Serious Humor for Serious Times
by Swami Beyondananda

A funny thing happened on the way to the Age of Aquarius. Somehow we musta got lost, because it looks like we took a detour through the Age of Nefarious instead. There we were, blithely driving our karma down the carefree global highway and wham -- we ran smack into a vicious dogma.

Some might say we got blindsided, but I say we ignored many of the danger signs along the way. Not only were we poorly prepared to wage war with terrorism, we were more importantly unprepared to wage peace with those whose hearts and hopes have been hijacked by the terrorists.

Albert Einstein once said that a problem cannot be solved at the level it was created, and sadly it looks as if we are about to prove him correct once again. We've been drawn into a pissing match in hell against an enemy that is ultimately one billion strong and has a thousand-year-old grudge against the West and a religion whose name is peace, but whose practice is too often vengeance. Of course, there has to be a bright side to this, right? Or, as the theatergoer said, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you enjoy the play?"

Well, there is a bright side, and the bright side is back here on the "Om front." My friend Dean Sluyter, whose new book is called The Zen Commandments: Ten Suggestions for a Life of Inner Freedom, (J.P. Tarcher, 2001) says: "You know those spiritual practices we've been doing for all these years? This is what we've been practicing for." For while we can only exert a very limited levitational pull on the gravity of worldwide events, we can still choose to be peaceful, loving and yes -- even joyful -- within the scope of our own lives. Dean recommends a daily practice which the Tibetans call tonglen. He calls it "Bless Everyone:" "Sit with eyes closed and allow another person's image to arise in the space before you (or if you find it easier, just feel his or her presence). Let the sense of separation between the two of you melt. Imagine all the person's suffering, confusion and worry surrounding him or her as a cloud of dark, hot, toxic smoke. Then as you inhale, draw the smoke into your heart and purify it, transforming it into pure white light. As you exhale, breathe out happiness and healing in the form of that light, and shower the other person with it." Click here to hear Steve's "innerview" with Dean Sluyter and to find out more about his book. http://www.consciouscarijoki.com

This practice can work with anyone from your cousin Vinnie you dread seeing at holiday time to Osama bin Laden. It even works on yourself. And in our conversation, Dean offered an important distinction: "When we say 'bless everyone' it doesn't mean don't defend yourself or your family, and it doesn't mean to defer to another's hatred or violence." Does that mean we can bomb 'em and bless 'em at the same time? Well, it's sure better than bombing them without blessing them -- because at the very least, it puts compassion in our hearts, and it stretches us (and our elected government, possibly) to take Uncle Albert's coaching and look for a solution beyond the problem.

For his part, Swami Beyondananda has launched a "Blisskrieg" to help use laughter to illuminate the darkness, and promises a "fight to the life": "We will light them on the land, we will light them on the sea .. we will even light them in their caves ..." Swami's controversial plan even involves dropping canisters of laughing gas in the midst of the Taliban not just to render them defenseless, but to cure their case of terminal humorrhoids. (

To hear the full text of Swami's message, and to see his piece on "How To Tell If A Dogma Is Friendly," click here