

Sorry im nit funny, but maybe the best answer to this topic is- check out how many pages "enlightenment jokes" thread has. :-D 

[ParanoidAndroid]

1 minute ago, Dodoster said:

What i wanted to say but didnt have the guts to. Life a play... Shakespeare stole it from me! Wait no, i mustve been Shakespeare in previous life. Brb going on a Ego trip. It feels fantastic! Can i get a hello there!

Sorry im nit funny, but maybe the best answer to this topic is- check out how many pages "enlightenment jokes" thread has. :-D 

Hahahahahah, you made me laugh actually
Yeah I was just looking at the "enlightenment jokes" thread

[cirkussmile]

@Atticus LMAO

Ahhh what a relief

 

Edit: I came here in the first place to say that I heard a stand up comedian quit meditating because of he felt less funny in public. 

Edited September 2, 2016 by cirkussmile

[cetus]

@Sick Boy "Once you realize your complete, than this life and everything in it becomes a play of form" Comedian Jim Carrey

 

[Sri McDonald Trump Maharaj]

It had a tendency to kill the little ammount of humor I had but if you have found that I can be hilarious like a fucking kid when I hang with people (rarely but sometimes). It can be like being drunk on emptiness and it is hilarious. Reducing ego makes the personality smoother.