:: LAUGHTER ::

Silence Within, Laughter Without  
 
Silence and laughter are the keys. Laughter is divine when it comes out of silence. Osho says that "When laughter comes out of thinking it is ugly; it belongs to this ordinary, mundane world, it is not cosmic. Then you are laughing at somebody else, at somebody else's cost, and it's ugly and violent." 

"When laughter comes out of silence you are not laughing at anybody's cost, you are simply laughing at the whole cosmic joke. And it really is a joke! That's why I go on telling jokes to you... because jokes carry more than any scriptures. It is a joke because inside you, you have everything, and you are searching everywhere. What else should a joke be? You are a king and acting like a beggar in the streets; not only acting, not only deceiving others, but deceiving yourself that you are a beggar. You have the source of all knowledge and are asking questions; you have the knowing self and think that you are ignorant; you have the deathless within you and are afraid and fearful of death and disease. This really is a joke, and if Mahakashyap laughed, he did well.
But except for Buddha, nobody understood. He accepted the laughter and immediately realized that Mahakashyap had attained. The quality of that laugh was cosmic. He understood the whole joke of the situation. There was nothing else to it. The whole thing is as if the divine is playing hide-and-seek with you. Others thought Mahakashyap was a fool, laughing in front of Buddha. But Buddha thought this man had become wise. Fools always have a subtle wisdom in them, and the wise always act like fools.
In the old days all great emperors always had one fool in their court. They had many wise men, counselors, ministers and prime ministers, but always one fool. Although intelligent and wise, emperors all over the world, in the East and the West, had a court joker, a fool. Why? -- because there are things so-called wise men will not be able to understand, that only a foolish man can understand, because the so-called wise are so foolish that their cunningness and cleverness closes their minds.
A fool is simple and was needed, because many times the so-called wise would not say something because they were afraid of the emperor. A fool is not afraid of anybody else. He will speak whatsoever the consequences. A fool is a man who will not think of the consequences.
That's what Krishna was saying to Arjuna: "Be a fool. Don't think of the consequences, the result. Act!" This is how fools act -- simply, without thinking what is going to happen, what the result will be. A clever man always thinks first of the result, then he acts. Thought comes first, then action. A foolish man acts; thought never comes first.
Whenever someone realizes the ultimate, he is not like your wise men. He cannot be. He may be like your fools, but he cannot be like your wise men."

A Bird on the Wing
# 10, The Master of Silence

Laughter time with Osho:

1. Mulla Nasrudin applied for the job of night security guard at the factory.
The boss looked him over carefully.
"The sort of person we need for this job, ' said the boss finally, "is tough
fearless, aggressive, suspicious, distrustful, always on the lookout for
trouble and constantly ready to flare into violence. Quite frankly, you
don't seem to fit the bill.
"Oh. that is all right," explained Nasrudin. "I HAVE ONLY COME TO APPLY FOR
THE JOB ON BEHALF OF MY WIFE."

2. After an intensive initial interview with Mulla Nasrudin, a psychiatrist
have a written list of instructions and a weekly appointment card. A
fortnight later he telephoned to the Mulla to enquire why he had failed to
keep the next appointment.
"WHY. DOCTOR," protested Nasrudin, "YOUR INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDED ONE THAT SAID
I HAD TO AVOID PEOPLE WHO IRRITATED ME!"

3. When old Mulla Nasrudin was asked why he talked to himself, he replied:
"IT IS BECAUSE IN THE FIRST PLACE, I LIKE TO TALK TO A SMART MAN, AND IN THE
SECOND PLACE, BECAUSE I LIKE TO HEAR A SMART MAN TALK."

4. The landlord sent a stiff letter to his tenant, Mulla Nasrudin: "My rent
is considerably overdue and I must ask you to send on some money."
Mulla Nasrudin's reply was swift: "I don't see why I should pay your rent --
I can't pay my own."

5. Mulla Nasrudin called on a doctor to ask his advice. The doctor told him
he must stop drinking and smoking. Nasrudin said nothing and quietly rose to
depart.
"Friend," the doctor reminded him gently, "you have not paid for my advice."
"No," said Nasrudin, "and what's more, I am not taking it either."

6. Mulla Nasrudin, who went to a large city to see the sights, engaged a
room at a hotel and before retiring asked the clerk about the hours for
meals.
"We have breakfast 7 to 11, dinner from 12 to 3, and supper from 6 to 8,"
explained the clerk.
"Look here," inquired the Mulla in surprise, "what time am I going to see
the town?"

7. Mulla Nasrudin had his suspicions. One day he left work early, and sure
enough, when he arrived home, he found a strange hat and umbrella in the
hallway and his wife on the couch in the arms of another man.
Wild for revenge, the Mulla picked up the man's umbrella and snapped it in
two across his knee.
"There now I hope it rains."

8. A young mother was looking at a toy for her small child. "Isn't this
awfully complicated for him?" she asked Mulla Nasrudin, the salesman.
"That, madam," replied the Mulla, "is an educational toy, designed to
prepare the child for life in today's world. Any way he puts it together is
wrong."

9. "And at her request you gave up drinking, Mulla?"
"Yes."
"And you stopped smoking, for the same reason?"
"I did."
"And it was for her that you gave up dancing, card parties, and billiards?"
"Absolutely."
"Then why didn't you marry her?"
"Well," said Mulla Nasrudin, "After all this reforming I realized I could do
better."


10. Mulla Nasrudin was defeated ignominiously when he ran for the office of
sheriff.
He got only one vote out of a total of 3,5000, and the next day he walked
down Main Street with two guns hanging from his belt.
"You were not elected, and you have no right to carry guns, Mulla," fellow
citizens told him.
"Listen, folks," replied Nasrudin, "a man with no more friends than I have
got in this country needs to carry guns."