There are the occasional accidental saviors of history, and then there are the accidental non-saviors. San Francisco based author and economist Raj Patel was pegged with the title of savior recently and rejected the title outright.
Benjamin Creme is founder of Share International, a group dedicated to locating the next appearance of Maitreya, the World Teacher. Maitreya apparently shows up every so often “to teach the art of Self-realization.” Creme thought Patel was the next emergence of Maitreya.
Alas, Patel eschewed saviorhood, saying Creme was nice but “bonkers.” The two met over cookies this week, then agreed to call it a case of mistaken identity. Later, Patel went to a rally featuring Creme.
[He] concluded that Creme was “a sweet, pleasant old man” who ultimately “was like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland who said she could believe in six impossible things before breakfast.”