Book review: I’ll Put Three Chips On God

★★★

“I find it very possible that the bugs I crush might have the Soul Energy of someone I loved in a previous life.”

OK, that wasn’t fair. I can’t just take one line out of context to describe the tone of a book, even if it is a doozy. This really is a cute book about Spirituality, flavored with a self-centeredness that actually works, because of “luminous and bedazzling” Preeti’s self-depreciating humor. Spirituality is tough for a material girl; she longs for a spiritual advisor who is a “cross between Deepak Chopra and Britney Spears.”

So off we go on a theme park tour through Karma, vegetarianism, reincarnation, heaven, and more. In a chapter on astrology, I learned I share the same birthday with Preeti. Uh-oh, Preeti, I hope that doesn’t mean you’ll be following in the shadow of my life story. Ugh!

Atheists, agnostics, evolutionists, scientists, and other People Who Do Not Agree often raise their boring heads in the matter, but we shall temporarily silence them. Preeti’s mantra of “how do we know it isn’t true” saves the day. And the book is strongly endorsed by Preeti’s mom. So listen up, because Preeti is a little more serious than she pretends to be, even as she admits her amateur status on the matter.

This is an everyday woman’s musings, aiming at nothing less than the Ultimate Truth. The conclusion she reaches is shared by many religions and philosophies … beneath it all, the “truth” turns out to be the absence of I. The absence of the ego. Maybe all paths do lead to God.

So this turned out to be very different from the usual Dubious Disciple book. Not a good mix for me living in my boring, “People Who Do Not Agree” rut, and I don’t know how to rate it. I’ll settle for a sort of non-rating. But thanks, Preeti, for sharing your journey in an entertaining manner!