LAUGHTER

A few weeks ago, I attended a talk by Tulku Lobsang. A wonderful person who really inspired me. What struck me most about him was his contagious laughter. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so deeply and so wholeheartedly as I did that day.

Right from the beginning, he told wonderful stories. For example, a conversation between his mind and his body. In an incredibly endearing way, he made fun of himself, while showing us how Buddhist wisdom can be conveyed with so much humor and lightness.

He didn’t just talk about lightness. He embodied it.

Taking Life Less Seriously

What if, every now and then, we simply didn’t take life so seriously?

There are moments when suddenly everything feels lighter. Not because a problem has been solved. Not because we have found an answer. Sometimes it just happens.

Someone says something completely absurd. A single look is enough. A little moment turns out completely differently than planned. And suddenly we laugh. Really laugh.

Not the polite smile we have learned to put on. Not that exaggerated laughter when alcohol is doing the talking. But the spontaneous laughter that comes from somewhere deep inside and suddenly can’t be controlled anymore.

When the Mind Takes a Break

We laugh even though we still have things we should be getting done. Even though something is on our minds. Perhaps even when we didn’t feel like laughing at all.

And for a moment, all of it disappears. We don’t think about what happened yesterday. We don’t wonder what tomorrow will bring. We don’t worry about how we look or how we come across.

We simply laugh.

Maybe that is one of the most beautiful things about laughter: it needs no plan.
It arises suddenly and spontaneously. From within.

Our mind can spend hours trying to understand life. It analyzes, judges, plans, weighs things up and thinks about everything that could possibly happen. And then one single crazy moment comes along – and suddenly the mind takes a break.

The heart laughs first. The mind catches up later. Maybe that is exactly why it feels so good.

Taking Ourselves Less Seriously

We take so many things seriously. Our mistakes. Our decisions. Other people’s opinions.

What we haven’t achieved yet. What might go wrong. And last but not least: ourselves. Sometimes we take ourselves far more seriously than is good for us.

Because the more everything revolves around our ego, the heavier life can feel. How we appear. What other people think of us. Whether we are doing things right. Whether we are living up to our own expectations.

Our self-image suddenly becomes something we constantly have to defend. And how liberating it can be to laugh about it for a moment. At our own mistakes. Our little quirks. A situation we took far too seriously.

Laughter is a wonderful teacher for me, again and again. In just a few seconds, it can loosen something we have been holding onto in our minds for far too long.

The People We Laugh With

There are people with whom laughter comes particularly easily. One look is enough, and both already know what the other is thinking. A single word – and suddenly we are laughing wholeheartedly.

Sometimes these are the very people who remind us that life is not only about seriousness, important decisions and things that need to be done or achieved. But that it can simply be light sometimes.

A Small Moment of Freedom

When we laugh from the heart, we don’t have to solve anything. Explain anything. Control anything. We are simply there. In the present moment.

Perhaps these moments are also little reminders that we are not at the mercy of our thoughts. We can interrupt them. Not through effort, not through resistance, but sometimes simply through laughter.

Our lives rarely become lighter because we have solved everything. But they very often become lighter when we stop making ourselves quite so important within them. And perhaps that is exactly the lightness we so often search for. Not somewhere outside our lives. But right in the middle of them.

And then I keep thinking about something Tulku Lobsang once said. When people ask him why he has such white teeth, he replies: “They get a lot of oxygen because I laugh a lot.”

Well, perhaps that is a pretty good reason to laugh a little more often.

Luma – it begins in you.

Mini Exercise
Today, notice yourself in situations you would normally take very seriously.
Maybe a small mistake.
An embarrassing situation.
Something that doesn’t go according to plan.
And then ask yourself:
Could I also laugh about this?
Not to make light of something.
But to gain a little distance for a moment.
Perhaps the situation itself won’t change.
But perhaps the way you see it will.

Reflection Question
What could become lighter if I took myself and my life a little less seriously?