The Laughing Saints
The story begins….
A long, long, long, long, long, long time ago
In a land far, far, far, far, far, far away-
In the country now known as China
Lived three brothers.
Their job was to travel
Around the land
And Laugh.
Laughter was their sermon.
When the villagers asked their names-
They laughed. So, they became known as
The Laughing Saints.
Imagine these three bald brothers
Walking into the marketplace-laughing.
That greedy, needy, seedy “Not enough for me!”
Marketplace.
Laughter is a contagion
That ripples into each person’s body.
And the person begins to
Jiggle
Wiggle
And giggle with gales
Of Laughter!
The waves of laughter expand the marketplace.
There is more than enough for everyone!
One day, after lunch
One of the brothers-
Dropped dead-Laughing.
The grieving villagers
Approached the two brothers:
“You must stop laughing! Your brother is dead!
You must do the last rites!”
“Ahh, HA!
He is not dead! There is no death!
Our brother simply left his body
On the side of the road
And evaporated into Eternity!
Returning Home!
We have been laughing all of our lives.
We honour our brother with laughter.”
3 days later the villagers return:
“The body is stinking up the village!
You must do the last rites!”
“YES! Our brother had 3 requests:
- Do not change his clothes.
- Do not give him a bath.
- Do not give him a ritual.
The villagers agreed.
They built the funeral pyre.
And lit the fire.
The flames rose…higher…and higher…and higher…
Exploding!
Into a symphony of sound
And multi-colored lights!
The people began
To Laugh!
To Sing!
To Dance!
A Celebration into the
Night!
That Laughing saint had the last laugh.
His two brothers stuffed
His clothes with fireworks!
In every death-
There is ALWAYS an
Ecstatic Re-Birth.
I figure, if a person dies laughing,
He or she has lived a fearless life.
Why do I say that?
These brothers knew that the world is a Dream
They did not identify with what is temporary
They identified with the eternal, fearless
Face of Joy that is our True Nature.
The world is always changing
What remains? The changeless indomitable Original Face of Joy-
That which is beyond birth and death.
If all is an apparition-nothing is as it seems
We might as well burst out laughing!
We die the way we live.
How do you want to live?
And so it is.
