What do fart jokes have to do with spirituality? A short reflection.

I’ve been asked more than once, how can I write about spirituality, enlightenment and truth yet also write humorous, tawdry, rude and potential offensive stories as well and that’s a great question.

Having gone through the dark journey of selfhood, searching for meaning and dealing with the big questions I’ve arrived at an understanding of the fundamental nature of our existence. There are no answers, it just is. There is no overriding goal or purpose other than to play a part in the great game of life. Our apparent lives are just blips of experience in the vast array of everything. A chance for the universe to experience itself through temporary manifestations, meaning us.

I have discovered two fundamental insights which I choose to live by. Firstly, the game ought to be fun. Why get tied up in self torture working through unlikely possibilities or fretting over past events you have no control over. Sure, you can choose a game of misery and sadness, that’s your choice. And yes, it’s a choice, conscious or unconscious, a choice. I choose fun, contentment, gratitude and joy.

Secondly, where possible, we need to help others lighten up. As I look around this dream we call life I see too many people hung up on situations that don’t matter and that they have no control over, obsessed, sad and self deprecating. We need to help people see there is another way. Spiritual awakening, enlightenment, truth realization, whatever you choose to call it is simply a realization, complete understanding and internalization of the understanding that we are here to play, to be, to experience the dream. Why would you choose a tortuous, sad dream when you can choose a playful one. Why would you choose to be hung up on situations you have no control over. Forget the past, it’s gone, don’t fret over the future, that’s wasted emotional energy. All you have is now, this moment. How will you choose to spend this moment?

Making fun of the absurdity we all face is the only healthy response in my opinion, lighten up, don’t take it so seriously. People are strange and fun, farts are funny, blunders happen, a little embarrassment now and then keeps us humble. Laughing babies, stupid pet tricks, practical jokes and unlikely situations are peak entertainment. Humor is not only the best coping mechanism, but it also relives stress and lightens it all up.  

I choose play. I choose amusement, I choose to appreciate the wonder all around me, the amazing unlikelihood of this existence. But hey, that’s just me. What do you choose?