Can man laugh even in the face of death?

Question: OSHO, CAN MAN LAUGH EVEN IN THE FACE OF DEATH? Narendra, IT DEPENDS. There are people who cannot laugh even when life is showering all its joy on them; they remain serious, dull, dead. Flowers go on showering on them; they don't look at those flowers, they don't feel grateful. They have completely forgotten the language of gratitude. They have forgotten to laugh. But a man who is alert and aware, a man who is a man in the real sense -- integrated, centered, grounded -- will laugh in the face of death. Mansoor laughed when he was being killed. He laughed so loudly that the people who were killing him could not contain their curiosity. They asked, "Mansoor, what is the matter? Are you mad or something? Why are you laughing?" He said "I am laughing because you are killing somebody else.

Beloved Osho, is there a sense of humor beyond the mind? To me meditation has a sense of seriousness in it, and in my experience a sense of humor arises from misunderstandings -- real or imagined -- which have their root in the mind. Is it possible for laughter to arise with no-mind?

I have heard about an American seeker. He was a super-rich man, and having everything, he got fed up. The more you have, the more you become aware that it is not going to satisfy you. The poor man is in a better mental condition, because he can hope that tomorrow he will have a better house, a better job, more salary, a better car. There are millions of hopes around him which will never be fulfilled, and it is good that they will not be fulfilled. The super-rich finds himself in a very strange position: all hopes are fulfilled and his hands are empty, his being is empty; nothing has been found. Life has befooled him. Those hopes have proved to be all mirages. So the man started looking for some wise man who can show him the path to find the real, the ultimate, the absolute truth. And…

What is the zen attitude towards death?

He is saying 'Now I am off to hell.' He is joking. Only a Zen master can joke at the last moment. Only a Zen master can have the guts to say 'Now I am off to hell.' In fact, Zen people say that wherever a master is, there is heaven. If he is in hell, hell will be heaven. Heaven is his climate, he carries it with himself. 'Then, shutting his eyes, and still sitting, he died.' So silently, so poetically, so radically. And the third story. When the master, Tenno, was dying, he called to his room the monk in charge of food and clothing in the temple. When the monk sat down by the bed, Tenno asked, 'Do you understand?' Now, he has not said anything and he asks, 'Do you understand?' 'No,' the monk was puzzled and said. Tenno laughed, and said, 'Do you understand?' The…

Question: I WAS A SAD CHILD, A FRIGHTENED ADOLESCENT, AND AN ANGRY YOUNG MAN. YET ALL MY LIFE I HAVE FELT DEEP WITHIN THAT EVERYTHING WAS FUNNY, ABSURD, RIDICULOUS. WHEN I WAS IN THE SEMINARY SOME YEARS AGO, A FRIEND TOLD ME THAT WE HAVE SUCH A LIMITED CAPACITY FOR DIVINE THINGS THAT IF GOD TOLD US A JOKE, WE WOULD DIE LAUGHING. I REMEMBER MY FRIEND'S STATEMENT BECAUSE SINCE COMING TO POONA I HAVE FELT A GREAT BELLY-LAUGH WELLING UP INSIDE OF ME. I FEEL THAT GOD HAS TOLD ME A JOKE, AND THE PUNCH-LINE IS SLOWLY DAWNING ON ME. I AM A LITTLE AFRAID THAT I WILL NOT CATCH IT FULLY UNTIL I HAVE LEFT POONA IN DECEMBER, AND THEN I WILL LAUGH SO LOUD AND HARD THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO HEAR ME ALL THE WAY FROM TEXAS. PLEASE TELL ME, WILL I SURVIVE THIS JOKE?

Beloved master, loving to hear you laugh, loving your jokes, loving you -- beloved master, would you speak to us about laughter?

Anand Svabhavo, when you are hungry you don't want somebody to speak on food! When you are in a river drowning, you don't want somebody else to talk about the art of swimming. There are right moments and right situations, and there are things which can be talked about, yet misunderstood. Laughter is a mystery. It is better to experience it than to hear someone talk about it. But one becomes curious, "What is laughter?" Laughter is the most intelligent factor in you. Buffaloes don't laugh, and if you meet a buffalo laughing you will go mad! Then it will be impossible to bring you to sanity. No animal laughs. Laughter needs a very sensitive intelligence. It means that you can understand the ridiculousness of a certain situation. What are jokes? They are a very clever arrangement. They take you in a direction logically, rationally, you start expecting that now…