Laughter

2025, March, Issue 142

With sinking dread, foreboding,

feeling overwhelmed

by impenetrable darkness,

sensing with great unease that

all could be lost on this moonless night,

revealing this quest through despair unknown,

on the edge of doubt and fear,

knowing with rising certainty that

this Spiritual Journey

has been for naught, then

a smile, a giggle out there in your mind,

a looney nutcase comes forward

who you know only too well,

this lunatic, this madman,

this multifaceted being from dimensions beyond,

beyond all reason,

this headcase appears,

just like that in order

to open the floodgates

of convulsive howling,

of laughter beyond,

beyond what any sane person would ever do,

when all is lost, deep in the shadows

of night, deep in the forest, falling

into a cavern of endless dark sinking angst,

with wolves moaning deeply out there,

with storms headed this way,

laughter, just a little laughter,

then a torrent of laughter dispelling

all fear and anguish, watching

all demons scatter to the wind,

riding away into the night;

It is this most insane laughter,

notoriously extreme;

It is the same sort of laughter

that you observe

on Planet Earth.

A poem by Robert Aho © 2025

We think much too highly of ourselves. When we are fully functional as human beings, we’re actually invested heavily in insanity itself. We think by cultivating ego that there is some lasting solution to all that has been perplexing us for all eternity. We think that by defeating our enemies that everything will be fine at long last.

In reality, you, your friends and all your enemies, everyone engaging in the affairs of this world are really just part of a complex web of delusional ambitions. Earth itself is just another place for lunatics. We remain here because we’re poisoned by our own desires, hatreds and ignorance. We resist awakening. We have ample opportunities to go beyond; however, we choose to remain attached. It’s that simple. It’s very funny when you really listen to all the complaining.

Something very odd happened to me a few years ago, when I was sitting in meditation, while on retreat. It was early in the morning, and this retreat was very powerful. The many students who were there seemed to be receiving a great deal of benefit from the various teachings and practices that we were doing. All of the sudden, a clear view of many lifetimes came flooding back to me, many lifetimes of turmoil, lifetimes of great suffering, all the endless struggles. I could see all of these lifetimes in complete detail. This was a vision of clarity.

It was obvious that I had been an extremely dedicated and efficient Spiritual Practitioner in lifetime after lifetime. Despite that, I could see some lifetimes where I had no chance of receiving Spiritual Teachings, lifetimes that were very unfortunate, very stupid and violent. I could also see that, whenever I had the chance, I was very quick to resume my Spiritual Practice, very quick to progress with ease on the Path, even though I resisted at first. All this came flooding back at me, and I laughed hysterically. I tipped over laughing. I couldn’t stop laughing for several minutes.

When I saw that I was a warrior, and a slave, and a rebel, and a servant, and a guru, and a vagabond, and a scholar . . . and a frog, I could do nothing other than laugh hysterically. These lifetimes, as tragic and completely awful as they were, were nothing other than a supreme comedy. And, here I am in another lifetime being very serious about Dharma Practice, sitting before my teacher in a most serious manner. It’s hilarious!

All this came to me in an instant. It was quite torrential.

Our lifetimes reside in turmoil, whether we invite circumstances or not, whether we take strides in solving all of the world’s problems. This turmoil is always the same, simply creating more absurdity, dysfunction and mayhem. There’s no possible way to fix it. We have a choice to remain in samsara, this most sickening comedy, or we can awaken.

Laughter is our best medicine when we decide to embark on our greatest journey. No matter what stands in our way, we can laugh and it will disperse. When we stand in our own way, laughing at ourselves will quickly disperse that most terrible demon we’ve become to ourselves.

Laughter dispels the darkness we’ve created. It dispels our own ignorance. Laughter ignites our own enlightened mind. We laugh and there is this moment of clarity, this appearance of luminosity that is not constrained by anything. Our own freedom appears in the sound of laughter. With laughter, fear cannot exist. Darkness fears us.

When our demons hear laughter, it illuminates all that nonsense they want us to take seriously. When we think that we are real, laughter is the best remedy. When we think the world is real, we can laugh it back into that place of unreality. Laughter is very powerful.

This joy that is released when we laugh can easily be turned into an accelerant for awakening. It clears away all delusion in an instant, bringing us back into the simplicity of nonduality. When we think too highly of ourselves, just laugh. Awakening requires laughter.

Blessings in Light,

Robert Aho