Theos-Talk Archives (November 2005 Message tt00159)

In the first place telegraph news makes mistake with the name of the 
boy and that was not first hand news.
Here it is for the ones are interested:





Boy meditates in Nepalese jungle for six months
Associated Press

KATMANDU, Nepal — A teenage boy has been meditating in a Nepalese
jungle for six months, and thousands have flocked to see him, with
some believing he is the reincarnation of Buddha, police and media
said Wednesday.

Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, sits cross-legged and motionless with eyes
closed among the roots of a tree in the jungle of Bara, about 100
miles south of the capital, Katmandu.

He's supposedly been that way since May 17 — but his followers have
been keeping him from public view at night.

A reporter for the Kantipur newspaper, Sujit Mahat, said he spent two
days at the site, and that about 10,000 people are believed to visit
daily.

Soldiers have been posted in the area for crowd control, officials
said.

A makeshift parking lot and cluster of food stalls have sprung up
near Banjan's retreat, an area not previously frequented by visitors.

Many visitors believe Banjan is a reincarnation of Gautama
Siddhartha, who was born not far away in southwestern Nepal around
500 B.C. and later became revered as the Buddha, which means
Enlightened One.

Others aren't so sure.

Police inspector Chitra Bahadur Gurung said officers have interviewed
the boy's associates about their claim that Banjan has gone six
months without food or drink.

Officers have not directly questioned the boy, who appears deep in
meditation and doesn't speak.

"We have a team ... investigating the claim on how anyone can survive
for so long without food and water," Gurung said.

Local officials have also asked the Royal Nepal Academy of Science
and Technology in Katmandu to send scientists to examine Banjan.

Mahat said visitors can catch a glimpse of Banjan from a roped-off
area about 80 feet away from him between dawn and dusk.

Followers then place a screen in front of him, blocking the view and
making it impossible to know what he is doing at night, Mahat said.

"We could not say what happens after dark," Mahat said. "People only
saw what went on in the day, and many believed he was some kind of
god."

Buddhism teaches that right thinking and self-control can enable
people to achieve nirvana — a divine state of peace and release from
desire. Buddhism has about 325 million followers, mostly in Asia.
















-- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "prmoliveira" <prmoliveira@y...> 
wrote:
>
> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "adelasie" <adelasie@s...> wrote:
> 
> > It may be interesting to know what the boy himself says. 
> 
> According to this report, he does not claim to be a Buddha, just a 
> Rinpoche (a reincarnated Lama in Tibetan Buddhism). That is not 
> uncommon in that part of the world.
> 
> http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?
> xml=/news/2005/11/21/wbuddha21.xml
> 
> 
> pedro
>