Marcus Aurelius said “Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” Ron Pies has been studying the similarities among Stoicism, Buddhism, and Judaism. This article is written from that perspective. Editor 

---

“Don’t take life seriously, it’s only temporary’ (Rabbi Rami Shapiro) is one of those Zen-like teachings that has helped me greatly over the years, especially in those instances when I have taken life—or myself—too seriously! Of course, on one level, the “temporary” nature of our existence is no laughing matter. But the idea of our non-existence is so utterly incomprehensible to most of us, it may be that gallows humor is the only sane way of coping with our mortality. 

Comedian Allen Klein makes some seriously funny observations about the role of humor in dealing with death. He writes, 

“Death, dying and bereavement is not funny. Still comedians, cartoonists, and cinematographers show us that it is possible to laugh during times of loss and provide, as Bob Mankoff, the cartoon editor of the New Yorker, says “a little anesthesia of the heart.” In seeing demise through humorous eyes, their funny creations not only help us get a different perspective on somber situations but also help us get the upper hand on the inevitable.” 

As one example of how humor can help us deal with death, Klein cites the 1996 Woody Allen film, Everyone Says I Love You, in which “…all the corpses in the funeral home pop out of their coffins dancing and singing “Enjoy Yourself It's Later than You Think.” [a clip of this scene is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_dBBUYln4 ] Perhaps Woody was channeling Prof. Spiegel, cited above. Among the lyrics of the song are the lines, 

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink The years go by, as quickly as a wink Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think… 

This is good advice, cloaked in the garb of the Borscht Belt tummler (comedian/entertainer). Perhaps humor about death and dying is the least frightening way of approaching this often taboo subject. And, after all, is the advice in the song really so different from that of Hillel the Elder, when he asks, “If not now, when?” 

---

Ron Pies MD, psychiatrist, and educator, compares the Stoic thought with Buddhism and Judaism (JuBuSto) and finds parellels.

 

 

---