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Boy meditating like Buddha in Nepal London: A 15-year old boy, who has reportedly been in meditatiion beneath a pipal tree for the past six months in the dense jungles of Bara district in southern parts of Nepal, without eating and drinking or even relieving himself, is attracting thousands of curious visitors every day, who believe that he may be the incarnation of The Buddha. Before sitting for meditation, the boy Ram Bomjon is said to have told his family that he would be in meditation for six years. The fervour increased last week when a snake is said to have bitten the boy, and a curtain was drawn around him. After five days it was opened and the boy said: "Tell the people not to call me a Buddha. I don't have the energy of Buddha. I am at the level of rinpoche (lesser divinity). A snake bit me but I do not need treatment. I need six years of deep meditation." The visitors believe that Ram is a reincarnation of Lord Buddha, as a light emanates from his forehead. "It looks a bit like when you shine a torch through your hand," The Telegraph quoted Tek Bahadur Lama, a member of the committee responsible for dealing with the growing number of visitors from India and elsewhere in Nepal, as saying. Photographs of Ram Bomjon, available for five rupees from his makeshift shrine, have become ubiquitous across the region. "Far and wide, it's the only topic of conversation," a local journalist said, adding that no indication had yet emerged of him breaking his fast (meditation) or moving, even to relieve himself. Santa Raj Subedi, the chief government official in Bara district, has appealed to the Kathmandu administration for assistance in dealing with the influx of visitors, and for a team of scientists to examine the case. A team of local doctors who recently visited the boy, confirmed that the boy was alive. According to the paper, the popularity of the boy is partly because the scene resembled an episode in the life of Buddha, who was born 160 miles away around 543 BC. The Buddha achieved enlightenment when he meditated beneath a sacred pipal tree for 49 days, and the boy is also sitting beneath a pipal tree, in the same posture as the Buddha is depicted. Ram's mother Maya Devi said: "He's definitely got thinner. Early in the morning he looks sunken, like there's no blood in him, but as the sun rises he seems to get brighter and brighter." A thriving market has reportedly grown in the once pristine forest, supplying pilgrims with everything from chewing tobacco and bicycle repairs, to incense and sacred amulets. |
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