Why do I take myself and everything so seriously?
Everybody takes himself and others seriously. That’s the way the ego exists. Start being a little more playful, and you will see your ego evaporating. Take life non-seriously, as a joke—yes, as a cosmic joke. Laugh a little more.
Laughter is far more significant than prayer. Prayer may not destroy your ego; on the contrary, it may make it holy and pious, but laughter certainly destroys your ego. When you are really in a state of laughter, have you observed? The ego disappears for a moment. You are again a child, giggling. Again, you have forgotten that you are special. You are no longer serious; for a moment, you have removed your fixation.
That’s why I love jokes—they are poison to your ego! You would like me to talk about serious things: astral planes, how many bodies men have—seven or nine—and how many chakras. And every day there are questions—esoteric, occult. These are the serious people. They have fallen into the wrong company!
I am not serious at all. I don’t laugh with you because that is part of telling a joke: the person who tells it has to be very serious; he cannot laugh with you. All my laughter I have to do alone. But my approach to life is utterly non-serious and playful, because in my experience, this is how the ego disappears.
Watch when you laugh: Where is the ego? Suddenly you have melted; suddenly you are liquid, no longer solid but flowing. You are not old, experienced, or knowledgeable.
