Spiritual guides or charlatans?

After the religious route was denied him, I heard that he opted for the more pragmatic "Master of Chinese culture" stature, exchanging the monk's robe for a flowing white beard and grayish robe. That would require the ability to recite lines from Confucius but less acting chops than for faking a Tibetan accent and maybe surviving on a vegetarian diet.

While the most ambitious gravitate toward the likes of Faye Wong and Jack Ma, celebrity entertainers and business titans, most Rinpoches settle for a middle-class patron and her three-bedroom apartment.

And since Chaoyang has the highest concentration of "successful people", it has become a magnet for the failed actors－to the extent that a "Chaoyang Rinpoche" could be any suspicious Buddhist evangelist far away from a Tibetan monastery.

The reasons for the rise of the Rinpoches are actually quite positive: First, a growing segment of Chinese society is affluent enough to patronize religious personnel or organizations. Second, they have started to cater to their spiritual needs.

It is better than the blind pursuit of all things material. But besides these honorable attributes, there could be vanity.

Religion is a private matter. If you flaunt it as if it were a designer bag, then there'll be those who come to fleece you by playing the role you want them to but providing nothing but esoteric puffery and verbal placebo.

If you want someone who can do it in verse, I suggest Tartuffe.

Related:

Abreast of controversy

A trio of titans

For more stories by Raymond Zhou, click here

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