WHAT IS THE ZEN ATTITUDE TOWARDS DEATH?
LAUGHTER. Yes, laughter is the Zen attitude towards death.
And towards life too, because life and death are not separate. Whatsoever is your attitude towards life will be your attitude towards death, because death comes as the ultimate flowering of life.
Life exists for death. Life exists through death. Without death there will be no life at all. Death is not the end but the culmination, the crescendo. Death is not the enemy, it is the friend. It makes life possible.
So the Zen attitude about death is exactly the same as is the Zen attitude towards life — that of laughter, joy, celebration.
And if you can laugh at death, in death, you are free from all. You are freedom then. If you cannot laugh at death you will not be able to laugh in life either.
Because death is always coming.
Each act in life, each move in life, brings death closer.
Each moment that you live.
You get closer to death.
If you cannot laugh with death, how can you laugh with life and in life?
OSHO