Laughter is a great blessing among the many blessings bestowed by God. By laughing wholeheartedly, countless physical ailments are relieved. Mental fatigue is removed, and a person begins to feel light like a flower.
Many people carry a sort of forced seriousness with them. Even when they feel like laughing, they suppress it. In this way, they try to maintain a serious appearance. The belief held by some intellectuals that laughter is a sign of a lack of culture does not seem correct.
In the world of living beings, nature has granted the gift of laughter only to human beings. No bird, animal, or insect possesses this gift. Just as eating according to hunger is like nectar, but overeating becomes poison—each extra morsel giving birth to disease—similarly, even laughter has healthy limits.
If someone stumbles while walking and onlookers laugh, this is a cheap laugh. If someone falls off a bicycle, gets insulted, or suffers a loss, and we laugh at it, then it is a mean laugh. Worldly people often laugh at the weaknesses of others.
But when a saint sings the praises of God, and through continuous singing goes deep within himself, he sees his own weaknesses and God’s countless blessings—and he laughs from the heart.
Gur-Wak:
ਹਰਿ ਜਨੁ ਗੁਨ ਗਾਵਤ ਹਸਿਆ ॥
har jan gun gaavat hasiaa. (Ang 1319)
The humble servant of the Lord sings His praises and blossoms forth.
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Weeping too is a great gift of God—provided one knows the right way to weep. When a person weeps due to pain or grief, the mind becomes lighter. When someone’s loved one dies, the relatives often encourage the afflicted to cry; if because of shame he holds back his tears, there is a danger he may lose his mental balance. But not all weeping is of great value.
A laborer loses a ten-rupee note and becomes tearful; the value of such tears is only ten rupees. Someone loses a thousand or a lakh rupees and weeps; then the value of such tears is not more than that amount. But the tear that flows from separation from God is priceless—because God Himself is priceless.
Often, the love-stricken shed such pure tears. The dirt of many births is washed away with these tears. Not only suppressed momentary anger, but the deep impressions stored within the mind are cleansed.
ਹਉ ਰਹਿ ਨ ਸਕਾ ਬਿਨੁ ਦੇਖੇ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮਾ ਮੈ ਨੀਰੁ ਵਹੇ ਵਹਿ ਚਲੈ ਜੀਉ ॥
houn rah na sakaan bin dekhae preetamaa, mai neer vahe veh chalai jeeo. (Ang 94)
I cannot live without seeing my Beloved. My tears keep flowing.
If a gardener does not water the plant he has planted, it will wither. Similarly, the love of God requires the water of tears.
ਸ਼ਾਖੇ ਉਮੀਦੇ ਆਸ਼ਿਕ, ਹਰਗਿਜ਼ ਸਮਰ ਨ ਗੀਰਦ;
ਅਜ਼ ਆਬੇ ਅਸ਼ਕਿ ਮੇਜ਼ਗਾਂ, ਤਾ ਸਬਜ਼ ਤਰ ਨ ਬਾਸ਼ਦ।
(Bhai Nand Lal Ji)
The branch of the lover’s hope never bears fruit unless it is watered with the tears of the eyes.
We have wept many times for many people and many things. May God bless us with that fortunate day when our weeping is connected to His love.
Tears shed in divine longing make many arid hearts lush and green.
ਦੋ ਚਸ਼ਮ ਮਨ ਕਿ ਦਰਯਾਇ ਅਜ਼ੀਮਉਲਸ਼ਾਨ ਐ ਗੋਇਆ;
ਜ਼ਹਰ ਅਸ਼ਕਮ ਬਵਦ ਸ਼ਾਦਾਬੀਏ ਸਰ ਬਾਗ਼ ਬਾਗ਼ ਈਂ ਜਾ।
(Bhai Nand Lal Ji)
My two eyes are like a magnificent river; the dew of my tears brings flourishing life to the barren gardens within.
If one sees his own shortcomings in the state of divine love, and tears flow in devotion—and he laughs at his own condition—there arises a unique flavor in this mingling of laughter and tears.
Gur-Wak:
ਰੰਗਿ ਹਸਹਿ ਰੰਗਿ ਰੋਵਹਿ ਚੁਪ ਭੀ ਕਰਿ ਜਾਹਿ ॥
rang hasseh, rang rovaih, chup bhee kar jaeh.
In the Lord’s Love they laugh, in the Lord’s Love they weep, and in the Lord’s Love they remain silent.
ਪਰਵਾਹ ਨਾਹੀ ਕਿਸੈ ਕੇਰੀ ਬਾਝੁ ਸਚੇ ਨਾਹ ॥
parvaah naahee kisai kaeree baajh sache naah. (Aasa Di Vaar)
They care for nothing except their True Husband Lord.
Such laughter and weeping arise only after long practice in meditation.
(Courtesy: Guru Chintan)
Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen
