Talk about good karma. The story starts when Churchward was 4, with the french fry incident. Cindy Churchward knew then her son was something special. Churchward prays in a Clearwater, Fla., meditation center in February before a weekly book study. Photo by AP She and her husband, also named Jack, have studied Buddhism for decades.
Compassion is an important part of what they practice.
So when their son showed concern for ants, they got excited. They consulted with their meditation teacher, a monk from Tibet. He told them the boy was indeed special, possibly a tulku, a highly realized being who chose to reincarnate himself in their child. Not to Tibetan Buddhists. More than 200 tulkus have been identified in Tibet, according to Nathan Katz, chair of religious studies at Florida International University and an expert in Tibetan Buddhism.