Fun, Mirth and Happiness

Fun, Mirth and Happiness

The accumulation and intentional management of energy is one of the foundational ideas of the Fourth Way. It is a rewarding, non-judgmental practice to think about concepts and Work ideas as simple, nearly mathematical expressions of what energy do I need and how to refine and use the raw materials of my life for self-remembering. This perspective helps me to think about the idea of wit and forms of sarcasm from a more objective viewpoint.

On the surface, positive or neutral constructs of personality such as wittiness appear benign but with careful self-observation they are revealed as modes of expression by the lower self. These clever behaviors are intended to arouse amusement and gain attention oftentimes at the expense of other people. Consequently, energy is expelled that could be used for self-remembering and those in the path of the jester are left with the undigestible residue. Wit and excessive laughter displace presence.

The price of laughter is the presence of third eye. — The Teacher

I grew up in a conventional religion which enriched my early life in many ways and yet the doctrine of many religions typically explains beliefs through the filter of morality – right and wrong, good and bad. G.I. Gurdjieff referred to positive aspects of religions as civilizing influences and he himself grew up singing in a boy’s choir of a Russian Orthodox Church. The Fourth Way, as Gurdjieff brought it to the west, instead moves understanding beyond the moral duality of right and wrong into a more objective evaluation of what is useful for my conscious evolution and what is an obstacle to my development.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. — Rumi

Rumi goes on to write, “When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about,” and I would add, certainly too full to joke about. In this light, forms of wit do not meet the criteria of being useful to my aim of awakening. As I observe myself in the midst of wit and clever quips of speech, I continue to verify that this energy is coming from the lower self and is lost through the act of expressing wit.

True joy and humor coming from essence and accompanied by self-remembering can be recognized by the feeling of presence, a lightness of being. Wit, teasing or sarcasm on the other hand seem to have a hidden agenda, feel heavy and often demean the object of their jests, ridicule others and leave an unpleasant residue in their wake.

As a young naïve girl in a large family, it was common for my father to tease me, especially at the dinner table. He had a playful sense of humor, but many mealtimes were interrupted by a dash to my bedroom after the embarrassment from my father’s teasing. As an adult, of course, I understand that his attention was intended to be an expression of love and affection. These expressions of “affection” were simply wrong work of my father’s emotional center – deviated forms of affection – expressed through wit and teasing. He also enjoyed and caught many unsuspected victims in his April Fools jokes, which is close at hand for a crash course in observing wit.

Fun I love, but too much fun is of all things the most loathsome. Mirth is better than fun, and happiness is better than mirth. — William Blake

Observing and verifying how expressions of negative emotions are a formidable energy leak seems relatively easy. It is a more difficult verification to consider wit in the same manner – like a twin to negativity, another kind of release valve. Through time, I now understand wit to be camouflaged negativity that irresistibly discharges some of my finest energy. It casts off excess resources, the raw material that rightfully belongs to the process of transformation. Avoiding wit is not a moral choice of right or wrong, but a lost opportunity to live in a higher state of consciousness.

You must leave room for this state; laughter and joking can destroy it. — The Teacher

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Palmyra Man with Two Angels