Boy Called Reincarnation of Buddha

[catbirdseat]

Story

This reminds me of a story in a book on brain disorders*. A young fellow left home to be with the Hare Krishnas, without telling his parents where he was going. They finally tracked him down and found him "meditating". He had this beatific smile on his face.

 

Somehow they dragged him out of there and got him to a doctor. Turns out his ability to meditate was actually due to a large tumor that was rapidly displacing the frontal lobes of his brain. The tumor was successfully removed, but the man lost all ability to form new memories.

 

*An Anthropologist on Mars, by Oliver Sacks

(author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat)

Edited November 23, 2005 by catbirdseat

[ashw_justin]

Tumor my ass. He was lobotomized to conceal the secrets of enlightenment.

[murraysovereign]

Maybe lobotomies are the secret to enlightenment.

[EWolfe]

Suuuuuuure!