There was a young monk who was a very serious practitioner of the Dharma.

Once, this monk came across something he did not understand, so he went to ask the master. But the master laughed after heard the question. The master then stood up and walked away, still laughing.

The young monk was very disturbed by the master's reaction. For the next 3 days, he could not eat, sleep nor think properly. At the end of 3 days, he went back to the master and told the master how disturbed he had felt.

When the master heard this, he said, "Do you know what your problem is? Your problem is that you are worse than a clown!"

The monk was shocked to hear that, "Venerable Master, how can you say such a thing? How can I be worse than a clown?"

The master explained, "A clown enjoys seeing people laugh. What about you? You feel disturbed because another person laughed. Tell me, aren’t you worse than a clown?"

When the monk heard this, he began to laugh. He was suddenly enlightened.