Analysing the book –
The main ideas –
- The true nature of being.
- Reasons to be optimistic
- How to establish spiritual optimism or access the real power of spirit.
- Healthiest response to life is laughter from the heart
- Establishing a roadmap to happiness within.
The Characterization of Mickey Fellows –
The idea behind Mickey Fellows was to lead towards the discovery that the real laughter comes from a deep abyss of abundance and authentic joy coming from the foundational level of the soul.
Deepak Chopra’s Why is God laughing is the first book amongst the various bestsellers I have read by the author. It comes at a time in my life when I would soon be reaching the age of the protagonist, Mickey Fellows, chosen to highlight the point of Spiritual Optimism.
Rushed and panting for ambition, craving to live up to the maximum potential of our existence we often find ourselves drowning in our work, without realizing that in the context of peace and spirituality we were all wrong to begin with.
Chopra has interconnected the concept of Spiritual optimism with intense internal communication, with INTUITION and CREATIVITY.
Through his story of a highly ambitious comedian, disconnected not only with his family but also with himself, he symbolizes the ironies of being human – even the one who has willfully chosen ‘laughing’ as a full-time profession, cannot possess ultimate happiness and peace, unless his laugh is resonant with the laugh of the Divine or has germinated from a deeper seat of joy within.
Claim –
There is a feeling of wonderment when we see from the eyes of a mystic. For us the reality ends at the physical existence of things. When we associate things with meanings more than their physical possession, we expand the life’s capability of experiencing joy and with practice we make this meaning the very foundation of our existence.
Evidence –
Chopra endorses creativity to be the soul sister of intuition. He supports his statement by considering Einstein’s example, when the great scientist confessed that the thing that separated him from the atheists was that unlike him “they cannot hear the music of the spheres.” He would rely on his inner intuitive voice that made him take creative leaps to greatest scientific discoveries, rather than trudging the linear path of established facts.
He supports the belief that both science and spirituality are based on humans’ intuitive powers. Through Einstein’s example and the spiritual discoveries of the hero of his story, Mickey Fellows, he explains elaborately how our stay at the destination of authentic and ultimate joy is intense and long lasting and can be trudged by making these powers more easily accessible.
Theme review –
The lack of this accessibility can lead to inexplicable ironies and confusions to the extent that even a comedian by profession, is unable to laugh at himself and abstract more joy from his life than the others! It was only when he is able to shed various layers of pessimism including his ego and ingratitude, that he discovers true joy that comes from a deeper place within and stays longer.
When we listen in quietude to the world around, we encounter hidden messages and extract their meanings in the context of our reality. And it is in this state of mindfulness that ensues, that we take the clues and connect better with our intuition.
Symbolism –
The laughing of God –
Chopra indirectly points at a secret understanding of an existential truth, through the laughing of God; the very tittle of the book.
We might in the first instance, think of God when we hear of His laughter from Mickey’s dead father, as a megalomaniac selfish presence in the universe overlooking the world gone berserk. But here the God is a representation of coming of age as a human when we are able to laugh at the paradoxes, ironies and mysteries of our being, when we too like God get the secret that we are who we are sans our ego and without any fear. When we realise that we can shed the rind of our self-image and our delusionary apprehensions, we can connect with our true self.
Just like when we internally laugh at the innocent mistakes of a child, we would laugh at our ego. In fact, the laughing of God takes us to the understanding of the root cause of the tumult of issues the world is facing today – lack of connectivity with the self.
(Ego here refers to the self-image camouflaging our true self by our own judgement and analysis. True self is the field of possibility and creativity and the field of power. Chopra refers to it as field because the true self, he considers, is not localized within a human. It is a part of this universe and therefore, infinite.
He preaches that through self-awareness of our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, we can walk beyond the ego.)
The mentor – Francisco
How surreal it would be to have a mystical mentor like Mickey’s in one’s life; someone emerging maybe from an empty space between the stack of books in a library, or in the window behind while one combs her hair looking into the mirror?
Francisco is the exaggerated version of the role he plays, symbolizing the mystery of mentoring we all experience in bits and pieces, contributing to form a bigger meaning in the context of our individual life. He reminds us in milder patterns, the authentic coaching of values we might have received from someone known or anonymous, in the past, the teachings of whom have stayed with us in contingencies.
One day you find it difficult to trace the end of the thread. You can’t remember when you lost touch with them, like an old professor in college, but you might not need their guidance any more. The fact that they were ever present seems delusionary.
Coming back to the major takeaway of the story –
In Chopra’s own words –
“Intuition is a form of intelligence which is not based on logic or rationality. It is purely contextual, relational, holistic, eavesdrops into what’s happening in the universe that is relevant to you. It doesn’t have to do anything with winning or losing.”