The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘The Relationship Soured After They Came to Doubt His Reincarnation Credentials’

Posted on | August 27, 2011 | 11 Comments

That weird sentence was buried in a New York Times story about a Twitter “stalking” case involving an intra-Buddhist dispute:

Born in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Ms. Zeoli is considered to be a reincarnated master in the Tibetan Buddhist religious tradition, and is known to her followers as Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. She is an avid Twitter user, with 23,000 followers. A representative for Ms. Zeoli said she declined to be interviewed for this article.
According to the F.B.I. and Ms. Zeoli’s lawyer, Mr. Cassidy also claimed to be a reincarnated Buddhist when he joined Ms. Zeoli’s organization, Kunzang Palyul Choling, in 2007. He signed up using a false name and claimed to have had lung cancer, they said. Ms. Zeoli’s organization cared for him and, briefly, even appointed him to its executive team. The relationship soured after they came to doubt his reincarnation credentials and found that his claims of cancer were false. Mr. Cassidy left. Then came the relentless tweets, they said.

The article quotes eminent law-blogger Eugene Volokh on the First Amendment issues involved.

My advice? Don’t ever doubt a Buddhist’s reincarnation credentials!

Category: Religion

Comments

11 Responses to “‘The Relationship Soured After They Came to Doubt His Reincarnation Credentials’”

  1. Threedonia
    August 27th, 2011 @ 8:59 pm

    I doubted Shirley McLaine’s reincarnation credentials… I think she was stalking me through my TV for years.  She kept showing up and annoying me.

  2. Anonymous
    August 27th, 2011 @ 9:09 pm

    It is remarkable how many “sophisticated” people — who think of Bible-believing Christians as benighted yokels — are into crazy stuff like Buddhism, astrology, psychics, etc.

  3. Anonymous
    August 27th, 2011 @ 9:45 pm

    Just who exactly is empowered and qualified to credential reincarnated buddhists? Does it pay well?

  4. Threedonia
    August 27th, 2011 @ 10:18 pm

    I’d look into it but the idea of hanging around all that steak on the hoof drives me batty.

  5. CalMark
    August 27th, 2011 @ 10:23 pm

    You obviously didn’t watch–or if you did, failed to heed–the Great Wisdom of Carl Sagan on PBS. 

    Dr. Sagan, you may recall, liked to crow (with taxpayer funding) that Western religion is bunk–because Carl Sagan, member of the academic hyper-elite and self-anointed Spokesman for the World’s Smart People. 

    Alas, Dr. Carl is no more of this earth, and we backward traditionalist-types remain unconvinced. 

    Brings to mind the old saw: “God is dead.”–Nietzsche; “Nietzsche is dead.”–God. 

  6. Anamika
    August 27th, 2011 @ 10:52 pm

    Carl Sagan was not a reincarnation believer, you f—ing moron.

  7. Anonymous
    August 27th, 2011 @ 11:30 pm

    Dungbat.

  8. CalMark
    August 27th, 2011 @ 11:39 pm

    You are a class act.   It’s an honor and a pleasure to be profaned by the likes of you.

    And YOU are wrong.

    Carl Sagan claimed that the only valid religion was a form of Hinduism (Hindus DO believe in reincarnation),  because that religion attempted to explain man’s relation to the Cosmos.  Or somesuch.

    The larger point is to agree with RSM (I know, you find that offensive–too bad) who marvels at people who scoff at Christians turn around and embrace off-the-wall mysticism.

  9. Threedonia
    August 27th, 2011 @ 11:57 pm

    Are bogus reincarnation credentials Shamsara?

    Anamika… type to your Mom with that keyboard?  Classy AND intelligent… you must smell purty too.

  10. Anonymous
    August 28th, 2011 @ 12:33 am

    I bet it don’t.

  11. adolph.stephens
    August 28th, 2011 @ 1:41 am

    You go through life, read a few books, get a little education, work hard and such, see some things, and still, you never imagine those particular words being grouped together as a sentence. 

    If this kind of stuff continues The Onion will go out of business.  Between the NY Times, Joe Biden, and Wisconsin there will be no material left.