Laughing at the news

I came to one of your talks a month or so ago, and the other day I found myself watching an apparently tragic item on the news and laughing uncontrollably.

Right, so is there maybe an assumption there that one of the outcomes of all of this is that world events aren't taken seriously anymore?

Well, yes. When you take yourself to be a separate person, then emotionally upsetting events are disturbing and unpleasant. But surely if you come to understand that everything is yourself, then there can't be any tragedy, because it's only your own self it's happening to .

So there's the understanding that everything is yourself?

Yes .

Isn't that just a story in thought, though? Because understanding is limited to thought, however sublime the nature of that understanding might be.

But you say that everything is happening of its own accord, so understanding isn't something that I'm doing - it's just happening! (laughter)

You can come and take the chair if you like! (laughter)

But spontaneously arising though it may be, understanding is just more 'stuff' that's added to the sum total of what constitutes the life of 'me'. There's nothing at all wrong with that, or with your uncontrollable laughter at a tragic event. As you point out: all of that is simply happening, no one is doing it, the tragedy isn't actually happening to anyone.

To provide a more comprehensive picture, though, I'd like to offer the possibility that - so far as the play of life is concerned - an apparent reaction of sadness or tears to tragic events is actually a very natural thing. There's nothing wrong with it at all. There's nothing wrong either with an absence of emotional reaction to a tragedy - or even an 'inappropriate' reaction such as laughter. But that's not somehow more 'spiritual' or 'enlightened'.

So as you've pointed out, sometimes there might be an 'inappropriate' response to events in life. But generally the nature of the play of life is such that tragic events will elicit sadness, even tears, whether there's no one or apparently someone, whether there's clarity, understanding or confusion.

I'm not suggesting, of course, that there actually are any entities who are perceiving or are caught up in tragedies, but whether there's a psychological sense of self playing centre stage or whether it's seen that there's no one here, in the spontaneous arising of appearances within this play of life certain patterns emerge.

It's possible either to understand or for there to be clear seeing that everything is happening spontaneously, no one is doing anything, no one is responsible, no one is being harmed. But if you find spontaneous laughter happening at a funeral, don't be surprised if you receive a spontaneous punch in the mouth! (laughter)