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The Last Laugh

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Matt's life has fallen apart. He is suicidal. At a restaurant a waitress tunes-in to his distress and leaves a phone number for him to call. Soon he is at satsang with Joey who senses Matt is ripe for awakening. Guru Joey says to Matt: "...if you truly understand what has been running you, you can be free. That is your birthright, to enter a life beyond desire and your fear, and to discover real blessedness. I give you ten days, starting today. I will show you all you need to see. It is up to you. Come back tomorrow."

The Last Laugh is an over-the-top entertaining and transformative experience. Within this book is a memorable character, the nondually elfin Joey Murphy, perhaps named for the Joke of existence for which he stands, one Irishman under Ramana, indivisible, with liberation and chocolate cake for all. (You see, Joey is enamored with all things chocolate, which seems to anchor him to this world.) There is the other main character Matt, and a collection of interesting and well-defined friends, fiends, family and followers.

The Guru Joey is so successfully supple in society and within the culture of his time that he is delightfully reminiscent of Forrest Gump. In fact, there is no single Guru upon whom Joey is modeled. He is Forrest Gump and Byron Katie. Ramana and author Arjuna Ardagh. The author mentions other teachers who are part of the tapestry making up Joey, yet I'm not familiar with all of them.

In Joey's life he sat with Ramana who spoke profoundly to Joey, and Joey worked in the kitchen of Ramana's Ashram for three months. Ramana essentially instructed Joey to spread the teaching -- "That which you are is That which you love" -- to the Western world.

We learn that Joey cavorted with Marilyn Monroe, President Kennedy, Fritz Perls and an assortment of other famous and not so famous personalities. Joey was even there when two guys were building a computer in their garage. Turns out Joey coined the term "mouse" and conceived of the graphical user interface.

It was during his time with Ramana that Joey gained the wisdom that is core to his success: "I learned that's how you get along with people. You just put yourself aside and meet them in who they are." That most usable wisdom is applied throughout the story and through it Joey meets many people of import in his time and place, and directly impacts world and cultural events, as well as little day to day encounters, each with equal import and attention.

Anyone who has seen author Arjuna Ardagh practice, sees that wisdom in practice. The same is true with another teacher upon whom Joey is strongly based: Byron Katie. The author pays tribute to Byron Katie's transformative influence with the introduction of the character Katie, a secretary to a major property developer (Byron Katie was herself a property developer). Joey marries Katie and Katie eventually convinces President Kennedy not to go to war with Cuban during a time of crisis. These kinds of bold story elements are glaring signals that transformation happens and that ordinary people can align with qualities conducive to it.

The related implicit teaching that these incredulous story elements point to, is that the Guru is present everywhere, influencing everything as Grace. The book could be viewed as a humorous exploration of Grace in which there are explicit teachings which open the individual to Grace and allow anyone to tap into one or another mode of influence within their world.

And that -- transformation -- is what the book is about. The book succeeds on that level. It has to, because the author is already functioning in that mode as a teacher and living being. He couldn't keep the transformation message and power out if he tried. What Ramana told Joey -- "That which you love is That which you are. You will share it wherever you go, you have no choice. But you are an American boy; you are not Indian. It will share itself in an American way." -- is something the author already knows about himself, about Byron Katie, and a number of today's spiritual teachers. They have no choice but to share in a way that is transformative. Readers of The Last Laugh can receive that sharing.

There is a lot happening in this book. In ten days devotee Matt becomes enlightened and the reader learns ten lessons. Big changes happen quickly and broadly and are patched together like a funky shag carpet backed with the integrity of explicit and implicit teachings. The Last Laugh is a fun, splashy, bold, and trippy read.

Jerry Katz

Cleanly written and funny, this is a classic tale of awakening, twenty first century style. Arjuna never falters in his deceptively simple telling of the tale of Matt and his teacher Joey, a tale he tells with the expertise of a skilled surgeon. I loved the book for its straightforward wisdom, laughing and crying along with the adventures and misadventures of Matt on his road to freedom. A good down to earth story that reaches way beyond what most of us think of as everyday reality.
Inspiring. A wonderful book!