Nepal 'Buddha Boy' returns to jungle

Nepal 'Buddha Boy' returns to jungle

news.yahoo.com

KATHMANDU (AFP) – A young man believed by followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha has returned to Nepal's jungles to meditate alone, police said Saturday, as scholars cast doubt on his supporters' claims.

Known as the "Buddha Boy," Ram Bahadur Bomjam, 18, became famous in 2005 after supporters said he could meditate motionless for months without water, food or sleep.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Article goes on to say >>The head of the committee that organises events around Bomjam insists he survives without food and water.

"We have never seen him eat or drink and we believe he's a god in human form," said Bed Bahadur Thing, president of the Buddha Jungle Meditation Conservation and Prosperity Committee.

I don't know -meditating just doesn't seem to be the answer to either India or the world's problems. This is not the 1st "God" to appear in India - remember this child?

www.youtube.com...

How long can #e 12th Imam be? www.inplainsite.org...

Christ's return?

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I have wandered about this and other "Buddha reincarnates". Namely, they seem to be able to meditate for long periods without food or water, are hailed as Gods, but at the end of the day they achieve fudge all. Seriously, the goal of meditation is to achieve enlightenment, but even after doing it for years and being praised as a "god in human form", they are still pretty much useless and quite obviously haven't achieve any measure of enlightenment.

It only took the Buddha himself 49 days!

Originally posted by stumason
It only took the Buddha himself 49 days!

True in a sense. But you could also argue it took him 35 years.

well he didn't get to lvl 70 in warcraft but i'd say meditating for months on end with no rest is acheivment enough for one lifetime. i'd be satisfied. i'm glad that i could get my monkey hands coordinated enough to play guitar halfway decent.

Originally posted by stumason
Namely, they seem to be able to meditate for long periods without food or water,

There are lots of Catholic saints who did this. They weren't sitting lotus style in meditation, but they were able to go without eating or drinking for years. Some lived on only receiving holy communion once a day.

This isn't a phenomenon that is strictly buddhist. Other faiths have people who have reached spiritual heights to a point of not needing food and water and sleep.

reply to post by Cadbury


Considering he didn't begin on the path to enlightenment until he was 29, I find the 35 years hard to swallow, unless you're inferring that the entirety of his life was a journey, even the first 29 years when he was happy being a rich prince.

reply to post by FlyersFan


You seem to have taken my quote wholly out of context and answered a question I didn't even ask.

I was hinting that there seems to be a few so called "gods in human form" in recent history, but none have displayed anything of what I would call enlightended behaviour. Many, in fact, seem to be part of elaborate cons to extort money out of unwitting pilgrims.

Originally posted by stumason
Considering he didn't begin on the path to enlightenment until he was 29, I find the 35 years hard to swallow, unless you're inferring that the entirety of his life was a journey, even the first 29 years when he was happy being a rich prince.

I consider the journey that led to the journey the same journey, yes. But your being specific wasn't incorrect either.

reply to post by Cadbury


I suppose one could argue that without the luxury and excesses of his life as a Royal, he would never have embarked upon the path to enlightenment.

how can someone be called the reencarnate of Buddha?

Buddha reached enlightenment which meant his journey was over.

Originally posted by stumason
I suppose one could argue that without the luxury and excesses of his life as a Royal, he would never have embarked upon the path to enlightenment.

Indeed. But consider this. To be a prince you must first be born -- and born male. One recurring teaching in Buddhism you're probably already familiar with is reincarnation. Another is Karma.

So whereas you could rightfully argue it took him either 6 years, 49 days or 35 years... you could also rightfully argue it took "him" a lot longer than all of the above. Which, if any, is "true?"

Buddha is not one individual, it simply means someone who has acheived spiritual enlightenment. There's been many Buddha's.

List of the twenty-eight Buddhas
en.wikipedia.org...

From Wiki

In Buddhism, the term 'buddha' usually refers to one who has become enlightened (i.e., awakened to the truth, or Dharma). The level to which this manifestation requires abstraction from ordinary life (ascetic practices) varies from none at all to an absolute requirement, dependent on doctrine.

en.wikipedia.org...

Buddhists believe in recarnation, but what most people don't realise is that when a person is recarnated, it isn't exactly the same person.

Human beings are constantly giving off physical and spiritual forces in all directions. In physics we learn that no energy is ever lost; only that it changes form. This is the common law of conservation of energy. Similarly, spiritual and mental action is never lost. It is transformed.

Reincarnation (Transmigration)

Based on his no-soul (anatta) doctrine, the Buddha described reincarnation, or the taking on of a new body in the next life, in a different way than the traditional Indian understanding. He compared it to lighting successive candles using the flame of the preceding candle. Although each flame is causally connected to the one that came before it, is it not the same flame. Thus, in Buddhism, reincarnation is usually referred to as "transmigration."

Nirvana

Nirvana is the state of final liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. It is also therefore the end of suffering. The literal meaning of the word is "to extinguish," in the way that a fire goes out when it runs out of fuel. In the Surangama, the Buddha describes Nirvana as the place in which

it is recognized that there is nothing but what is seen of the mind itself; where, recognizing the nature of the self-mind, one no longer cherishes the dualisms of discrimination; where there is no more thirst nor grasping; where there is no more attachment to external things.

But all these descriptions only tell us what is not Nirvana. What is it like? Is it like heaven, or is it non-existence? The answer is not clear, due in large part to the Buddha's aversion to metaphysics and speculation. When he was asked such questions, he merely replied that it was "incomprehensible, indescribable, inconceivable, unutterable."

Originally posted by kindred
Buddha is not one individual, it simply means someone who has acheived spiritual enlightenment. There's been many Buddha's.

List of the twenty-eight Buddhas
en.wikipedia.org...

Absolutely. The article didn't specify just which Buddha this boy and his followers claim he's a reincarnation of, but to clarify Stumason and I were referring to the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama.

Originally posted by stumason
You seem to have taken my quote wholly out of context and answered a question I didn't even ask.

Didn't mean to make it sound that way. Sorry.

Many, in fact, seem to be part of elaborate cons to extort money out of unwitting pilgrims.

I agree. There are a lot of false prophets out there.
Every religion seems to have them.

Sorry about the misunderstanding. It wasn't my intention.
I just was playing off your words - not talking down to you or anything.
Poorly worded.

Originally posted by munkey66
how can someone be called the reencarnate of Buddha?
Buddha reached enlightenment which meant his journey was over.

That's what I was wondering. I understand that the Dali lama (spelling?) is the reincarnation of the previous Dali Lama, but I thought thatthe original Buddha himself was long gone.

Kindred - thanks for the explaination. I'm trying to wrap my head around it. That may take a while.

[edit on 11/22/2008 by FlyersFan]

In response to those that said it took the Buddha 35yrs or 6yrs to achieve enlightenment, a Buddhist would probably say it took life times to achieve, just ticks on the clock of eternity.

Originally posted by munkey66
how can someone be called the reencarnate of Buddha?

Buddha reached enlightenment which meant his journey was over.

I read a book about Tibetan Buddhism once that claimed a Buddha could choose to either remain wherever it is they go when they die, or reincarnate themselves back into this realm at will. There was another about Buddhism in general that also mentioned it, but I can't remember the name of either title.

Originally posted by 2 cents
In response to those that said it took the Buddha 35yrs or 6yrs to achieve enlightenment, a Buddhist would probably say it took life times to achieve, just ticks on the clock of eternity.

In my defence, I did go on to say something very similar to that in the next post down:

Originally posted by Cadbury
Indeed. But consider this. To be a prince you must first be born -- and born male. One recurring teaching in Buddhism you're probably already familiar with is reincarnation. Another is Karma.

So whereas you could rightfully argue it took him either 6 years, 49 days or 35 years... you could also rightfully argue it took "him" a lot longer than all of the above. Which, if any, is "true?"

This description of a bodhisattva may help:

www.essortment.com...