We have become so technically advanced that we have forgotten to laugh. We have also forgotten to laugh at ourselves and this crazy world we live in.
Osho, the enlightened teacher, gave us a Laughter Meditation in his famous book Meditation: The Art of Ecstasy. He says, “We are so attached to our suffering that laughter generally occurs only as a release of tension. Only rarely, very rarely, does laughter occur without cause. We cannot laugh; we cannot be happy; even in our laughter there “. it is pain. But laughing is so beautiful, such a deep cleansing, such a deep purification. “
Osho devised the laughing meditation. Practiced every morning when you wake up, it will be your day. Osho says: “If you wake up laughing, you will soon begin to feel how absurd life is. Nothing is serious: even your disappointments are ridiculous, even your pain is ridiculous, even you are ridiculous.”
Here’s the technique: When you wake up in the morning, before you open your eyes, stretch like a cat. Stretch every part of your body. Enjoy the stretch; enjoy the feeling that your body wakes up, alive. After three or four minutes of stretching, with your eyes still closed, laugh. For five minutes, laugh. At first it just will, but soon, the sound of your attempt to laugh will elicit genuine laughter. Lose yourself in laughter. It may take several days before you can actually achieve this technique. We are not used to laughing; we have forgotten the easiest thing we could do. But keep trying; it will soon be spontaneous. And then every morning, you wake up happy!
Another technique is to laugh only when you are alone. This book, Laughter: The Best Meditation, can help you start your laughter meditation. When you read it and enjoy the jokes, laugh out loud. At first, it will be difficult, but soon you will enter the joy of laughter, so start with a soft “he-he-he.” Then make it louder with a laugh, a giggle, a giggle, and finally a hearty laugh as you roar with a belly-filled laugh. Continue for at least fifteen minutes. Then STOP suddenly and go into total silence. Now you will absorb all that energy within you that was generated while you were laughing. Your mind will become completely silent, without thoughts. This is when you are in meditation.
Osho says: “Let your laughter be your only prayer. Let your joy be your only offering. Love life! Love the little things! Don’t miss a single moment. Keep enjoying yourself more and more and you will find that God comes. for you more and more. My emphasis is to increase your joy, your laughter, because this world is not for the miserable. This world is not for people who have become too used to anxiety, to anguish. This world belongs to those who live moment by moment in absolute ecstasy. The joy, the lack of seriousness, the sense of humor for me, are very fundamental qualities of a religious being. ” When asked, “What is your message?” Osho replied: “Be a joke to yourself. Laugh at yourself. But learn to laugh. Seriousness is a sin and it is a disease. Laughter has a tremendous beauty, a lightness. It will bring you lightness and give you Wings to fly. . “