Zen koan: When is laughter open, and when is it closed?
By emptychair
@innertalks (23734)
Australia
November 17, 2022 11:09pm CST
The Zen master, Artroch Ripocjke, was laughing out loud, and a student asked him to share the joke with him.
The Zen master said,
"He who laughs out loud is a koan unto himself, but he who keeps his laughter inside is not a koan, but a disaster, as a koan and laughter must both be shared to find the answers which each can give to you."
"When we do not share our laughter, we lose it somewhere inside."
"Lost laughter is sad to see. It dampens the love inside of us, and bottles us up with reasons not to laugh."
"Like love, laughter does not need any reason to spring forth from us."
"Zen is a type of laughter. The sound of love loving sounds like a rippling laugh laughing."
"Humour gives heart to love, and we must think here of the laughing Buddha." "
Laughter disperses our ego."
"We should not take our spiritual journey so seriously that it suppresses the smile within our heart, wanting to come out of us for real, not just hide within us anymore."
The student smiled, then he laughed.
Suddenly enlightenment flowered within him.
The master laughed. They both now laughed together.
Zen is only serious to those who not see the joke buried within it.
When we laugh, we should laugh out loudly, and not keep our laughter inside our body, unlaughed out loud.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
The master's smile was as captivating as his laughter.
1 person likes this
1 response
@Shiva49 (28371)
• Singapore
18 Nov 22
Laughter is sharing joy, and gaiety, with others uninhibitedly.
Not that easy for some as we tend to bottle up our feelings.
That applies to love too and Asians are supposed to keep emotions under wraps.
As for me, I tend to put others at ease, by breaking the ice, if need be, to get to the heart of the matter in terms of better understanding.
When we forget our ego, we are raring to go in terms of love and acceptance.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
18 Nov 22
Yes, breaking the ice usually involves us in breaking our ego first.
When our ego is put aside, we then put love, laughter, joy, in its place instead.
@Shiva49 (28371)
• Singapore
19 Nov 22
@innertalks Shedding and shredding the acquired ego is the first step toward enlightenment.
If we succeed, then we enjoy bliss.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23734)
• Australia
20 Nov 22
@Shiva49 I would prefer just to place the ego in its place, rather than destroying it completely, as all parts of us can come to serve us, and nothing should be cut away, and discarded willy-nilly.
Something ruling us now, might come to be a useful servant to us later.
