If you met Buddha on the road, and you asked him if he was a Buddha and he said no, what would he be?

I understand this is hypothetical but it is not entirely out of the realm of something Buddha could do. I mean, if Buddha is Buddha, him lying to you does nothing to change what he is or what he knows about himself, but he could easily do it as a means of making you go "ok, what is the sound of one hand clapping?"

I bring this up because while I understand why Buddhism encourages everyone to 'see their own face in the mirror' that does not mean the mirror does not exist. In other words, the journey of finding that face has as many rituals in it as any other religion or belief system, doesn't it?

And if Buddhism doesn't have any deities, who's traveling around the country imploring peace and restitution for Tibet? Slap a pair of mutton chops, a ratty t-shirt, worn jeans and cowboy boots on Jesus, send him down the road on a bike and he forfeits his 'son of God' status? I mean, it is somewhat impolite to compare religious beliefs but to say that the Dali Lama is the 367th reincarnation of some Buddha (I am being grossly inaccurate and I apologize,) but he's just an ordinary joe, kinda misses the point. If he was an ordinary joe, what the heck is everyone doing trying to get in to listen to him? You can't claim, on one hand, there is no 'special' allowed, while on the other hand, making special distinctions left, right, sideways and all around. And if it is linked to that Buddha saying he isn't Buddha example, its pretty clever but it also means alot of people are walking around carrying a load of bull testicles in their head (just some crass non sequitor I thought up.)

Buddhism isn't filled with as much bull testicles as other religions but the person smiling for the camera isn't just some schmuck the Buddhist congregation picked off the street because of his charisma. And while any two-bit deranged lunatic can wrap themselves in orange saffron and start giving lessons in Buddhism, it doesn't necessarily mean they are actually leading their students towards enlightment, except what NOT to look for in their next teacher. Which you could count as a victory only if you lower the bar for victory so low as to eliminate the possibility of defeat. Then you should stay their student forever and ever and ever. It may be a simple distinction between Buddha and not-Buddha but don't let the photogenic happy monk fool you. If it was that easy, it wouldn't matter who was up there.