The Buddha Boy; What Happened to the Fifteen Year Old Ram Bahundar Bomjon that Many Believed to Be Buddha

I remember a couple of years back being fascinated by the story of the Buddha boy. This was a youngster in Nepal called Ram Bahadur Bomjon (sometimes called by his Buddhist name Palden Dorje)who many people around the world were hailing as the next Buddha. He himself never made such a claim, but this Buddha boy won the world's attention by sitting under a tree and meditating without moving for almost a year. The sight of the fifteen year old Ram Bahadur Bomjon just sitting there under a tree day in and day out certainly made an impression on me. Then he disappeared.

There were many people around the world who automatically dismissed this Buddha boy as a hoax. I never believed he could be a reincarnation of the Buddha; if you believe in the Buddha then you believe that when he gained enlightenment he escaped rebirth. This was not to say that Ram Bahudar Bomjon couldn't have also reached enlightened. If not that then surely all this sitting under a tree for all that time must mean that he had something special to say to the world. No matter what you might think of the claims about the Buddha boy, there is no doubt that he was a dedicated spiritual seeker who deserved respect.

The Buddha Boy disappeared into the forest and wasn't seen for a long time. It was claimed that wanted to escape all the followers and opportunists who were turning his meditation spot into a carnival. He was spotted a few times, and then made a few appearances to his followers, but now reports say that he is ready to meet the world again; in November he will be appearing at a Hindi festival in order to protest the slaughter of animals for that event.

I have no idea about the spiritual attainments of this young man, but I'm certainly willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I look forward to hearing what he has to say to the world. I have never actually heard him speak; I have never even seen him with his eyes open. The fact that he is choosing to make his reappearance in the world to be an attempt to protest the needless sacrifice of animals certainly makes him go up in my estimation. He may well be a hoax, but at least he is an interesting hoax.