The Daily Rhino

Friday, December 02, 2005

The Buddha of sub-Bara

JUST a quickie, from BBC News:

A meditating teenage boy in south-central Nepal is drawing the attention of scientists after attracting huge crowds in the past six months and earning himself the name Buddha-reincarnate or 'Buddha Boy'.

The interesting thing about Ram Bahadur Bamjan is that India and the subcontinent in general produce many holy men who claim special powers, but few - if any - have attracted scientific study. However the scientists claim they want to examine him without touching him. How they will do this remains unclear. The fact they say he has been meditating without water makes me rather dubious.

Word spread quickly about the teenager and people around Ratanapuri village in Bara district began to visit Bamjan, 15, who has been sitting cross-legged in a traditional Buddha posture under a peepal tree.

The villagers say he has grown weak, but he certainly doesn't look it - he's still quite a built little 15 year old! Of course, this being an Asian village, he has attracted devotees who have started worshipping him. He has even buoyed the local community by providing an effective tourist attraction. But his family are not sure what to think

His mother fainted when she found out her son had undertaken an indefinite meditation.

Many worship Ram Bahadur Bamjan as the reincarnation of Buddha "I sometimes go to see him but he does not talk to me," said Maya Devi Tamang.

Another interesting point is that Buddha's mother was also called Maya Devi...

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Comments:

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# quoth

Anonymous : December 03, 2005 3:38 PM

bows...

so you've seen him in flesh and blood?
too bad i was only 3 when he passed away.

btw would you considering suing Matt Groening for having made millions of Indian kids a butt of Apu jokes?

Rohin Francis... Satyajit Ray who'd have known?

# quoth

Anonymous : December 03, 2005 6:07 PM

This comment has been removed by the author.

# quoth

Rohin : December 03, 2005 7:01 PM

naah... Simpsons is filled with cliche's i'm told that the old episdoes are gr8, but hell dont get enough time to watch the reruns with my part-timejob 'n stuff.

BTW South Park pwns.

# quoth

Anonymous : December 04, 2005 6:11 AM

Wait...I thought you were asking about the Simpsons cos you had read my piece on Apu (http://dailyrhino.blogspot.com/2005/09/world-of-apu.html). If you haven't, I think some of your questions will be answered therein.

South Park pwns? Clearly some teenage ruffian slang. I say: South Park is a bit lame, but occasionally funny.

# quoth

Rohin : December 04, 2005 2:36 PM

is the name Apu inspired from Apu trilogy?

btw pwns in propular e-gaming culture refers to "beating all others". Do you play games. I used to until my gf made me quit. :(. stupid girls.

# quoth

Anonymous : December 04, 2005 4:54 PM

btw i checked that Apu article. Wont agree with most of it, still it was neatly written. Man you should really write a book or something. You do have a knack for journalism

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Anonymous : December 04, 2005 4:56 PM

How do you pronounce pwns? I've never heard this. I feel old! Nah, I've never been a gamer, never owned a console nor bought that many games. But a few games shaped my childhood. Tetris (of course) on the gameboy, Streetfighter II and spin-offs (I was Chinese kid quality), the entire Monkey Island series (pure genius. It pwns) and the greatest of all, MARIOKART on the N64, which I still play.

Doubt I'll write a book any time soon. But I am IN a book - see the right hand column at the top! The very article you just read was put in.

# quoth

Rohin : December 04, 2005 5:01 PM

well pwns is ponounced as "pawns". You still kepp an N64? Just a few years more and you mighjt get a decent price for it in museums! These days NES sells for $150 on Ebay!

# quoth

Anonymous : December 05, 2005 8:29 AM

rohin, do you have an email address?

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Anonymous : March 23, 2007 12:02 PM

hmm i think you'll find that 'pwns' is a typo of 'owns' meaning better than the rest... yes? and anyway that is way off topic of the actual article on the 'buddha boy' lol peace children =]

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Anonymous : April 20, 2007 6:13 PM