A monk’s lesson in LOL.

What a ‘professional laugher’ can teach you about happiness.

The Dalai Lama claims that he is a “professional laugher.” When he wrote those words, it wasn’t a throwaway comment. Watch any talk with His Holiness, and you’ll see he lives by this sentiment. His laugh is famously infectious and famously frequent.

Recently, Mission: Joy came out on Netflix. The documentary follows conversations The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu had about joy.

The pair, who were good friends up until the Archbishop’s death in 2021, appeared to spend much of their time together not speaking seriously about global conflicts, climate change, and compassion (though they did that too). Instead, they seemed to spend most of their time laughing.

They giggle like school boys, grabbing each other’s hands, laughing at the differences in their religions, and joking about baldness among other things.

If there’s one thing to take from these conversations: it’s if you want to be happy — even in the midst of suffering, conflict, and uncertainty — don’t take things too seriously. Laugh often. And find joy in the little things.

Alan Watts said, ‘Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.’ He may have been right.