Karmapa was on fire this afternoon - never before have I seen him laugh so hard, he was completely out of breath and shaking with giggles as the entire hall was in tears of laughter yet again. A bursting smile across his face as he jokingly told us how lucky those in the hell realm must be; no school, no bedtime, no need for work or learning their ABCs, just to be cut to pieces over and over and then *pop* - quickly and easily back together again for another round of torture.
Laughter and applause. This sense of humor, this ability to make the Dharma approachable and natural, without taking all points to a level of seriousness and rigidity that most teachers have is such a blessing for the modern world. Through him the 4th Chapter of Bodhicharyaavatara, a subject often taught with solemn scripture and memorization becomes a blossoming opportunity to connect with us all through laughter, warmth and humility. To stop us from taking it all so seriously. With another shining smile he continues on - just be here, all moments and thoughts are just thoughts and moments, all words are just words, let your concepts and feelings about them fade away and just be with what is. The word suffering is just a word; like flower, rain, sun, moon… then in a low ghoulish tone, …SUFFERING… explosion of laughter. The way to get reborn in the hungry ghost realm is easy - just promise you’ll give someone something, and then don’t. Huge eruption of laughter again. This is the precious gift of humor. This is the way a true bodhisattva teaches. In a world full of crazy and scary this is the precious gift of humor. This is how he changes our world. This is the Karmapa.
