Yoga The Alpha and the Omega, Vol 8 Discourses on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Chapter #4, Your balloon is missing Question 3

Question 3

YOU HAVE OFTEN SAID THAT THE ENLIGHTENED ONES NEVER DREAM. BUT YOU HAVE TOLD US THAT ONCE CHUANG TZU DREAMT THAT HE HAS BECOME A BUTTERFLY. PLEASE COMMENT.

This is from Swami Yoga Chinmaya. It seems he cannot even understand humor. And I know why he cannot understand it: he has been in wrong company too much of Indian yogis and sadhus -- and he has forgotten the very quality of humor. And humor is a basic quality of being holy; a holy man is a humorous man. But he is much too fixed.

When I said Chuang Tzu dreamt, Chuang Tzu himself had related that dream. Not that he dreamt. He is creating a beautiful joke about himself -- he is laughing about himself. It is very easy to laugh about others; difficult to laugh at oneself. But the day you become capable of laughing at yourself, you be. come egoless. Because the ego enjoys to laugh at others' cost. When you start laughing at yourself, the ego cannot exist.

Yes, no enlightened person ever dreams, but enlightened persons have humor. They can laugh, and they can help others to laugh.

It happened, three men were travelling; they were in search of truth. One was a Jew, another a Christian, and the third was a Muslim. They all were great friends.

One day they found a coin with which they bought a piece of halvah. The Muslim and the Christian had just eaten, so they were a little worried because the Jew will eat the whole halvah; and they were so full, they had stuffed themselves so much. So they suggested -- they conspired against the Jew -- they suggested, "Let us go to bed now. In the morning we will tell our dreams. Whoever has had the best dream eats the halvah." And because two were in favor of it, the Jew had to agree -- just to be democratic. There was nothing else to do.

The Jew, who was very hungry, could not sleep much. And it is very difficult to sleep when the halvah is there and you are hungry and these two people have conspired against you.

In the middle of the night he got up and ate the halvah and went back to bed.

In the morning the Christian was the first to relate his dream. He said, "Christ came, and when he was ascending to the heavens, he took me with him. It was the rarest dream I have ever seen."

The Muslim said, "I dreamt of Mohammed, who took me on a tour of paradise... and beautiful women dancing, and streams of wine flowing, and trees of gold and flowers of diamonds. It was tremendously beautiful."

Now it was the Jew's turn. He said, "Moses came to me and said, "You old idiot, what are you waiting for? Christ took one of your friends to heaven, Mohammed is entertaining the other in paradise -- at least get up and eat the halvah!' "

Humor is part of holiness; and wherever you find a holy man serious, escape from there, because he can be dangerous. He must be ill inside. Seriousness is a sort of disease, one of the most fatal diseases -- and it is Very chronic in religion.

Just try to understand. Don't become too clever, because that simply proves to be foolishness and nothing else. Always allow a little foolishness also in you, then you will be wiser. A fool is against wisdom, but a wise man absorbs foolishness also. He is not against it; he uses that too.

Chuang Tzu is one of the most absurd men who has ever been here on the earth. That's why I have named this auditorium "Chuang Tzu Auditorium." I love the man; he is so absurd. How can you avoid not loving this man?

Buddha will not say, "I dreamt." He was a little serious. Patanjali will not say -- -because he will be afraid of Chinmaya.

Some swami is hound to raise the question: "You and dreamt? Enlightened people never dream. What are you saying?" Chuang Tzu is not afraid of anybody; he says, "I dreamt." He is a very loving man. He is holy. He can laugh and help others to laugh; his holiness is full of laughter.

Chapter-4

THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI

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