Laugh Meditation
Wise people say that we should not take our hardships too serious. When we are getting too attached to our unlucky situations, it is harder for us to overcome them.
The best way to find light at the end of the tunnel is to laugh - to laugh at ourselves!
Osho loved to tell a story about three laughing saints.
Those three saints did not do anything, but they laughed all the time. They walked from one town to another and took there time to laugh at the central squares.
They laughed so engagingly that everybody around them started laughing too. Just a second ago people were concerned or anxious, thought about money, but when those three showed up everyone started to laugh. People felt that a completely different world opened up for a few minutes. The saints traveled around China, just helping people to laugh: those who were said, angry, greedy or jealous. Many felt the key: laugh has a great transformational power.
Once when they were passing by one of the villages one of the three saints died all of a sudden. The local people thought: "Their friend died, now they are going to cry." But the other two kept dancing and laughing – celebrating death. The local people were shocked: "This is way too much! What a sacrilege! When someone dies – laughing is not appropriate!"
But two wise saints said: "We laughed with him all our lives. What else would be appropriate? How else can we say good bye to our friend? We will laugh, enjoy and celebrate. This is the only possible way of farewell with someone, who laughed all his life. If we would not laugh, he would think that we fell for the bait. We know that he did not die. How laugh can die? How life can die?"
It was time to incinerate the body and the local people proposed to conduct the ritual of washing. But the two saints said that the last will of their friend was to avoid any rituals, including washing of his body, not to change his clothes and incinerate as he is.
When the fire touched the body, something unbelievable happened – the dead saint threw his last trick. The old cheat had fireworks hidden under his clothes and all of a sudden a funeral transformed into a fest! The whole village hit with laugh. And the two jolly friends started dancing. This parable is about how life overcame death.
We take everything too seriously, our energy is blocked, the energy of laugh, joy and easiness of life. This causes neurosis, depression, maniacal syndromes and other bodily diseases.
Laugh meditation is as old as the world is. Many spiritual Masters of the World recommend it to their disciples as a daily cleansing practice (similar to that of teeth cleaning, everyday shower, etc.)
It is very easy to practice. You can do it alone, with your partner or friends. When practiced with partner or in a group of people, it will strengthen your relationship and mutual understanding.
Just relax and start laughing. At first this can seem to be difficult laughing just like that without any reason. You can start therefore with 3 minutes and then gradually go up to 10 minutes and longer. When you will learn how to easily and freely manifest the energy of joy, you can laugh endlessly. If you find it difficult to laugh with all your heart – listen how funny and comical and laughable you sound during your attempts to laugh. Remember everything that you were thinking so seriously about recently, what were you anxious about, what made you angry and all of a sudden you will start laughing!
Apart from all the positives of this practice mentioned above, it helps a lot with healing thyroid gland, tonsillitis, quinsy, bronchitis, as it cleanse Vishuddkha Chakra and all the organs connected with it. If you do it in sauna you will notice a greater effect.
Happy Laugh!
