LAUGHTER IS ONE OF THE GREATEST JOYS IN LIFE. L Our hope for this book is that it will bring you laughter and delight. In laughter we touch the joy that lies within waiting to be awakened the same inner joy that is most deeply experienced by the saints.
Peggy Dietz acted for some years as Yogananda's assistant, often welcoming reporters from Los Angeles newspapers who came to interview the Master. Whenever she asked them, "What characteristics do you appreciate in Yogananda?" they invariably answered, "His love-and his sense of humor!"
In teaching his ministers how to lecture, Yogananda included the following instructions:
Before lecturing, meditate deeply. Then, holding onto that meditative calmness, think about what you intend to say. Write down your ideas. Include one or two funny stories, because people are more receptive if they can enjoy a good laugh.
Yogananda often quoted the classic Sanskrit definition, given in the eighth century A.D. by the great Hindu teacher Adi Shankaracharya: "God is Satchidananda," which Yogananda translated as, "God is everexisting, ever-conscious, evernew bliss."
He explained that when God, who is bliss, became His creation, then all life had as its essence that same bliss. Thus we see one common thread uniting all people: the search for happiness. Because our essential nature is joy, we will not stop seeking until we find it.
In his mystical poem "Samadhi," Yogananda describes the highest state of consciousness: the soul realizing its oneness with God. This exalted poem ends with these lines:
A tiny bubble of laughter, I Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself.
Yogananda's experience of life, and his experience of the goal of life, was of divine joy. He lived in joy always, and sought to awaken joy in others. Sometimes he expressed that joy through deep seriousness, when seriousness was called for, but equally through an overflowing merriment and even childlike playfulness.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
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Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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