Do devotees have to give up humor?

So, I mentioned a comedian committed suicide. Does that mean that we should not smile or laugh? No, no, not at all. What it means is that we should not think that smiling and laughing alone is happiness.

The whole point of bhakti is not rejection, but connection. It's not that we reject, there is music, there is dance, there is humor, there are various kinds of cultural, social, intellectual skills and abilities. They are not to be rejected.

They are to be connected. So, in the Bhagavatam it is said, what is illusion? So, in the Chatur Shloki Bhagavatam, there it is said that when we consider something which has no connection with Krishna as meaningful, that is maya. So, applied to our context, what this verse means is that when we think that something in and of itself is a source of happiness, then that is an illusion.

So, money is not an illusion. Thinking that money will make me happy, that will be illusion. But when we use money for the service of Krishna, then that money becomes a very valuable resource for serving Krishna.

Similarly, humor is a very valuable resource for serving Krishna. Now, Srila Prabhupada, he was so, so brilliant. He was often humorous and he was quite creative in his presentation of bhakti.

So, humor attains its perfection when it is used in Krishna's service. So, as devotees, should we be smiling? Yes, definitely. We should be smiling, but we should not think that everyone who is smiling is happy.

How a person is living is more important than whether the person is smiling or not. One of my books I wrote, it was titled as Smiling Faces or Crying Hearts. People do that.

I wrote a poem there. And these people, you know, in CBC movies, people are having parties and they are enjoying. So, they are having maybe some drinks and they sing cheers.

So, their hearts are filled with fears. Their hearts are filled with fears. Their minds are pierced by desires.

They are on the verge of tears and they say cheers. Hare Krishna.