Buddhist Abbot: Steve Jobs Is Reincarnated

Steve Jobs may have left this mortal coil, but for Buddhists (Jobs dabbled), that's not the final word. Now one group in Thailand claims it knows where and how Jobs has been reincarnated. “After Steve Jobs passed away, he was reincarnated as a divine being with a special knowledge and appreciation for science and the arts,” says Phra Chaibul Dhammajayo, the abbot at Dhammakaya Temple near Bangkok. He lives in a "mystical a glass palace" above Apple headquarters in Cupertino and is attended to by 20 servants who look like the "Geniuses" who help customers in Apple stores, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Critics are saying the abbot is just trying to get attention to gain followers and raise money. Some religious experts have compared Dhammakaya—which bills itself as a "modern temple for a modern age"—to Christian television evangelists in the United States, Brazil, and elsewhere. “Even if it is true, it is just showing off and has nothing to do with Lord Buddha’s teachings,” says one Buddhist leader. (More Phra Chaibul Dhammajayo stories.)