Jesse M., m/170: Can't think of where you can look for this, but maybe it will ring a bell. Basically, there are various stages of reincarnation, and various "realms" that one can be born into. You might be born as an evil person, or as one who is constantly hungry. Although persons fated to some existence may not become true Buddhas, there is a Buddha for each realm. It is even possible to be the Buddha of Greed, though greed is completely contrary to the enlightened way.

This should not be a goal of any Buddhist, and I'm really not sure if it's even taught anymore. I think this concept is where a lot of the great Chinese literature came from, though; the slightly deranged Buddhism which has Rabbit Buddhas and whatnot.

So, there is some truth in what I wrote. I really didn't intend to say something about Buddhism, though. My point was just that Buddhists achieve clarity of vision due to the removal of mental stumbling blocks, and so do sociopaths. In a way, Buddhism is all about transforming the human experience.

This has all been covered in Fight Club anyway, so I've never bothered trying to flesh it out. As frustrating as it is, I think Tom Robbins drew from a lot of the same material for the first part of Villa Incognito.