[align=center]THE BUDDAH BOY[/align]
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[align=center]^ Mediated for 6 months with no food or water and intends to continue for a further 6 YEARS! [/align]
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.

They are mulling over how to examine him without disturbing his meditation.
Ram Bahadur Bamjan's friends, relatives and managers say he has been meditating without drinking water for six months now and that he will carry on for another six years until he gains enlightenment.

Siddartha Gautama, who Buddhists believe later attained Nirvana, was born in 560 BC

Grown weak
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.
Bamjan's eyes are closed and his body firm, encased in a whitish shawl.

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His hair has grown long and has almost covered his eyes. Villagers say he has grown weak.
His picture has been appearing regularly in newspapers and people now look for updates on him.
Many around Bara worship him as the reincarnation of the Buddha.

The tree is festooned and the air has the smell of incense sticks.
The dramatically increased movement of people has generated economic opportunities.
Makeshift shops have sprung up and offerings in cash and kind are on the rise.

Challenge
Most people can live without food for several weeks, with the body drawing on its fat and protein stores. But the average human can survive for only three to four days without water.

But the number of people seeking real evidence here is increasing.
Under pressure, locals have asked the administration to find out the truth.

"We have agreed to conduct a scientific examination on him," said the local administrator, Mr Koirala.

The challenge is to do so without touching him.
Mr Koirala said scientists from the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology were due to arrive to conduct the examination.
It remains unclear how they will do it.
"At least the scientists will be able to see whether he meditates the whole night or not," said Deekpal Chaudhary, who sells incense sticks to visitors.

Monastery tour
Bamjan's family members say they have no idea what is going on.
His mother fainted when she found out her son had undertaken an indefinite meditation.



"I sometimes go to see him but he does not talk to me," said Maya Devi Tamang.
"I don't know what will happen to him but I know that god will help him."
The name of Buddha's mother was also Maya Devi, a point Bamjan's devotees have stressed.
The family said Bamjan was different from his four brothers. They said he did not speak much and stayed aloof.

He never touched alcohol," said his primary education teacher, Salden Lama.

Relatives and neighbours said Bamjan undertook meditation when he returned from a tour of Lumbini, where Buddha was born, and monasteries in Pokhara in Nepal and Dehradun in India.
Friend and cousin Prem Lama remembers Bamjan saying that he did not want people to call him Buddha as he had only reached primary enlightenment.
Bamjan has spoken only a few times since he began the meditation, according to Prem Lama.
He said the first time Bamjan spoke was when a snake bit him around a month ago.
Bamjan took the incident as his second test, which he must overcome, Prem Lama said.
In the first test he was also bitten by a snake - three months after he began the meditation.

[align=center]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4479240.stm[/align]
[align=left]I just watched a program about this kid, he sat there for 4 days on camera muttering to himself before the locals moved the crew along. The article posted is wrong on a few things, the tree hes under is poisionous. He also spontaniously conbusted (blew up in flames) at one point (not on camera) and had a blue light glowing from his forhead at another (again not on camera) modern science (:P) says that a person can survive for up to 4 days before collapsing without food and water and the boy was SWEATING. [/align]
[align=left]He disappeared at the end and apparently hasn't been seen again. Hes 16...[/align]
[align=left]HOLD ON! [/align]
[align=left]I've just this minute got news in!... The boy has REAPPEARED! The boy has REAPPEARED! Thats right BNV hes back! We'll go over to Nepal now where another internet article has been found after I just finished watching an apparently overly suspence Tv program about him and his disappearance!.... lets cross back over to the BBC... [/align]
[align=center]Nepalese Buddha Boy 'reappears'![/align]
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[align=left]A missing Nepalese teenager popularly known as "Buddha Boy" reappeared briefly on Sunday, his followers say. [/align]
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[align=left]The committee managing the meditation site of Ram Bomjan, 16, released video of its members purportedly meeting the boy near his village in southern Nepal. [/align]
The boy's meditation and apparent 10-month fast attracted global attention before he vanished in March.
[align=left]Large numbers of devotees flocked to see him to leave offerings. A massive search operation is still under way.
[align=left]'Not to worry'
[align=left]The chairman of the Om Namo Buddha Tapaswi Sewa Samiti (ONBTSS), Bed Bahadur Lama, told reporters that he and his colleagues had met Bomjan about 3km (2 miles) south-west of his meditation site in Bara district on Sunday.
[align=left]He said Bomjan had spoken to them for half an hour. [/align]
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[align=left]^ Man praying to boy.[/align]
"He said he would reappear after six years. He has asked monks to perform prayers in the meditation spot," Mr Lama told reporters.
"I left because there is no peace here... Tell my parents not to worry," Mr Lama quoted Bomjan as saying.
The alleged meeting is the first news of the boy's possible whereabouts since he disappeared on 11 March. District authorities say they cannot confirm the sighting.[/align]
Bomjan's followers and security personnel have launched a massive search operation in Ratnapuri forest and surrounding areas but have so far failed to locate him.
Bomjan's followers claim he was an incarnation of Lord Buddha who was born in Lumbini, in present-day Nepal, more than 2,500 years ago.
His followers say he has been meditating for 10 months without food or water and is immune to fire and snake bites.
But these claims have not been independently verified. Scientists were unable to examine the boy as his followers said it would disturb his meditation.[/align]
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See the boy

[align=center]httpjavascript:launchAVConsoleStory('4828606')://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4824530.stm[/align]
[align=center]^^ Video.[/align]
[align=center]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4824530.stm[/align]
[align=center]^ Article.[/align]
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