Sufis have always known that laughter can crack the ego open in ways that austerity cannot — that the joke is sometimes the fastest route to the truth the mind is defending against. Nasreddin is the supreme Sufi comedian because his humor is not decorative; it is the vehicle for the teaching, not its wrapper. In the Sufi tradition, the one who makes you laugh at yourself has done more for you than the one who made you weep.
Each step builds on the last.