Free Republic

KATHMANDU (AFP) – A young man believed by followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha has returned to Nepal's jungles to meditate alone, police said Saturday, as scholars cast doubt on his supporters' claims. Known as the "Buddha Boy," Ram Bahadur Bomjam, 18, became famous in 2005 after supporters said he could meditate motionless for months without water, food or sleep. "Bomjam went back into the jungle late Friday and all the devotees have left," police officer Gobinda Kushwaha told AFP from Neejgad, a town in Bara District, 60 kilometres (37.5 miles) south of Kathmandu. The "Buddha Boy" reappeared earlier...

KATHMANDU: Ram Bahadur Bomjan – Nepal’s ‘Buddha Boy’ whose followers claim he has meditated without food or water – is back in the news with media reports suggesting that he plans to be buried alive while meditating. The teenager from Ratanpuri village in southern Nepal’s Bara district has remained in the headlines since he surfaced under a tree in the Charkoshi forest in 2005, meditating cross-legged, just as the Buddha is depicted. Clad only in a strip of white cloth, the boy was the object of intense reverence as well as curiosity after reports said he had been praying at...