by Michelle Gagnon

File this under my personal favorite category: truth is stranger than fiction.

I’m lucky to be part of a writing coop called the Sanchez Grotto. A former crack den has been subdivided into small offices, each rented by a different writer. I’m in the “Secret Garden room” in the back, in my personal opinion the best space because it’s right off the kitchen (easy access to food) and has a view of the backyard.

We’re an unusual mix, everything from a travel writer to a screenwriter to an ER psychiatrist. Recently, a member of our motley crew vaulted from relative obscurity to the big time (in Bull Durham terms, he went to “The Show.”)

Raj Patel is a brilliant economist and social activist. His latest nonfiction book, THE VALUE OF NOTHING, is a look at how free market economies have at times done more harm than good. The week of the book’s release, he was interviewed by Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report. It’s a great interview, which kicks off with Colbert digging his interview questions out of the slot in his desk where they’d fallen with his tongue. See it here for a good laugh.

Raj’s book subsequently made it to the New York Times bestsellers list, and everything was going along nicely.That’s when things started to get weird.

He began receiving emails- first a few a day, then hundreds, then a massive flood. Not from Nigerian princes, either- these were from folks asking if he was indeed the Maitreya, and if so how he planned to save the world.

Apparently there’s a New Age guru called Benjamin Creme who has assigned himself the task of alerting the world when the “Maitreya” shows up. For those of you (like me) who have never heard of this before, the Maitreya is supposed to be a great teacher who unites all the religions- sort of a Messiah for everyone.

As it happens, at a public lecture at Friends House, Euston Road, London, on 14 January 2010, Benjamin Creme announced that, “Maitreya, the World Teacher, has given His first interview on American television. Millions have heard Him speak both on TV and the internet. His open mission has begun.”

Guess who appeared on television on January 12th?

So Creme’s followers, not dissuaded by the fact that he’s been wrong before, scoured the airwaves and stumbled across Raj’s interview. What really convinced them was that not only is he a social activist, he’s also of Indian descent, was born in 1972, and has a slight stammer. All of which match the Maitreya checklist.

So believers started flying in to attend his events, some spending thousands on plane tickets.

Raj, understandably perplexed by being thrust into a surreal, “Life of Brian” existence, has vehemently denied all attempts to deify him.

The problem is, apparently if the Maitreya appears, that’s exactly what he’ll do- deny that he is in fact the savior. So the more Raj insists that he’s not what they’re looking for, the more followers believe. Their forums have gone ballistic. They’ve spliced his Amazon author interview together with a Maitreya montage to show the parallels in their philosophies.

Now, I suspect we’ve all known writers who thought they were God. But do we know any who were mistaken for one?

Our other office mate Scott James wrote a piece on this for the NY Times, if you’re curious to hear more details click here.

Just think- if I made this up, chances are no one would believe it.