The Last Laugh

by Arjuna Ardagh

  “‘You are living through the end of the dinosaur mind. It lives in borrowed beliefs, in an endless variety of fundamentalism. All mental, not much fun. In the next years I’d say you’ll see these fundamentalist dinosaurs at war with each other. The reptile mind lives in black and white, fear and greed, they all think that anyone who disagrees with their particular brand of righteousness is evil and needs to be destroyed. The dinosaur mind is not so much wrong, it’s just stupid.

  “‘Dinosaurs lumber ahead, unaware of the destruction they create in their path. All that’s left of the real dinosaurs is fossils, oil. And today’s dinosaur mind is obsessed with oil.

  “‘You are part of a new mankind. You, and many people like you, people who have learned to live outside of belief, outside of fear and greed, to live in the present moment. The new humanity has the capacity to be conscious of the consequences of its actions. You are the new man, the new woman.

  “‘You can’t save this earth and its living beings from fundamentalism by being right or angry. That just adds to the chaos. The antidote to fundamentalism is being aware, present, living life with humor. When you see the dinosaurs ready to drop their bombs on each other, by all means march, protest, stand up to stupidity, but make sure you wear a clown nose and a flower that squirts water.

  “‘When I was alive I never asked anything of you. We have had no organization, no membership. Most of you didn’t even know each other. Or how many you are. But now you all have a part to play, a destiny. So I have something to ask of all of you. I want you to … ’”

  Alan pauses. He peers more closely at the paper.

  “‘I want you to … ’” He turns the paper toward the setting sun. “‘I want you to …

  “I’m so sorry, I can’t read this word.” Alan looks embarrassed. “But it goes on. ‘Do it with totality, and keep going until the day you die. I kiss your sweet hearts. Joey.’”

  Alan looks up at the crowd, apologetically. I look around. Uneasy confusion. A few people are murmuring among themselves.

  “’E wants us to what?” shouts out the rock musician, standing quite close to me, now holding a beer bottle. “’Ere, let’s have a look.” He strides up toward the low stage, hoists himself up, and takes the paper from Al. “Where is it then, Al? Oh yeah, ’ere it is.” He looks up at the audience with relaxed authority. He scans quickly, “‘But now you ’av a part to play, a destiny.’” He slows down for “‘So I ’av sumfin to ask of all of you. I want you to … ’ What’s this, Al? Looks like it’s been smeared in something. Woz ’appened to it?”

  “It was like that,” said Al. “I opened the envelope just now. Look.” He holds up the torn envelope, which indeed looks quite clean.

  Cheryl has made it up onto the stage by now. She plucks the paper out of the rocker’s hand with disdain. “I know his writing quite well. Thank you very much. Now where is it? Here. ‘I want you to … ’” she also trails away.

  “Chocolate. It’s had chocolate spilled on it. Or chocolate milk. Why didn’t he give it to me to type? I was always telling him. Dear me, now we’ll never know what it is we all have to do. Here, Katie, you try.”

  Katie shrugs, advances to the stage, and takes the paper.

  The sound of a child’s laughter. It is Violet, standing there between Paul and Sam. She is looking down at her shirt, where three or four ladybugs have landed. “Look, Mama,” she calls out. “It means good luck.” Now Sam is laughing too, then Paul, even Cheryl. Labybugs everywhere, on noses, on shirts and elbows.

  It becomes infectious, ladybugs and laughter, spreading through the whole crowd.

  Katie’s voice carries over the laughter on the PA system. “Well, dear friends, it is quite simple. It looks like Joey spilled some chocolate milk on his last message to you.” Katie’s tone makes it clear that she sees this as quite normal, predictable even. Nothing to get upset about. This only seems to amplify everyone’s amusement. “So I suggest you simply fill in the blank. Joey has something to ask of all of you. He wants you to … ” She pauses dramatically. “So you decide for yourself. Anyway, whatever it is, he wants you to do it with totality, and keep going until the day you die.” She folds the paper in a businesslike way, winks at Al, and jumps down from the stage. The laughter intensifies.

  The rock musician has found himself a guitar by now, and has been joined by a drummer, a bassist, an electric violin. As Katie finishes her last words, the music starts. Earthy, zesty music. Sounds Celtic.

  I look around, a sea of laughter, ladybugs, and movement. There is Paul dancing with Sam, with their daughter between them; he is still holding the video camera. There is Diana, the Voice of God, dancing with an elderly Tibetan monk. Carlos is surrounded by children, all wanting to be picked up by their papa. The lawyers from Philly, the chief of police with his wife. Jesse with a very adoring girl. The music goes on and on.

  We’re dancing still; we’re laughing still.

  Put that book down now, my beautiful friend. You must be nearly done with it.

  Come join the dance.

  THANK YOUS

  So many people have influenced me with their kindness and wisdom, in so many ways that have contributed to this book, that it would be impossible to mention them all here. But here are a few highlights.

  I have been blessed with great teachers. Really, out of the box, extraordinary, wonderful teachers. OMG.

  Twenty-one years ago I met a man in northern India who changed my life forever. His name is H.W.L. Poonja. He was the one who pointed my attention back to the ocean in which the waves are dancing, to the space in which form is arising and dissolving. He is the One for me. His teacher was Ramana Maharshi, the renowned sage who lived in South India in the first part of the 20th century. I bow in gratitude to both of them. I have also been greatly blessed by my Tibetan teacher Urgyen Tulku Rimpoche, and his son Chokyi Nyima Rimpoche.

  The insights in this book are also influenced by my friends and teachers Byron Katie, Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, Brad Blanton, Ken Wilber, Osho, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and so many more.

  The original manuscript was lovingly midwifed by my lifelong friend and the world’s greatest editor, bar none, Tinker Lindsay.

  Since I much prefer to talk than type (even today, after a lifetime as a writer, I still type with two fingers!) I am grateful to Connie Kishbaugh, Pamela Bryant, and Kate Bishop for transcribing the fruits of long hikes with a voice recorder.

  The folks at Hay House have been a dream team. If you are reading the acknowledgments section ‘coz you are thinking about working with Hay House, the answer is “Just Do It.” Thanks Laura Gray, not only for great copyediting, but also for many inspiring phone calls. Thanks to Erin Dupree for talking to the press about this wacky tale, as well as having such an elegant name. Thank you Sally Mason for proofreading and unbridled enthusiasm, and to Celeste Phillips for final proofing of unimagined accuracy: next time I get a new Where’s Waldo? book, I’m calling you in. Thanks to Heather Tate and Darcy Duval for honest marketing (a revolutionary concept!). Huge thanks to Amy Rose Grigoriou for a great cover design, and to Christy Salinas for creative direction. Thanks to Stacey Smith, Shannon Baum, Quressa Robinson, and Johanne Mahaffey for general having-your-sh*t-togetherness. I aspire to your level of functionality. Thanks to Patty Gift and Reid Tracy for welcoming me into the Hay House family, and of course to Louise Hay for being the incomparable Louise Hay!

  Above all, I want to thank my family. The original draft of the manuscript was written when my sons, Abhi and Shuba were still little boys, and they were patient and kind while Daddy shut himself away in the garden shed to write. Again. And again. Most of all, thanks to my beloved wife, Chameli, for always calling forth the best in me, and laughing again and again at the same old jokes!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Arjuna Ardagh is an Awakening Coach, and he trains others to be facilitators of Awakening, a process he developed which focuses on how to integrate spiritual awakening with discovering and giving yo
ur unique gift to the world.

  Ardagh was educated in England, at Kings School, Canterbury, and later at Cambridge University, where he earned a master’s degree in literature. He is the author of seven books, including the number one national bestseller The Translucent Revolution, which was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine. He speaks at conferences all over the world, and has appeared on TV, on the radio, and in print media in 12 countries. Ardagh is also a member of the Transformational Leadership Council.

  Website: arjunaardagh.com

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