Laughter

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Soulewolf

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As i’ve studied a variety of different spiritual paths, i’ve noticed a very interesting difference between religions as a whole that i personally find much truth in and those that i feel (oppinion not really relevant to the conversation) are misinterpreted. These differences are Jokes and Laughter.

Shamanism, Buddhism, and many Pagan faiths use humor to teach a lesson (and many of them are extremely funny lol). Judeo christian religions (as far as i’ve found) do not. In fact joking about divinity is considered rude if not blasphemous.

Have you heard the saying “its funny because its true”? I’ve found that this statement holds quite a bit of truth in it. George Carlin for instance, spoke quite a bit about religion and was able to make people laugh because his words reflected what many people hold to be true.

I have a few questions on this subject:

1.) Do you think that humor is an important part of spirituality? Why / Why not?

2.) Do you think that Christianity could benefit from this lighter path towards Truth? Why / Why not?

3.)Why do (in your opinion) more pagan faiths find humor an important teaching tool of Truth than traditional Judeo christian religions?
 
HUMOR/LAUGHTER: Laughter is sin that originates from within the darkness of the unconscious. Humor, on the other hand, is the good spirit that manifests itself from within the fruit of the soul. The truly spirited person laughs at nothing, but can find some kind of humor in almost everything he or she sees.

Laughter is crude, humor is refined.
 
“It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.”
Saint Thomas Aquinas

👍
 
Robert_Sock said:
HUMOR/LAUGHTER: Laughter is sin that originates from within the darkness of the unconscious. Humor, on the other hand, is the good spirit that manifests itself from within the fruit of the soul. The truly spirited person laughs at nothing, but can find some kind of humor in almost everything he or she sees.

Laughter is crude, humor is refined.
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So laughter would be a sign that someone is not truly in spirit in your mind?

Laughter, is sin? :confused:
 
Robert_Sock said:
HUMOR/LAUGHTER: Laughter is sin that originates from within the darkness of the unconscious. Humor, on the other hand, is the good spirit that manifests itself from within the fruit of the soul. The truly spirited person laughs at nothing, but can find some kind of humor in almost everything he or she sees.

Laughter is crude, humor is refined.
Click to expand...
Laughter is most certainly not a sin. There are times when laughter can be inappropriate and perhaps sinful, but that entirely depends on the object and intention of the laughter. The same thing can be said of almost any other human activity (like running or singing). In and of itself, the activity of laughing is good.
 
Soulewolf,
3.)Why do (in your opinion) more pagan faiths find humor an important teaching tool of Truth than traditional Judeo christian religions?
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Well, it is something of a minor point, I couldn’t really conceed that other religions use comedy as a means of teaching the truth, because in fact they do not teach the truth. While Catholics have never been opposed to good humor, it is true that it has never been used significantly for purposes of catechetics. Usually the more serious your topic matter, the less one jokes about it when trying to explain it.

I do think it worthwhile to note that Catholicism has always been focused on being joyful (which is a little different), I think more so than any other religion. The Catholic Faith is all about pursuing the true source of happiness and Joy, which is God. Those who set aside purely selfish concerns and live lives based on love of God and one’s neighbor have found the true path of happiness.
 
Hi Soulewolf,
A very good topic.
I recall a lecture I attended a few years back. The subject was the presence of drolleries in ‘The Book of Kells’. The great book is replete with comical drawings, surreal depictions of men and beasts.
The monk scribes were of a playful turn of mind. To relieve what must have been intensely absorbing and draining work, they would fill the margins of their manuscripts with innumerable riddles, witty drawings and “in” jokes.
The Irish psyche shares a lot of their attributes. A quick lively wit and repartee can be had in a lot of Irish cities and towns.
Personally, I find that a healthy sense of humour gels well with a strong Faith.
God Bless,
Colmcille.🙂
 
JohnDamian said:
“It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.”
Saint Thomas Aquinas

👍
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Well maybe i should clarify. I dont mean jokes about the religion or jokes in general, more that i mean jokes held within the sacred texts or base beliefs of a specific group.
 
colmcille1 said:
Hi Soulewolf,
A very good topic.
I recall a lecture I attended a few years back. The subject was the presence of drolleries in ‘The Book of Kells’. The great book is replete with comical drawings, surreal depictions of men and beasts.
The monk scribes were of a playful turn of mind. To relieve what must have been intensely absorbing and draining work, they would fill the margins of their manuscripts with innumerable riddles, witty drawings and “in” jokes.
The Irish psyche shares a lot of their attributes. A quick lively wit and repartee can be had in a lot of Irish cities and towns.
Personally, I find that a healthy sense of humour gels well with a strong Faith.
God Bless,
Colmcille.🙂
Click to expand...
Interesting. How would you say that humor benefits Faith?
 
Though the saying “its funny because its true” is indeed just a saying, it holds to be true for much of humor. Because of this, i was pondering and came up with another question

If True things are funny and Divinity is the ultimate Truth, would it then not follow that Divinity is the basis for “Ultimate Humor” (silly name eh? kinda ironic in that sense lol)

If this is true, then woulden’t humor be one of the most important aspects of spirituality / understanding Divnity?
 
Fro what it’s worth, spiritual realization is often accompanied by laughter, as are many sorts of insights, even ironic. Laughter seems to accompany resolution. Even in therapies, the therapist knows that the subject has achieved emotional distance and clarity when they can smile or laugh about the incident that had them embroiled. And Alan Watts ended his film on meditation with a segment claiming that laughter was the highest form of that art.
 
Very interesting subject. I’ve been thinking about it lately because it seems that moer and more people are becoming addicted to the pursuit of what I term “blissful glee.” Blissful glee is that childish feeling you get on Christmas morning. It just seems that some people want to stay in that perpetual mindset. The phenomenon made me think they made a video game console for it. Wheee! Who? Meee!
 
IMHO, the desire for “blissful glee” is a forshadowing of the conscious desire for Beatific Vision.
 
antroji said:
IMHO, the desire for “blissful glee” is a forshadowing of the conscious desire for Beatific Vision.
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That’s beautifully spiritual, but I was describing the secular attraction where the brain wants to feel good, maturity is optional, and we would rather remain as children. I think the original post, in searching religions, is looking for the degree of laughter/happiness in each.
 
Soulewolf said:
Though the saying “its funny because its true” is indeed just a saying, it holds to be true for much of humor. Because of this, i was pondering and came up with another question

If True things are funny and Divinity is the ultimate Truth, would it then not follow that Divinity is the basis for “Ultimate Humor” (silly name eh? kinda ironic in that sense lol)

If this is true, then woulden’t humor be one of the most important aspects of spirituality / understanding Divnity?
Click to expand...
Technically all forms of humor come from some form of ignorance. That is meant to imply that there is something bad about humor, but rather that it results from situations in which the unexpected happens. This is true not just of slap-stick, but of high intellectual humor as well. As such, truth isn’t exactly the basis for laughter.
 
Katholish said:
Technically all forms of humor come from some form of ignorance. That is meant to imply that there is something bad about humor, but rather that it results from situations in which the unexpected happens. This is true not just of slap-stick, but of high intellectual humor as well. As such, truth isn’t exactly the basis for laughter.
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i would say not the basis of humor, but i would also say that the funniest things are true. The truer the funny thing is, the funnier it gets. That is the link between Truth an Humor that i am trying to get at here.
 
ManOnFire said:
That’s beautifully spiritual, but I was describing the secular attraction where the brain wants to feel good, maturity is optional, and we would rather remain as children. I think the original post, in searching religions, is looking for the degree of laughter/happiness in each.
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well thats the base knowledge i guess. What i’m really asking is “Why” some religions teach with humor and others dont. What the benefit of learning about Divinity through humor might be. As well as the utility of humor when it comes to spirituality.
 
I sort of agree, but I don’t think the brain chemically makes a distinction between secular and religious, thoug that is a sidebar. But you really struck a chord with me by using the word “maturity.” If there is a quality publicly lacking in our “civilzation,” that is it, applied to any area of activity you care to look at. Having lived on the US/CA border, I can easilyu attest to that even at the level and scope of “news” broadcasts form here and all levels of coverage from there. Huge difference.

Relative to this thread, regarding humor, there is a big difference that was hinted at earlier in “laughing with” and “laughting at.” One is unifiying, the other divisive.

Of course then there is this, and this, and the perienial this–Very irreverent, but it says why so many don’t believe, and why I thnk there is a component missing in religious practice and teaching.

Of course there is an often humorous aspect to the Divine realtive to recognition. It might be called “the arrival of the Unexpected.” Of course, that might leave one stunned and speechless, as welll! 🙂
 
Soulewolf said:
Interesting. How would you say that humor benefits Faith?
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Hi Soulewolf,
Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.
Personally, I think that Faith engages that part of the brain which is stimulated by humour also.
In an essy on ‘Humour as a vehicle for unconventional ideas’, Alexander Kohn writes:

‘Scientific activity is like play. It may be defined as an output of physical activity without an immediately useful purpose. It’s justification, for those who engage in it, is the actual pleasure they derive from it.’
(Laughing Matters, ch.9)

If we look at religion as an “unconventional idea” we can see where humour may be a useful tool in our understanding. This imagination workout, as it were, stimulates our grasp of abstract ideas (jokes) in much the same way as we absorb the more cerebral areas of Catechesis.
God Bless,
Colmcille.🙂
 
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