Divine Laughter

Divine Laughter “I want you to laugh with your whole countenance, with your whole heart and soul, with all the breath of your life. In order to be able to laugh in this way you must have implicit faith in the power of the Self and try to Bring the outer inner parts of your being into perfect harmony... Seek refuge at his feet in total surrender. You will then see how the laughter that flows from such a heart defeats the world.” – from Sad Vani Anandamai Ma Everything we are experiencing is perfectly designed for us to experience so that we may experience the Divine. Divine Will is everywhere animating this life, heartaches and injuries included. The horrors of this world, also. Don’t forget the completely and impossibly joyful and profoundly aligning, expressive, and self-remembering ones either. It’s like all the pieces have been set in front of us to have the experiences necessary for us to have spiritual experiences, certain realizations or impressions, or simply to love ourselves in a new way. The absurdity of life seen through any other lens is pure comedy. Also, it is a tragic comedy, full of tears and longing. This makes the whole thing so serious, so dramatic! This makes the laughter deeper, straight into the soul. The other day my daughter faced the shame of her teacher admonishing her in front of others without having the chance to stand up for herself. Turns out, she wasn’t so much to blame, the other student exaggerated the situation for leverage in a conflict, and she was too overwhelmed to tell her side and the values she was standing up for. She was really embarrassed and sad, maybe remorseful but upset by the whole situation. She values being in harmony, standing up for other kids, and being in right relationship with the teacher. I know these things about her. She didn’t want to go back to school the next day, she was so bent out of shape. We sussed things out a little and found out what happened. When she heard me and her sister support her response as imperfect but admirable, maybe she began to see the situation more clearly, honoring herself a little more. I saw the shift. By the end of the afternoon she was laughing again. Laughing at the silliness of something we were talking about. Her sister started making up alternate lyrics to one of their favorite songs and telling different stories with each one. It was hilarious. To see her full body belly laugh again delighted my heart. When we get a little lighter, we see life’s travails as a series of misunderstandings and absurd contradictions, as dramas of opinion and happenstance. We get a little freer, we laugh more. If I spend part of each day touching base with Divine Will, aligning myself through prayer and meditation, my world is simple and wide open. I lighten the whole thing. Everything here is just another experience. Having put my faith in God/Goddess/Source I walk from a place of healthy detachment. This detachment is the direct product of what Ma calls “implicit faith in The Self “and my bringing the outer and inner parts into harmony. From this, the laughter can come fully, delightfully, knowing it is all in God’s hands. It is the lightness of being. I am in god’s hands. My daughter and her shame are in God’s hands. Your life is in God’s hands. The contradictions and the joys and all of it are literally from God’s hands. As legendary Macho Man Randy Savage once said “You may not like it, but you will accept it!" I had a depressed yoga instructor the other day. Instead of uplifting and encouraging, she was already over it. “Continue to breathe…two, three, and four.” But each number felt like a defeat. Instead of a chance to expand in breath and body awareness, her tone made it sound like a chore – another thing she really didn’t want to do! It was hilarious! lol. “Downward dog… ugh” haha. Let this world put a smile on your face. Touch base each day with the only thing you will take with you into the next world: your heart’s connection. Listen to Ma, laugh with your whole self. Thank you for reading. Until next time. Be well friends and know that you are loved. Upon Awakening is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit uponawakening.substack.com/subscribe