Humor
"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it."
— George Carlin
Have you ever noticed that you can't laugh and be angry at the same time? The positive disallows the negative aspect. Humor is a gift of light in the darkness, a joy to the heart, and an uplifting of the spirit. It may represent an unexpected contact with a Greater Reality or Truth, or just another way of looking at things, even for a moment. And this is enough to bring some joy and relief to the heart, mind, and spirit.
Think of Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, George Carlin, and others. Their simple humor knows how to touch our hearts. What they have done in their work is to find a ray of hope in the darkness, make light of what oppresses us, and destroy our illusions. They give us another perspective, another way of seeing or thinking of things — which bypasses the rigid outer mind, or the way we habitually look at things. And that momentary shift in perspective, that piercing of the veil, is enough to let a bit of Light and Joy come in. What a wonderful gift of Love and Light humor can be.
Think of the Three Stooges, three ordinary guys who always find their way into "high society," and wind up destroying all of our illusions about it. They wind up throwing pies in the faces of the most self-important, egotistical, arrogant, unrealistic, and deluded elite. Think of the Marx Brothers, as they wander through life destroying everyone's illusions, about life, about themselves, about what is important. Charlie Chaplin and Red Skelton did not have to utter a word to speak to our hearts. They could take on a role in life, in their act, and get us to so identify with it, that we could feel exactly what they were feeling, the perspective they wanted us to have. And, thereby give us perspective on ourselves and our own lives. Once we gained that greater awareness, that greater perspective, we could not easily return to the boundaries or confines of our existence. They had, even for a moment, helped to spiritually liberate us.
If we look at some of the things that contemporary humorist George Carlin observes, we can see that he is perhaps only half-joking. He would, of course, be the last to admit that he can be deeply philosophical; he would jokingly dismiss that, preferring not to take himself too seriously, either. That is a good sign, an indication of someone having some perspective on themselves, and not being lost in self-deception. Some of Carlin's insights: "By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth." " The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept." "Did you notice that several years ago everything got different?" Carlin has no tolerance for hypocrisy, injustice, pretense, ego, falsehood, or illusions, preferring to see reality for what it is. "McDonald's breakfast for under a dollar is actually more expensive than that. You have to factor in the cost of bypass surgery."
Many comedians have found a life of humor to be the only way they could cope; it helps to relieve the pain of too clear a perception of life's wrongs and suffering. Watching Carlin, it is at times obvious that the world has deeply hurt him; he tries to match its obscenities with his obscenities, and at times is brought down to a rather low level of humor. We are simply pointing out that although humor may help us to cope with living in a world of problems, it does not necessarily provide any ultimate answers. Carlin especially deals with the evil he sees in this world, and in people: "Next time you see Bing Crosby playing a priest in a movie, picture him beating his children in real life." So true. Carlin knows that people are quite hypocritical, deluded, heavily programmed and indoctrinated, stupid, belligerent, evil, or just plain "nuts," and he says so.
As we consider the benefits of humor, realize that much of what passes for humor these days is not necessarily good. Like people, there are three different kinds of humor: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Good humor is spiritually uplifting; the joy is a genuine joy of the spirit. Bad or ugly humor is usually an intentional put-down, something that feeds something less in people. Though they may laugh, they are not being spiritually uplifted; they are having their delusions catered to. It is simply not true that anything people laugh at is good. Yes, laughter can be healing. But, really low and sick humor, which is little more than trying to praise, promote, or raise Hell — the worst in us — is not at all good. read more ...
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