Smile
_AM: Smile.
_I: I thought about it today while laughing. And one of the things we were commenting on was that for many people in the spiritual world, laughing seems to mean a contrast to the seriousness with which transcendental and spiritual concepts should be taken.
_AM: Solemnity.
_I: Exactly, that is the word with which this type of path is often defined. There are so many preconceptions about what spirituality is, that many consider that living like a human and acting like an ordinary human is not being spiritual, and is showing that you are off your axis, far from your center. Why is the spiritual considered something that must be solemn?
_AM: Because “sollemnis” is a Latin concept that comes from the words “sollus” (complete) and “annus” (year), and refers to religious ceremonies or liturgies, whatever they may be, that were celebrated once a year. and were maintained as a global concept. A solemn ceremony had to be something maintained for a full year, related to routine, constancy and dogma. People from religious traditions consider spirituality as a form of enlightenment, a path that must follow certain routine guidelines, with specific rules, which translates into Solemnity.
_I: Ah, I understand… It is a cultural question, of tradition of thought. And what about spirituality?
_AM: Spirituality is not religious, it is free. It is breathing, it is individual, it is its own and expansive, it embraces all existence as it does not judge the oxygen that enters with each inspiration, it breathes everything, nourishing itself with each vision, transforming it into itself. Because of this, there is only one thing that shows spiritual dogma.
_I: What?
_AM: The Smile. When you dare to smile at the world, with the greatest sincerity, you are radiating your spirituality.
_I: What's the difference with laughter?
_AM: Laughter (Risa in spanish), in Romance languages, has its origin in the word “risus”, participle of “ridere”, which means “laughed”, describing something that is expressed with intensity, and in ancient times a distinction was made between two concepts: shine (brillar in spanish) (from the Greek “guelao”) or “katáguelao” (to shine downwards). The first refers to the idea of feeling laughter inside, in a healthy way, while for the second case it talks about laughing at others. In Saxon languages, “laugh” comes from “klek” which means “to shout.” Laughter is a cry that drives, which makes it connect with the most famous and negative concepts of it: “rirrisorio”, coming from “irrideo” (laughing at someone in a mocking manner), and “ridiculous” ( something silly, object of ridicule). This has historically led to laughter being interpreted as a weapon to harm others, to attack. Not so the smile (Sonrisa in spanish), which arises from the etymology “sub” and “ridere”, that is, laughing underneath, or in other words, not shouting, but something expressed softly and calmly, in silence. But the history of laughter is not human.
_I: Oh, right?
_AM: It comes from all primates, and is more related to the origin “klek” = shout. Laughter was a cry of battle and defense.
_I: Oh my god… Really? Did we laugh to fight?
_AM: That's right. Laughter is a spasm of the respiratory system driven by the brain area that manages emotions, the amygdala (in charge of managing neuronal records of emotional reactions) and the hippocampus (brain sector related to memory and spatial location). The oldest reaction was to generate noises that would scare away enemies and potential dangers. In the packs, this cry of announcement and defense in the face of danger activated the others, who imitated this cry to generate more noise and thus scare away predators.
_I: It reminds me of the monkeys that scream in the trees and they all start screaming constantly. Is this why we say that laughter is contagious?
_AM: That's right. The information remains in our brain that laughing is something that makes us survive, that allows us to announce what we want, need, thus, the group responds immediately, because in cellular memory, the brain indicates that it must be imitated to be successful in the group, in the group of individuals, against predators. But over time, this spasm generated as a purely defensive function became something very different. The spasms produced by the body involuntarily by the respiratory system produced a chemical reaction in the brain that awakened not only adrenaline, but also endorphin. This is an excellent mixture to produce pleasure and excitement. Thus, after the shared laughter to scare away the enemy, everyone was left in a state of excitement, an orgasmic sensation. Primates began to use this mechanism for pleasure, and looked for ways to provoke laughter, usually with certain sensations of danger.
_I: Like what?
AM: Scare, or tickle. The basis of laughter, observing how the other reacts. The game, the mockery, the chase, the altered provocation of the nervous system in the face of what seems like an attack, produced a sensation of uncontrollable pleasure, which activated the need to scream to defend oneself, laughter.
_I: Now I understand why some people laugh when they are afraid, or watch a horror movie, or have to give a speech in front of others, sometimes laughter arises in moments of shame, pressure, exhaustion, stress, fear, as an involuntary reaction. It is because the body seeks to defend itself...
_AM: Laughter, among hominids, went from being a form of defense and warning of possible dangers to individuals who were dispersed among the branches of trees, and became a tool of social interaction that strengthened the bond between individuals, even beginning to be part of the conquest for reproduction. The males made a fool of themselves to make the females laugh, and thus ensure reproduction.
_I: This is how the sense of humor is born as a key in romanticism: making others laugh.
_AM: But as long as laughter produced pleasure, it stopped being just a matter of reproduction, and became a form of exchange and communication between individuals. This caused a homosexual culture to emerge in primates. Although not only in these, but in many other species of mammals as well, such as elephants, horses, cattle, dogs...
_I: Laughter became synonymous with love.
_AM: But the human began to condition laughter, because he considered it a lack of respect. Showing one's teeth is an act of war, of fighting, since the times of primates, because when laughing they showed their front teeth, fangs and incisors, which denoted aggressiveness. “Be careful, I can bite.” Thus, in wars, in anger, rage, showing one's teeth while frowning was a sign of attack. For some traditions, doing this was only synonymous with fighting, and therefore, showing one's teeth was disrespectful. This is why they preferred to keep their mouths shut.
_I: And that's how the smile is born...
_AM: Well… Not exactly, but it's related. The forced smile is the repression of a repressed rage, or a silenced emotion. Synonymous with shame to show what I am completely. In Europe, laughter began to be frowned upon when Christianity became the official religion, since it was considered that life on Earth was a sacrifice, and it was necessary to suffer it to prove that one deserved the Kingdom of Heaven after death. . If the Savior suffered for everyone, laughing was disrespectful to his suffering. Laughing in public, showing your teeth when laughing, was a lack of respect and education, which spread in the cultures of the European continent, and which was brought to the world by colonization.
_I: Why would showing your teeth mean revealing what you really are?
_AM: Because the teeth are the physical reflection of the memory of the soul, and to show them is to undress, as in a deep look. A human has 32 teeth and molars in total, and each one is an extension of his being. They are a bone construction covered in enamel crystal, one of the hardest in nature, and their location and position keep a record of the entire internal history of an individual. In the upper part lie 16 teeth and molars, mirrored in the lower part of the mouth. When looking at a person from the front, the upper right part of the mouth will tell you about the role of the father in your life, your relationship with him, obedience, abandonment, betrayal, clan, exclusion and objective . The top left will begin with the mother's role in your life, your relationship with her, submission, heartbreak, deception, Earth, alliance, and regrets. At the bottom right, you will find combat, protection, cooperation, brotherhood, frustration, society, the gestating seed and modesty. At the bottom left, you will find sweetness, welcome, service, partner, rejection, home, fruit and penance.
_I: So the problems with my teeth tell me about the problems in my life.
_AM: They are a reflection. They are in turn a shield. Laughter is a cry that says: “This is my territory, my family, this is mine, don't come close,” showing your teeth saying who you are and what belongs to you, territoriality. The smile is what whispers “this is me, and I open myself to showing you what I am.”
_I: But if I don't show my teeth? Is it perhaps a false smile?
_AM: There will be two types of smile in this case. The false smile is the one that seeks not to be expelled from the group, to stay in the clan, the pack, not to be rejected. And the other, the natural one, is an orgasmic spasm of pleasurable relationship, which shows the comfort and fulfillment of the being. The smile is the voice of the soul, it is the way the spirit speaks.
_I: I really like that… Seeing it like this… “The voice of the spirit and the soul.”
_AM: In silence, a smile produces recognition. The muscular reaction of the nerves in the face contract when there is a nervous pulse inside that describes an orgasmic need to express understanding, to affirm what resonates, what makes you feel safe. It is the brain unifying the consciousness of the spirit and the sensations of the soul, manifesting on the face in the security of the smile. When you smile by nature, you show the satisfaction of the fullness that the soul and spirit feel in unity with your body. And when you force a smile, you send the opposite message. When you force a smile, the brain interprets a signal of inevitable well-being, so it secretes the hormones of pleasure and happiness, changing the perception of whatever reality you are experiencing.
_I: So smiling even if I'm not happy can generate a chemical reaction that makes me feel happy?
_AM: The spirit created the energy in its song, and the energy molded the soul in its essence, which gave rise to the patterns that formed the body. When the spirit and the soul unite, they manifest themselves in the smile, but if they do not find unity and are in conflict, all that remains is to ask the body to unite them, and therefore, a smile from the body aligns the soul with the spirit, giving clarity to every process…
_I: The way to find the coherence of my being is by smiling…
_AM: The smile is your greatest truth manifested.
_I: So simple… So… Easy…
_AM: So, if you are a free spirit in search of consciousness, you know what to do...
_I: Smile. :)