So, there's this religious organization (cult, New Age weirdos, however you want to say it) called Share International who believe that the Buddha has been reborn in the modern age (in 1972, to be specific) and is the messiah they call "Maitreya." According to the group's leader, Benjamin Creme (yes, that's his real name), Maitreya recently outed himself by stuttering on a national, popular television show. The show was The Colbert Report, and the supposed messiah is activist, journalist, and author Raj Patel.
Colbert, upon learning this, brought Patel back on his show via telephone, and asked him point blank whether or not he was the messiah. Patel said "No," but Creme has said that the true messiah would reveal himself by refuting that he was the messiah. That is specifically from the film Monty Python's Life of Brian.
In the movie, Brian (Graham Chapman) is mistaken as the messiah by a large group of people, who then follow him to his home and gather outside his window. After Brian says he is not the messiah, the people respond with, "Only the true messiah would reject that he was the messiah!" So, Brian says, "In that case, I am the messiah!" to which the crowd calls out, "He admits it! He is the messiah!"
Brain then goes on to preach that the people shouldn't blindly follow him or anyone else, they should think for themselves. Strangely enough, that is exactly what Raj Patel went on to say on The Colbert Report after he had rejected his own rumored messiah-hood. "I think I would make a terrible messiah... I think that the whole point of social change is not that we follow leaders, but that we can think for ourselves."
One final thought: Patel has often written about a more fair, balanced distribution of wealth and goods and done a lot of work trying to get food and clean water to the poorest and most desperate parts of the world. Sounds like a good messiah to me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wow, how life imiates art. Do you think that the Share International people have actually seen Life of Brian and are just following the play book, or have they just accidently fallen into the same "trap" that Brian's followers did in the movie. Let's just hope that this doesn't end with Raj up on a cross while everyone around him sings "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (though any chance we get to break out that inspired ditty is a good one in my book). Though what you have said about Raj makes him sound like a good role model to follow, and any organiztion that wants to follow his lead would end up doing great things to help all people, so maybe this "mistake" isn't such a bad thing after all. And no cynicism or snark from you today? Are you feeling alright or just saving up for the Dancing with Stars premiere next week (bring on Erin Andrews in less clothing than she wears on the sidelines, though more than she wears in a hotel room, apparently)
ReplyDeleteThe reason there was a lack of snark in this particular post is because Raj Patel really does believe in and stand for good things and he has literally risked his life in attempting to bring democracy, food, and an all around better life to third world countries. So, yes, Patel is a good role model and Share International might be a bunch of New Age whackos but their beliefs of the need for peace, justice, and sharing of the world's resources to benefit the entire world isn't a bad idea. At the very least, they sound better than Scientologists.
ReplyDeleteAs for DWTS... I'll get into that later.