This one wasn’t really on the schedule for today, but it’s worth a look:
A reader pointed this out to me yesterday:
“Buddha boy in Nepal re-emerges after a year”
‘Buddha boy’ reappears in Nepal”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7722011.stm
At first, I was going to make a snarky comment about seeing the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast on eBay, but after reading the link, I remembered reading about this boy a couple of years ago. The kid does at least have some history, and it’s not an out-of-the-blue story. The article doesn’t really give much in the way of evidence about his Buddhahood, but who’s to say he’s NOT a reincarnation of some bodhisattva?
Here are some old links:
“Scientists to check Nepal Buddha boy”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4479240.stm
“Nepal’s ‘Buddha’ boy goes missing”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4797064.stm
From the last one:
His followers claimed that Bomjan did not take food or even water throughout his 10 month-long meditation.
They refused, however, to allow any independent investigation about the health conditions of Bomjan saying that “it would disturb him.” The authorities also did not intervene to avoid hurting local feeling. While critics accused Bomjan’s followers of fooling people, the young boy continued to hog media headlines.
Tired from the decade-old armed conflict that has already claimed more than 13,000 lives, followers of Bomjan claimed that he was an incarnation of Lord Buddha who was born in Nepal more than 2,500 years ago.
They are still hoping that Bomjan will reappear somewhere deep in the forest and continue his meditation.
Obviously, I’m VERY skeptical, but if I swore up and down that it was impossible or that it was a scam, that would be contradicting the basics of Buddhism. And Buddha did say:
“And the Blessed One said to Ananda, I am not the first Buddha, nor shall I be the last. In due time another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One, a supremely enlightened one, endowed with wisdom, auspicious, embracing the Universe, an incomparable Leader of Men, a Ruler of Devas and mortals. He will reveal to you the same eternal truths, which I have taught you. He will establish His Law, glorious in its spirit and in the letter. He will proclaim a righteous life wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim. His disciples will number many thousands while mine number many hundreds.”
Nope, don’t know what to say on this one 😉
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