Best Buddhist April Fools

Big news on a new greenlighted project from us here at the Shambhala Sun Foundation. This past February, we were approached by TV producer Mark Burnett (Survivor; The Appprentice). Refreshingly, Burnett — who had recently converted to Buddhism after viewing an early screening of PBS’sThe Buddha — wants to use his significant media muscle to address the rapidly worsening condition of samsara in our time.

“We can no longer wait for Maitreya’s arrival in some distant, nearly immeasurable time,” Burnett says in the press release announcing So You Think You Can Be Buddha?, a new reality/game-show to be produced for FOX with the consultation of the staff of the Shambhala Sun. “Things are bad, and any non-self-respecting Buddha must know it. We need and demand the arrival of the future Buddha now. To facilitate the discovery of the future Buddha—we are taking applications for worthy candidates to participate in a show that will truly change how you view reality.”

So You Think You Can Be Buddha? will run for ten weeks this summer, with a panel of celebrity Buddhists and non-Buddhists including Goldie Hawn, Bill O’Reilly, and Larry the Cable Guy, who will judge candidates for Maitreya, the future Buddha, in the following categories, among others (read on)

When I saw that, I tweeted back, “sounds kinda horrible.” Then, about 2 minutes later, the light went on and I tweeted back, “Wait. April Fools!?” Yep.