Learning the best laughter

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question: When I think about the sense of humor…

Acharya Prashant (AP): Sense of humor (smiling).

Listener (L): Why people laugh?

AP: Why people laugh? Like anything else about life, this too is a good point, to begin with. Since the root of everything is the same, hence it doesn’t matter which leaf you put your finger on. If the inquiry is genuine, you will reach the root.

So, let’s begin with you my laughter, why do people laugh. Why do people laugh? Just like anything else that we engage in, that we do, laughter too can come from two very distinct points within us. There is a laughter that arises when one is pleased when one’s desires are fulfilled. Have you seen this kind of laughter? You wanted something you got it. You say, “You are happy, pleased.” And then you laugh.

And mostly it is this way that we laugh, that people laugh — The satisfaction of desire, there is a definite reason now behind the laughter — the fulfillment of the ego. The ego was feeling heart pressed, incomplete, not satiated and something happens, which at least temporarily gives an impression to the ego that it has attained fulfillment.