Laughter, for Physical and Spiritual Health

Laughter is good for your health

• Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
• Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
• Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
• Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Following is the excerpt from one of the audio discourse of Osho.

"This is worth considering. It is significant. The first thing to understand is that except for man, no animal is capable of laughter. So laughter shows a very high peak in the evolution of life. If you go out on the street and see a buffalo laughing, you will be scared to death. And if you report it, then nobody will believe that it can happen. It is impossible. Why don't animals laugh? Why can't trees laugh? There is a very deep cause for laughter. Only that animal can laugh which can get bored. Animals and trees are not bored. 

Boredom and laughter are the polar dualities, these are the polar opposites. They go together. And man is the only animal that is bored. Boredom is the symbol of humanity. Look at dogs and cats; they are never bored. Man seems to be deep in boredom. Why aren't other animals bored? Why does man alone suffer boredom? "The higher the intelligence, the greater is boredom. The lower intelligence is not bored so much. That's why primitives are happier. You will find people in the primitive societies are happier than those in civilized ones. Bertrand Russel became jealous when for the first time, he came into contact with some primitive tribes. He started feeling jealous. The aboriginals were so happy, they were not bored at all. Life was a blessing to them. They were poor starved, almost naked. In every way, they had nothing. But they were not bored with life. In Bombay, in New York, in London, everybody is bored. The higher the level of intelligence and civilization, the greater the boredom.

Chasing Success!

Well, it seems everybody is busy in finding success in life. We have been taught from our childhood that we need to be successful, that's why the word 'SUCCESS' has been mechanically imprinted on everyone's sub-conscious mind that we do not require much intelligence and awareness to say that 'we need to be successful'. 

That's why most of our parent's and elders tell us to study and get a college degree. So, today I'm going to talk about 'university education' and 'success'. Today, most of the people think that the word 'success' is dependent on 'education/degree'. It looks as if everyone dreams of success but we keep chasing success without knowing the true meaning of success. Anyways the quest for success is still on.

Why is Teacher required?

Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. So, do we really require a teacher? 

The answer might seem paradoxical so let's see the idea.

Learning is the acquisition of knowledge or skill, which may differ from person to person. People can learn by themselves and from others. Learning can be effective only if a learner can acquire knowledge or skill faster and in a proper way. So, I believe it is a far better idea to have a teacher.

Learning by a teacher is faster and goal oriented. Learning on our own may take longer time and may not head towards the particular direction. If we have whole life to read then we can learn by ourselves but we have limited time to study and also we've to pass the exams so we require teachers. People cannot learn many things if s/he tries him/herself. On the other hand if s/he learns from a teacher; more knowledge can be acquired in a short time. I personally feel that only a brilliant student can study him/herself without guidance of a teacher. Most people require the guidance of a teacher to direct his studies in the desired direction.

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Beyond the invisible (infinity)

"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment."