By Lee Kane

The Dalai Lama certainly projects the power of laughter, with his charming chuckle and warm smile at every stop, in every situation. He's always ready with the joke that makes large crowds gasp for breath as they laugh.

Laughter, in Buddhism, is a very powerful daily meditation. I think of the innocent child, always laughing and giggling, smiles coming as naturally as tears, but everything spontaneous and real. Isn't this the goal of meditation? To seek what is the inner truth. What is real. To be in touch mindfully with the real you? 

The master of the laugh can master any situation

The Dalai Lama suffered invasion, death of his fellow monks as he fled Tibet, the ongoing struggle of his people, violence and bloodshed in his homeland. But he is the first person with the laugh and smile. That's enlightened behaviour.

My teachers all laugh and smile

From my root teacher through all the teachers I respect, one thing certainly connects them all. They are always willing to smile and laugh. If only it were so easy for the rest of us.

What happens between childhood and maturity, that we lose the spontaneous, ready, daily, hourly, minute-by-minute willingness to laugh? Stress, life, struggles, more stress, worry, clinging, on and on. But those who endured far more suffering than most of us—from Mahatma Ghandi to Mother Theresa to the Dalai Lama—were always the ones able to laugh and smile in any situation.

Laughter is also energy. It has been called "the best medicine" and perhaps it must also be considered the best meditation.