In the knowledge of the humor of true understanding, there is God realization.

Please watch (please ignore audio hum & one speaker only - it's an older recording)

I've watched this particular video with Adi Da Samraj in his earlier, better years (no need to focus on him or his life), discussing the relationship between humor, creativity & God-realization, many times, but it never really sank in all the way until I watched it again recently.

Then, suddenly it started to dawn on me kind of like a psychedelic flashback & there I experienced an inkling of an epiphany, which if I were in the audience would have caused me to burst out laughing in a great belly laugh - oh HO HO HO!

But then it kind of wears off as I'm re-absorbed by the concerns of the world & by the "twin scaled dragon of should & shouldn't" (Joseph Campbell) that must be slayed to experience true Liberty, and by an attachment to material pursuits of the ego or the grasping, tight-fisted clinging hand, which he also described in other talks.

Each time I visit with & "steep" like a tea-bag in it, in this understanding, however, I remember to forget the old outmoded self a little bit more because you cannot unlearn what you learn and what you come to KNOW in the knowledge of personal experience which is also the knowledge of the humor of true understanding. "And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free!"

Hang in there with this idea as a possibility residing outside our own reality tunnel or slice of what we presume to know or know we don't know, where the entire domain of all knowledge is outside of that in an infinite circle of potential knowledge of which we not only didn't know, but didn't even know we didn't know. We were both clueless, and absurd. Deal with it.

The "ah HA!" epiphany of it seems to envelope and transcend the "oh oh"s of modern living, and so I want to revisit it.

I want more, but in the very wanting, am I making it, the awareness in the humor of the knowledge of the truth something once removed, as if to protect myself from having an authentic spiritual experience? and then right there I am brought back to presence to the joke at the expense of the absurd nonsense of the grasping, seeking ego-mind, now resurrected in the larger field of awareness that doesn't have the same set of concerns at the point of the action of being. I no longer have to prove anything to the world and for all the wrong reasons while taking who I think myself to be by far too seriously as a defense against the deeper knowledge of who and what I really am, in God as a child of God and sacred being beloved of God. We flee from the glory of it all because our ego-self interprets it as just too much to take, and so it is.

Courage! Take heart, and fear not, little ones, for it pleased our father to share his kingdom with all his children!

In other words, it was absurd to presume, falsely, that it was not my prior condition & enjoyment to begin with as the already always state of being wherein we can breath a sigh of relief and with all the time in the world to start anew as a creation of our own creation hand in hand WITH God in co-creation, which is our design, our purpose, to be in partnership with God, not replacing God with ourselves. Isn't that the very heart of the duality of the trick and lie of the devil? to distract us from the higher truth, out of jealousy for our place in God's creation - as marriage partners and consummation partner in the comingling of the Spirit of God and man, as the bride of Christ? a New Creation? This is the true messianic hope.

Of course, some might take offense @ his notion of God-realization as our true condition, and indeed I suspect that there's an ego-driven desire to kill God and ascend the throne of existence at the heart of it all, or to be a big something in one's nothingness.. or to gain the whole world but lose one's own soul (essential character, charm & passion), which Adi Da and other "Godmen" fell victim to in one way or another in failing to recognize (recognize) the fundamental I-Thou relationship between beloved & beloved other, between Atma & Brahma, between first father and son ie: to keep the joy & the fun alive with integrity when we, as individuals, fail & falter & forget or, take ourselves too seriously. They bypass, unnecessarily, the joy of salvation in Christ because of some sort of pride or rebellious principal, when in all truth it is really more like the icing on the cake that you can have and eat as well (free lunch) and the join at the apex of the karmic wheel without which we could be left orphaned from the ever greater glory of God and of God's love.

This is the kind of relationship that Jesus would have had with God as Spirit & Truth & first father of creation being the first enlightened Jew to call God "Abba" or the familial Papa or Daddy.

I feel that Adi Da & Meher Baba the so-called avatars of the age failed to recognize however close they came, the true nature of this fundamental relationship and familial frame of reference or what I call the relativity of human being, and by God that's funny too!

A great and mighty joke must be TOLD and shared from one to another, we cannot be its originators lest the humor & surprise drain out of it.

No we are made to receive it, what God holds in store for those who love, and which, if my estimates & instinct is correct, is a great & mighty joke that just keeps on giving, but perhaps it's one that, when shared invites us to consider ever greater opportunities & possibilities for joy, no matter our external environment of people, places & things.

It's a pointed pointlessness and a meaningful absurdity which requires only one God and one devotee, with no imposters and no intermediaries.

He's right though in the way he describes the experience and realization, I'm just looking for the appropriate frame of reference by which to have and hold it, and I'm certain that that's only to be had and continually enjoyed in a personal relationship, where God keeps the joke alive for us to continue to enjoy and, wherever needed to do so at our own expense.

C.S. Lewis said that to have any fun, we must both take ourselves infinitely more seriously, and infinitely less so at the same time.

That makes a lot of sense, and youtube videos of an elder Adi Da all serious with his hair blowing in the wind in Fiji as a focal point of our adoration just doesn't cut it for me to be honest.

He grokked, but make a slight shift & slipped, as did Meher Baba who when he was dying an agonizing torturous death by some illness exclaimed "why is this taking so long? Last time I got it all over with in a few hours (referring to the passion of Christ)". Had he understood more clearly, perhaps he would have laughed & died.

One of the visitors asked Meher Baba: “What is life?”

Baba smilingly replied: “Life is a mighty joke. He who
knows this can hardly be understood by others. He who does
not know it finds himself in a state of delusion. He may
ponder over this problem day and night but will find
himself incapable of knowing it. Why? Because people take
life seriously, and God lightly; whereas we must take God
seriously, and life lightly. Then we know that we always
were the same and will ever remain the same…the
originators of this joke. This knowledge is not achieved
by reasoning, but is the knowledge of experience.”

THE BEST OF THE GLOW, p.4-5
Edited by Noasherwan Anzar

Your thoughts/impressions?

I guess it doesn't "sell" very well..

LOL

"Why are you laughing so much? Lets break up, I dont want you."
-My ex.

originally posted by: Damla
"Why are you laughing so much? Lets break up, I dont want you."
-My ex.

LOL!

Edit: I presume that you've learned to look at it this way and appreciate the absurd irony of it.

You were unevenly yoked anyway. You scared him or her because they were not on the journey and were unwilling to change or be transformed.

Knock the dust from your feet and move on?

Best regards,

Ankh

Meditation to go with OP's sentiment & ideation

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

I feel infectious. only the first one can make something good out of me.

a reply to: Damla


The first and the last has got your back.

No worries.

"Don't worry, be happy."
~ Meher Baba

a reply to: Damla

This is what can happen when you don't fall in love with the right significant other as an appropriate object of authentic love and desire between beloved & beloved other. JK. I see someone triumphing there (looks like Elon Musk!).

This is why I like the truth at the heart of Christianity in so far as we're provided with something worth falling in love with while accepting an invitation to receive an inheritance of infinite value for which there's absolutely nothing we can do to either earn or deserve it, as well as something capable of filling in the gap of the failures of human love, that's capable of consoling us in our heartache and disappointment and discouragement.

There's nothing worse than inconsolable tears that wipes the smile off our face and the loss of our humor and our joy, which I'm suggesting can be found and discovered in relationship with Christ as the person of God, as freaky as that might sound or as put off as so many might be according to a heavy bias against all things "religious".

There's good reason however to set one's heart on an appropriate object of desire, and attachment that's capable of filling us with everlasting joy.

Does it really work when we try it on, and can it be "grokked" this idea of God as the great lover and protector of mankind, and to what end?

Just what does the invitation imply? Further, how can we refuse it, and rest on our own ignorance?

Don't be absurd. If you can percieve the hand of God, take it, and walk with God as both our condition and relationship, out of which flows all good things including love of neighbor as self, and for some true romantic love, however fleeting.

This brings to my mind once again the idea of the Spirit & the Bride and that of the model of Christian marriage.

Our hearts long to be healed by the hand of God that alone is capable of consoling our weary hearts from the brutal effects of the failure of love in the human domain, and healing us while teaching us how to love for many as if for the first time.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

do you consider yourself jelaous? I mean, you know it is a christian sin right?

a reply to: Damla


No, it's absurd. I consider myself lucky to have won what I consider a spiritual lottery. One can't be jealous after inheriting a birthrite prepared specially from the first cause and beginning of time.

What I'm pointing to is a type of spiritual food and lasting enjoyment.

People are often quickly biased by the very term "Christian". I'm simply asking them to set aside all bias & preconception to try it on and see if it's workable.

Carl Jung said that to enter the fray with our entire being (fearless and untouchable) that we can only do so if we possess a working theological framework.

a reply to: Damla


Could you describe what you mean to signify with this? Thanks.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

No, i wouldnt.

And here I was looking for table fellowship and a Spirit of Koinonia..

Oh well. It's always worth the effort 'cause ya just never know, and I always write with the reader in mind, whether they chime in or not.

All the very best, and be blessed!

Ankh

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

I didn't watch the video but I read the whole OP.

A lot of what you're talking about makes sense. I don't have the focus right now to properly translate my experiences from primary to secondary but I basically can agree with the general sentiment that life is a grand joke, and the joke is the most perfect of perfect storms.

I wish I could focus more and really chew on what you've written but I just wanted to drop something here. I like it when people appreciate my writings.

Q) What's the difference between a mouse ?

A) The higher it spins, the fewer.

😎

what is a bad joke is those that other than yourself or your group doesnt laugh. these guru talks remind me of that. imagine someone saying that it was a very funny joke hitler decided to terminate the crippled people and did so to make a pure healthy group of people out of his nation. and actually laughs at it before your eyes.

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses


Thank you, and for the thoughtfulness and consideration.

Perfect storm, yes. It's a predicament that we're all in and how we respond to it, and whether it gets resolved or not tells the tale.

This brings to mind that it has a certain pattern & intentionality of fate to put us through the ringer & test our mettle, like the pattern of the hero's journey depicted in Joseph Campbell's "A Hero with a 1000 Faces".

What we lack, many of us, is two things. Imagination, and courage, and love as a motive force.

What's tragic for many is to lose their mirth and charm or what Jesus described as their saltiness as the salt of the earth (that's a process) or the precious pearl in the oyster, which makes for an interesting analogy in terms of precisely how and why that pearl is formed.

It's a tragic comedy that's not without its tears and sorrow, suffering and strife, BUT, on the far side of the ordeal isn't there a greater joy that transcends it?

Few find the light at the end of the tunnel, and the new day on the other side of the dark night of the soul.

Few laugh out loud in the space of Liberty, set free like an untouchable in the midst of a world gone mad.

It is very hard for many to see the humor in it all, and that's both very sad and very funny both.

Everyone gets the invitation though, and while some gripe about it while others ignore it in favor of some preoccupation, the little man, the oppressed and the downtrodden, the hungry and the thirsty, the moment they recognize it they snap it up gladly and with gratitude.

There's a saying that "when you commiserate with your neighbor as he/she is kind hearted, they will thank you, but if they are hard-hearted, they will scorn you" and also that "a perfect gentleman is someone who never hurts another's feelings, unintentionally." ; )

Sometimes we have to break hearts and let our own heart be broken, while at the same time trying to be careful not to cast our pearls before swine lest they get trampled under foot..!

Dangerous and tricky business, even attempting this kind of sharing and communication, so I appreciate you wanting to reflect a bit first. Shows wisdom and thoughtfulness.

Thank you for your consideration.

Looking forward to your further contribution.

Best,

Ankh

Live in peace, live in joy laughter will arise. But those who do not live in peace at all ever, prefer company. Safety in numbers. As many do not live in peace, all there is the creation of fun and how that fun is achieved is of no concern. Their mission is to have fun, this is why are they so keen. Because they somehow know peace and joy is available, but never ever enter it. All they do is live their own poor version of it, which is not it. Envy and disbelief that peace even exists is rampant rebellious behaviour is favoured and is believed to be righteous. The snake eats its own tail/story. A catch 22 drama is born.
None the less peace is always there.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork