The Role of Humor in Buddhism

In April, my wife and I traveled to Las Vegas for both work and play. I conducted a funeral service for a Las Vegas Sangha member and also conducted the Las Vegas Buddhist Sangha’s Hanamatsuri service.  

When we go to Las Vegas, we often try to see a show or concert. There are so many wonderful shows to see in Las Vegas. This time, we went to see comedian Nate Bargatze, whom my wife often watches on his YouTube channel and on his new game show, “The Greatest Average American.”  

The show was hilarious. Although I too have seen his performances on YouTube, seeing him in person was just different. He was so funny. What amazes me is how he can relate common, everyday experiences in his life, and make them so funny. All of his stories are about his everyday experiences like going to his daughter’s softball game or going to the store, or ordering at McDonald’s. We laugh at his stories because we can relate to his experiences.  

I used to love watching the show “Seinfeld,” starring Jerry Seinfeld, as his show and humor were also about common, everyday life experiences that we can all relate to, like waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, picking up a rental car at the airport, or just sitting in a coffee shop and talking to friends.  

I have always enjoyed the sermons and messages given by ministers who could share the Dharma in often funny and humorous ways. Rev. Tetsuo Unno was the master of that art. I have heard some criticize such approaches to giving messages as just “entertainment,” but I would argue that point and say that humor in a message not only makes the message more enjoyable, but it often illustrates the very point of the Dharma message.  

Seeing and laughing at our own foolishness is often the best way to begin to look at ourselves. Rev. Tets did this in a most penetrating and revealing way in his lectures and Dharma messages.  

Once I was in front of the Hondo after a Sunday service at the Orange County Buddhist Church and I was talking to members. One member put his arm around my shoulder and said, “Sensei, I need to talk to you privately.” 

He walked me to the side of the Hondo, out of sight of others. I thought he was going to ask me to counsel him on some personal issue, but to my great surprise, he said, “Sensei, your zipper is down.”  

I looked down at my slacks and my zipper was wide open. This member was so kind to not just point it out to me in front of everyone, but he pulled me off to the side where no one could see and pointed it out to me.  

I often share this funny story to illustrate how hard it is to see ourselves.  The zipper on my pants is so close to me, but I cannot even see that my zipper is open. I also do not see my own greed, anger or ignorance when it arises. That to me is why we need the teachings to show us ourselves, the most difficult thing to see in this world.  

If we can do this in a humorous and fun manner, then I think that is wonderful. Seeing ourselves doesn’t have to be painful and excruciating.  We can laugh at ourselves as we come to see ourselves. In that sense, humor can play a most important role in our study, discussion and our understanding of the Dharma.  

I try to incorporate humor into my messages because, to me, it makes learning and receiving the teachings easier and more palatable. The worst thing that I can do in giving a message is to put everyone to sleep.  

In order to hold people’s attention, I think that we have to use humor in some manner or to some degree in our Dharma messages. I think that humor has a very important role in how we relate to the teachings and how we share it with others.