Missing Nepali 'Buddha Boy' reappears with sword
Submitted by kashif on Tue, 2006-12-26 12:44. International
Kathmandu, Dec 26 (IANS) The mystery surrounding a teenaged village
boy, hailed as a reincarnation of the Buddha by devotees in Nepal and
abroad, thickened with his reappearance in a forest almost nine months
after he vanished from his meditation site in southern Nepal.
Ram Bahadur Bomjan, a 17-year-old from Ratanpuri village in Bara
district, became an international celebrity and a myth after the local
media reported the boy wonder to be praying for enlightenment like the
Buddha under a tree without taking any food or water for nearly 10
months.
Devotees and the curious began thronging the jungle for a sight of the
skeletal boy sitting cross-legged under a peepul tree, with his eyes
tightly shut.
Though there were efforts by scientists to subject him to tests to see
if he had really not taken any food or water, as his followers claimed,
the attempts were blocked by an organised group of disciples.
Bomjan, who had reportedly told his family he was not the Buddha but
the reincarnation of a lesser Buddhist monk and needed to pray for six
years to attain ultimate knowledge and salvation, created an even
greater mystery when he vanished from the spot in March, leaving his
white robes behind.
Some of the villagers in the area claimed they had seen him walking
away, saying his meditation was disturbed by the din made by people
coming to see him.
"I am going in search of peace and will return after six years," the
boy reportedly said.
Though security forces and villagers combed the village in the days
after the teen's disappearance, he could not be found.
Almost nine months later, the missing prodigy was now discovered by
herdsmen on Christmas Day in Baghjhori Bhataghari forest in Piluwa
village, about 150 km east of Kathmandu.
Photographs in the local papers Tuesday showed the teen, wrapped in
white clothes sitting on the ground in the forest, surrounded by
onlookers.
In the ensuing months, his hair has grown very long, reaching his
shoulders and his nails looked long and unkept, media reports said.
The teen also looked plump and well-fed. However, he was quoted by the
media as saying that in these nine months, he had been roaming in the
forest, living on herbs.
But the most startling change in his appearance was the sword he now
carries with him. Bomjan did not say how he came by it, simply saying
that he was carrying it for his protection.
"Even the Buddha looked after his own security," he told the media.
The boy also said he was driven away from his earlier meditation site
by the din made by drunkards.
After his disappearance, for some time there was speculation that he
could have been abducted by the Maoist guerrillas, who do not believe
in any religion.
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2006/december/26/international/missing_nepali_buddha_boy_reappears_with_sword.html
A bit more detail on this kid. I've searched all available online
sources for additional info and could find nothing more than what is in
this article. If anyone has any more info, please pass it along...the
photo of him clearly shows he's nicely plumped. If he fasted on herbs,
and took no other sustenance, where did the extra pounds come from?
Hmmmm....reports variously give his age as 16 and 17.
Dr. Bipolar
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