This week, the Time magazine cover story is on the Dalia Lama. In 1959, when he was forced to escape to India by the invading Chinese army:
"Despite the 'Lost Horizon' legend, the kingdom was never a spiritual and agrarian utopia. Nobles were strictly ranked in seven classes, with only the Dalai Lama belonging to the first. Few commoners had any sort of education.
"Modern medicine was forbidden, especially surgery, even minor ailments were fatal. The sick were typically treated with a gruel of barley meal, butter and the urine of a holy monk. Life expectancy was 36 years.
"Criminals had limbs amputated and cauterized in boiling butter. Even the wheel wasn't commonly employed, given the dearth of passable roads.
"The Dalai Lama had admitted that Tibet was 'very, very backward" iand insists he would have enacted reforms."
"Today the Dali Lami says the institution he embodies appears 'feudal' in nature. He doesn't believe any political authority should be conferred when he dies. 'On one occasion the Dalai Lama institution started,' he says. 'That means there must be one occasion when the institution is not longer relevant. Stop. No problem.'"
The fake stories take hold quickly because of our enchantment with myths. Myths and miracles can be sold easier but reality cannot. Myths and miracles feel good but the reality is harsh. It reminds us of struggles, tragedy and pain.
This is still rampant in that part of the world where medicine men, godmen, swamis and all others merchants of God and religion will sell you cat's pee in a bottle as nectar with a promise for a place in heaven.
What is funny is that I find the men like Dalai Lama and Indian Hindu gurus are celebrities here. Sadguru for example. he is a proven conman in India but has a huge following in the U.S. So was the story of Bhagwan Rajneesh who was arrested and deported from his large commune in Oregon 30 years ago. But they keep coming and we keep falling for them.
The only preaching I liked about Rajneesh was that he preached that the "road to nirvana is through sex." I was too young then to experiment. I would have been happy just with a kiss at the time.