"You are clearly not familiar with this much respected, beloved and world-renowned teacher of peace."

You are absolutely correct, and my first contact with him was this obviously concocted story. Personally I taught at risk teenagers in high school for over twenty years and I made it a point to never lie to them. They were so used to hearing lies from adults that they could instinctively tell if something was made up. Maybe some of that rubbed off on me.