Monday, December 25, 2006

Buddha Boy in Jungle “Miracle”

His name is Ram Bahadur Bomjon. He is popularly known far and wide as Buddha Boy. He had disappeared from the jungle of Ratanpuri in Bara district, nine months ago. He has reappeared nearby the area on Sunday one day before Christmas.

The 17-year old Bomjon, who was meditating without any food or water in the jungles in south Nepal, disappeared in March 2005. Now he was found in the jungles near Pathlaiya-Nijgadh road section of the East-West Highway. Local villagers found Bomjon in dense forest located 5 km west of the highway yesterday night.

His continuous meditation without any food and water and the disappearance got extensive national and international media coverage. However, the boy suddenly abandoned meditation site at Charkose Jhadi area after meditating without food and water for ten months.

The young man who was found last night claimed he had still not eaten anything except herbal medicines during his meditation period after March 2005. His disappearance was for almost 10 months and the boy looked good and fit. If we believe his claims it must be “Miracle”.

It is reported he would meditate near the historical Halkhoriya pond his previous meditation site. The Buddha boy has said that he does not want his new meditation site to be noisy and his followers be allowed to see him from a distance. When he was asked what should be done with the donations that his followers would make, he advised to spend the donation in a right manner without misusing it.

After he was spotted a large number of people, including his family members and security personnel have arrived at the place to see him. The spot started becoming a crowded place where people come from different parts of the country. Both the devotees and the skeptical people alike are willing to see him. However, their motive might be different.

The story of his meditation resembles the life of Gautama Buddha, who was enlightened more than 2,500 years ago. We can find similarities and dissimilarities in both stories of meditations. Amusingly, Bomjon's mother's name, too, is Maya Devi- the name of Buddha's mother. Gautama Buddha was the son of a king while Ram Bahadur Bomjon is son of an ordinary farmer in Ratanpur village of Bara district. Coincidentally, Buddha was born only 160 miles from Bara in 540BC in the plains of Nepal.

Although, his supporters and followers claim, he had meditated without eating and drinking for months it requires to confirm by doctors, scientists, and the experts in these modern days.