Though The Third Jesus is not a work of fiction, it too showcases Dr Chopra's gift for engaging readers. He has dedicated his book Why Is God Laughing to Mike Myers who 'showed me that true spirituality means not taking ourselves too seriously, and to lovers of laughter and wisdom everywhere.'
Myers reportedly turned to spirituality after his father's death in 1991 following a long bout with Alzheimer's. In his foreword to Dr Chopra's book, Myers writes he had many heroes in his life. 'My father was the first; Deepak Chopra is the most recent.'
Dr Chopra says Myers began doing stand-up comedy to relieve his tension. "He was imitating my accent," he says, laughing. "I decided to join him and we did quite a few jigs." Dr Chopra's book has a character called Mickey Fellows who tries to overcome his depressions and anxieties by his comic art.
"If at all any one should object to the film, it should be me," Dr Chopra says. "But it is a parody, and we all learn to laugh at ourselves. As viewers will find out when the movie is released this summer, no one is more thoroughly skewered in it than I am -- you could even say I am made to seem preposterous. If I don't take offense and some Hindus do, that doesn't make me superior or more mature or even innately tolerant. I just know the difference between a belly laugh and a diatribe."
He thinks the "flickering controversy over The Love Guru will actually benefit the film" but he also knows "the controversy can turn ugly."
In his blog on Beliefnet.com, he muses, 'On one side we have a Mike Myers comedy that is likely to be raucous and nose-thumbing; on the other, a blogosphere campaign about giving offense to Hindus. With a huge cadre of Hindu fundamentalists lurking in the background in India, Hollywood is walking on eggshells.'
As politically correct murmurings are being made, he says, he is reminded of a line from Woody Allen about the end of the world: On Judgment Day the lions will lie down with the lambs, but the lambs will be very, very nervous. 'In this case we have Hindu lions attacking Hollywood lambs, but why?'
If comedies don't poke fun, he asks, what else can they do? 'Advocates for the mentally disabled didn't rise up over Dumb and Dumber. Hasidic Jews resisted holding protests when Woody Allen hilariously appeared as one in Annie Hall,' he adds.
Dr Chopra makes a cameo appearance in Myers's film which also features the Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) as Guru Tugginmypudha.
Image: A promotional poster for the film The Love Guru.
Photograph courtesy: http://www.lovegurumovie.com
Also read: 'The soul is a confluence of the sacred and the profane'
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