April 2003
Universal language of laughter
by Terry Loncari
Love guru Leo Buscaglia once suggested world leaders hold a summit and tell one another jokes. Maybe if we laughed together, we would stop trying to outthink, outsmart, and dominate one another. We would be too busy laughing to notice our differences.
I thought that was a powerful statement. Then I remembered why I feel drawn to certain spiritual leaders. I like the genuine way they smile and make others feel a remarkable calmness in their presence.
In every picture I have ever seen of the Dalai Lama, his face spills joy and even a touch of playfulness. Though Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader saw his people persecuted, he never became hateful, and even felt compassion for his oppressors.
How could the Dalai Lama possibly forgive people who caused so much suffering and even drove him out of his own homeland? If you really live a peaceful life, he insists you must feel compassion for those who resist it.
To experience this kind of peace is never to feel emotionally hungry or to worry about the outcome of war or how much time you have left. It is liberating. That’s why the Dalai Lama says he will never feel lonely. Though he doesn’t have a family in the traditional sense, his smiles are beacons of warmth to all the people he meets. In the Dalai Lama’s world, no person is a stranger, and all the people he meets are members of his loving global family.
Not everyone can achieve this state of holiness. But in the simple sharing of a smile, we truly begin to convey our humanity and break down all the barriers that lead to intolerance and hatred.
Many of my heroes have laughed and smiled easily. They did not think they were superior to the people they taught. Gandhi was a loving grandfather, who could get down on his hands and knees and play like a child with Arun, his grandson. Arun once told me in an interview his grandfather carried the weight of the world on his back, yet he never lost his sense of mischief and humor.
Like many wise spiritual leaders, Gandhi understood he could never move toward real peace if he did not feel lightness and joy in his own heart. Gandhi knew if he stopped laughing, then he would also stop hoping, dreaming, and trying to make the world a more just and loving place.
Sometimes in a world where people are rushing to get to the next traffic light, it is necessary to just slow down. We need to remember the stuff that made us laugh as children — those things we forgot when we became adults — often as a result of others admonishing us to "grow up" and "get serious." Is it possible that being too serious soured us to some of life’s sweetest possibilities? Studies on laughter have drawn some astonishing conclusions. Hearty laughter can be as relaxing as deep meditation. The immune system works better, too, when we are laughing. People with terminal illnesses even experience diminished pain when they are able to laugh.
During moments in my life that seemed bleak, laughter has always been my wake-up call. I found my way back to sanity when I could laugh right in the face of adversity. It helps that I have been in the company of good laughers most of my life.
My mom, aunts, and cousin all cackled loudly when they told weird family stories. Even when I worked around some fairly serious bosses, I always found the silly co-workers who entertained me with their antics. I remember one co-worker who snorted and shook when she laughed. She always made me want to laugh right with her. Just listening to other people laugh makes me feel less tense about life. Even the loud laughter in the theater at the inappropriate moments can be strangely amusing.
Laughter has its own weird music — its own unbridled joy. It is the great equalizer —the one universal language all of us can understand. Keeping our sense of humor is essential to healthy living. Laughter chases away anger, cleanses our spirit and keeps us from sinking into the quicksand of hopelessness and bitterness. It is a gift we need to share every single day.
Terry Loncaric, a Chicago freelance writer, specializes in spirituality, travel, the arts, and social issues.
![[Send]](http://consciouschoice.com/sendlink/send.gif){kind=small}
Recommend this page to a friend
Top Ten pages recommended to friends:
