How can I smile when existence itself is dukkha? I see many monks smiling ,which is a good thing, but logically speaking how can they smile when they know life is dukkha. Can you smile when you are watching somebody getting tortured ?

My question is : How can I smile when I know existence itself is dukkha ?
I see many monks smiling, which is a good thing, but logically speaking how can they smile when they know life is dukkha. Can you smile when you are watching somebody getting tortured ?

Think about this, when you see a toddler crying for a chocolate, do you smile or laugh or you get gloomy and sad about the fact that the child is not getting what it wants? 

Monks are not smiling because there is 'dukkha', there are smiling even when there is 'dukkha'. 

Hotei not just used to smile, he used to laugh.

How can I smile when I know existence itself is dukkha ?

Existence is dukkha is not a decree, it's a diagnosis, and you can smile that it's already been diagnosed, and there is a cure and many people have already gotten cured.