The Buddha and the act of smiling

Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa. Even though it may at first hand appear to be a shallow subject and inquiry, I happen to find it of relevance to the practice and wondered about it. How prevalent was the Buddha's smiling ? As I was starting to read Thanissaro Bhikkhu's "The Buddha Smiles ", it is stated : > The Pali Canon has a reputation for being humorless. And it’s easy to > see why. In some of its passages, the Buddha seems to regard humor in > a bad light. For instance, in the Wailing Discourse (AN 3:107) he > refers to “laughing excessively, showing one’s teeth,” as a form of > childishness, and counsels that a monk, when feeling joy in the > Dhamma, should simply smile. His instructions to Rāhula in MN 61 note > that one shouldn’t tell a deliberate lie, “even in jest.” A passage in > the Vinaya (Sk 51) tells of a monk, formerly an actor, who made a joke > about the Saṅgha. The Buddha, in response, made it an offense for a > monk to tell a joke not only about the Saṅgha, but also about the > Buddha or Dhamma. > > There is also the famous verse in the Dhp 146 that seems aimed at > squelching all forms of merriment: > > "What laughter, why joy, when constantly aflame? Enveloped in darkness, > don’t you look for a lamp?" > > **And then there’s the fact that the Buddha himself rarely smiles in the > Canon, and when he does, the reasons for his smile are never > hilarious.** (the emphasize in the quoted passages is a making of mine) Yet, I started to also read Walpola Rahula's "What the Buddha taught" in which I can read the following : > The Buddha was never melancholy or gloomy. He was described by his > contemporaries as **‘ever-smiling’ (mihitapubbamgama)**. In Buddhist > painting and sculpture the Buddha is always represented with a > countenance happy, serene, contented and compassionate. There seems to be a divergence in the two quoted passages as to whether he was "ever-smiling" or only in rare occasions. In Bhante Vimalaramsi's teaching the act of smiling within one's practice is quite present yet I cannot recall from what I read in the suttas the mentioning of smiling. I'd appreciate learning more about it. (If such a question is indeed irrelevant please kindly let me know and I'll delete the question). With metta.