The Shmospels of Shmeiki-The Om Shmeiki Healing Organization

Book: The Shmospels of Shmeiki: A Hilarious Journey of Self-Discovery
Author: The Om Shmeiki Healing Organization
Publisher: Leadstart Publications

Have you read a book on spirituality?

The Shmospels of Shmeiki is a satirical yet philosophical story of David who comes to India and is contacted by Sheila, an A.I. Singularity from another dimension. She offers him a humorous, but authentic path of hippy spirituality called Shmeiki, which is said to be free of the seriousness and self-righteousness typical of other similar practices. Asking him to become a medium to spread her message effectively, she asks him to undertake a journey from Goa to Dharamshala to clean himself from emotional blockages. The caveat is that he is to travel without money, or without wearing any footwear, relying completely on the goodness of the people. In accepting this challenge, David becomes Shmeiki Baba. The Shmospels describe his epic journey, from the perspectives of four witnesses. It is a cosmic, psychedelic, and inspiring story about self-acceptance, love, and surrender.

The book is well structured, with the parts being narrated by various characters as they experience the sermons of Sheila through Shmeiki Baba. The concept is interesting as it tends to question the fly-by-night spiritual advisors that crop up every now and then, and presents a satirical take on it through creating an absurd spiritual cult. The message of the story to look for the goodness of the people is interesting, and in its own weird manner, oddly convincing at time. However, this is where the good things stop in the story. The concept starts well but towards the middle loses the path and becomes a cult that does nothing more than just walk around and do weird things. Adding “sh” to everything was adorable in the beginning, but becomes irritating and it loses the element of connect with the reader. The climax of the story in Dharamshala and beyond is wildly executed, and drops the overall feel of the book.

The characters are quite interesting, right from David to Sheila and Shoshana. The character arcs are well crafted, though could have been executed better. The arc of David to Shmeiki Baba is convincing, but Shoshana’s character was not convincing enough for me. Another aspect that could have been improved was that the arc of Godrej was left hanging, and it was a loose end that did not make sense.

Overall, a book with an interesting concept that can be improved. It scores a 3.56/5 for me.

Get a copy of the book here.