Comment: Man is the only animal that laughs. There are 50 types of laughter: infectious, irrepressible, homeric, laughter from tickling, laughter through tears, and laughing at yourself, which is the most sophisticated laughter. They say that laughing at oneself is for the strong ones.

My Response: Of course.

Question: In many countries there are clowns who come to hospital wards and even cure people with laughter. A science called gelotology tries to understand how laughter appears. That is, it is easy to understand how tears appear, but it is much more difficult to understand how laughter appears.

Can we talk a little about laughter and humor in your life?

Answer: I am not one who often laughs.

Comment: But sometimes you like to read jokes.

My Response: I do not like jokes, I like wit, an unexpected twist when the mind shines on and shows that it can see everything inside out.

Question: Is laughter really a healing and sublime thing?

Answer: Yes, of course. A person rises a little bit above his egoism, in spite of it. And this, of course, heals and saves him.

Comment: In the past, they used to scornfully talk about comedians: “To write tragedies, yes; but comedies, so-so.”

My Response: Comedians are tragedians inside out. That is, they feel both this and that inside. The fact that they amuse others does not mean that they themselves do not empathize with the opposite.

Comment: Probably the best comedians are those who have experienced depression.

My Response: Yes. They act in spite of themselves.

Comment: Say a few words about this sublime thing—about humor.

My Response: Humor is not just laughing at oneself; it is rising above one’s egoism, above which a person usually cannot rise. And we must watch that it is done kindly. Because hating yourself is not a problem. But making it all appear in a kind way is not easy.

Humor should be such that first, it would not hurt anyone. We laugh at our nature, at who we are, what we are. And we have enough intelligence, precisely as humans, to laugh at what animals we are. It is usually with kindness, condescension, and positivity.

Comment: There are satirists who cast down others a little.

My Response: That is not satire, that is insult. This is not humor.

Comment: But many people love it.

My Response: This is a different matter. People love it because it uplifts them. This no longer applies to rising up, seeing yourself, your nature, a little and treating everything kindly. No. Everything that is real humor should not cause any particularly harsh, negative attitudes in any person.

Question: That is, neither he nor any other person should be humiliated?

Answer: Yes. I think that this is a special innate property of man. And if a person does not have this property—he can be the strongest analyst and clever in all other matters but has no humor—it means that he lacks a human quality.

Moreover, it can be not only developed, but also suppressed. Many military men and politicians lose their sense of humor. They are so busy with self-control that they suppress it initially, instinctively, a priori.

Question: How can it be that it existed and suddenly disappeared?

Answer: It can happen. A person can teach himself that he cannot relate to the world, to life, to all kinds of messages in this way.

Question: If it were possible to teach such a difficult science as Kabbalah by telling jokes and stories, do you think it would lower it or not?

Answer: No, I don’t think it is possible. But Kabbalists love humor, they appreciate it. Laughter in Kabbalah is an ascent above oneself because what looks negative at our level looks joyous and positive at the next level.

And therefore, these states force us to rise upward and already laugh at our weaknesses, at our little egoism, above which we were able to rise with the help of the Creator, and now we rejoice at this.

Question: Do you think we will laugh at what is happening now? The world is now experiencing a difficult, tumultuous era. Will we laugh at this time and rejoice?

Answer: Of course we will. Naturally. We will all see what we have gone through and where we have arrived. And then everyone will be filled with joy and laughter. And big, elated, healthy laughter will fill the heavens.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/30/20

Related Material:
Humor Is A Brilliance Of Mind
Humor In Spirituality
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