Ram Bahadur Bamjan ("buddha Boy") 10 Month Meditation

[mizzi39]

I just got done watching the documentary about the 'Buddha Boy". It is actually my second viewing. The word is that he has gone (went) over 10 months without food and water, and stayed in a state of deep meditation. The documentary was done in 2008. Listening to the believers as well as skeptics, I am not sure what to make of it. Is it possible? Scam? Anyone else see this documentary?

Longest for me was 1 hour, then i get "antsy". My back and shoulders start to ache. I have not meditated in a while but would like to get back into it, since it does relax my mind. Any suggestions on how to prolong meditation? My wife can stay in a meditative state for 2+ hours and has gone as long as 3 before getting distracted.

What is the longest YOU have meditated? Peace! MIZZI

[Xangsamhua]

I've looked at some of these videos and, while not declaring myself, I'd say they're pretty impressive. While there are certainly people with something to be gained from making Ram Bahadur a pilgrimage and tourism site, there don't appear to be any smoke and mirrors, hidden wires or underground tunnels to make him appear more than he is.

I'm rather keen on Peter Elbow's advocacy of "critical belief" as well as "critical doubt" when we come across a viewpoint, event, text or claim that challenges our accepted explanations or ways of seeing the world. One has to approach a claim, not only skeptically (critical doubt), but also with a degree of acceptance (critical belief), i.e. "OK, let's take this at its face value. What can be said for it? How does it impact on what I already believe, etc?" Then we move to critical doubt, i.e. critical analysis, a demand for hard evidence, "proof", etc and the exposure of inconsistency, illogicality, exceptionality and so on. (See http://cct.wikispaces.umb.edu/MethodologicalBelieving)

On balance, after taking on board the face-value evidence of Ram Bahadur's remarkable powers (not unknown, apparently, in Tibetan-Nepalese traditions), all I am left with in terms of methodological doubt is that these claimed and apparent powers contradict what we know as the norm for human survival over time without food and water and, in reference to one videoed event, exposure to flames. Of course, no one is claiming that his powers are normal, but he seems to be in other respects a physiologically normal person.

[bangkokrick]

I have seen that documentary a couple of times too, facinating stuff. I don't meditate but have great respect for people like Ram Bahadur. If it was a scam it was exceptionally well done. He mysteriously disappeared during the night and was thought to have been kidnapped or even worse. The good news is that he turned up again, stating that he could not meditate with all the media attention going on, so he went to a quieter place. He is now in India, giving daily blessings to Buddhist monks and his followers according to an article that I found on the Internet.

I for one am glad that nothing bad happened to him, as first thought. The huge amount of money that was collected during his meditation has vanished in the thin air, just like Buddha boy did!

Cheers, Rick

[sabaijai]

Nepal’s Boy Buddha frees Slovak hostage

Utpal Parashar, Hindustan Times

Kathmandu, March 27, 2012

A Slovak woman held captive for three months by followers of Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 22, popular as Nepal’s ‘Buddha Boy’, was released on Sunday night.

The woman identified only as Marichi, 35, and another woman from Nepal had been kept inside a jungle in Bara district bordering India for allegedly practicing witchcraft to disrupt Bamjan’s meditation.

Following media reports of their disappearance on Sunday, Bamjan’s followers dropped Marichi at a hotel in Simara in Bara district around 9 pm. There’s no news of the Nepali woman.

Reports say the Slovak woman has a broken arm and is very weak. She told local journalists that she has been asked by Bamjan’s followers not to reveal anything about her ordeal to the media or police.

Police sub-inspector Padam Bahadur Khadka of Simara police station stated further investigations into the long disappearance of the two women are on.

Marichi had arrived in Nepal 11 months ago and stayed in a hotel Simara before shifting to a monastery. She was allegedly whisked away by two youths on a motorcycle on December 28.

The police came to know about the disappearance of the two women last week after a complaint was lodged. On questioning, Bamjan’s followers admitted to keeping them in captivity.

Bamjan had gained worldwide publicity seven years ago after reportedly meditating without food or water for several months—much like Lord Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

His followers claim Bamjan who has been meditating since May 2005 is a reincarnation of Lord Buddha.

Last Thursday, his followers beat up five journalists and took away their cameras while they were filming Bamjan’s sermon. He was also accused of beating up some local residents last year.

http://www.hindustan...le1-831282.aspx

[sabaijai]

Nepal police rescue Slovak woman from followers of Buddha boy

Police allege followers of boy claiming to be reincarnated Buddha held woman captive

Jason Overdorf March 26, 2012 04:51, Global Post

What happens when religion goes wrong? Kidnapping, or something similar, allege the Nepalese police.

Police official K.P. Sharma told the Associated Press that Nepal's cops rescued a 35-year-old Slovak woman from followers of a young man whose supporters have claimed to be the reincarnation of Buddha for the past several years. (All is, indeed, suffering).

Sharma said the woman was held in a forest of southern Nepal where Ram Bahadur Bamjan has been meditating for seven years, AP said. The woman, identified only as Marichi, had been visiting Bamjan for the past year but was reported to be held captive for the past two months.

No information was provided about the motivation behind the alleged crime, and all that the police officer said regarding the psychological state of the woman was that she appeared to be scared.

Bamjan created a media sensation around 2005, when he supposedly meditated under a tree for months on end and then suddenly disappeared.

Since then, Bamjan, who has instructed people not to call him the reincarnation of Buddha, has appeared and reappeared, preaching and meditating, all over the tiny Himalayan republic.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/india/nepal-rescue-buddha-boy

[sabaijai]

Freed Slovak woman still admires Buddha Boy

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, March 28: Slovak woman Zsuzsanna Takacs who was held in the captivity of Bamjan followers for three months before being released on Monday has said that she still admires the Buddha Boy.

“I love Buddhism and want to become a nun but we don?t have monasteries in our country,” she said in fragile voice. The 44-year-old said she was tied to a tree for three months and was not allowed to meet anyone. The followers of Bamjan had taken her hostage on December 28.

“The members of Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangh had repeatedly asked me not to enter the meditation area but I broke in,” she told Republica. She added that she was punished for breaching the rule.

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration (DoI) is preparing to slap on her penalty for overstaying in Nepal. Shiva Lamsal, immigration officer at DoI, said she would be deported to her homeland. Takacs had arrived in Nepal on December 5, 2010, and has been staying illegally since her visa expired on June 3, 2011.

Nima Dawa Tamang, a trekking guide who took her to Halkoriya jungle, said he is collecting money to help her pay penalty.

Meanwhile, Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangh also freed another woman who was held captive. The Sangh freed Aani, a resident of Nijgadh-8, on Tuesday after a police team reached Halkhoriya jungle to look for her.

http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=33290