Chapter published in:
Humour in the Beginning: Religion, humour and laughter in formative stages of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism
Edited by Roald Dijkstra and Paul van der Velde
[Topics in Humor Research 10] 2022
► pp. 222–234

How is this sutra different from my ass?

Humour as a gateway to enlightenment in Zen Buddhism

| KU Leuven

In Zen Buddhism humour is used in a soteriological way. Zen masters confront their disciples with (practical) jokes in order to free their minds and discover enlightenment. In this essay, I investigate the humour of enlightenment by first pointing out the influence of Daoist humoristic stories on Zen. Next, three dimensions of Zen jokes are highlighted, namely relativism, the way of cutting through illusion and liberating intimacy. With the help of humour, Zen masters like Linji and the Japanese teenager Satsujo teach their disciples that they should not cling to their views. This relativism leads to an insight into one’s own illusions. Once these false views are literally ‘laughed away’ one can discover a liberating connection with all things.

Keywords: Zen Buddhism, Daoist relativism, Zen relativism, enlightenment, Satsujo, kōan , Lie Zi, Zhuang Zi, Mazu, Linji, enlightened communication
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Laughing as spiritual therapy
  • 2.The influence of Daoist humour on Zen
  • 3.Zen humour as upāya: Relativism
  • 4.Zen humour as upāya: Cutting through illusion
  • 5.Epilogue: Zen humour is liberating intimacy
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
Published online: 27 October 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/thr.10.16dij
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