Buddha Boy meditating in pit

by niranjanPosted on March 28, 2007 Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit, Buddha Boy, Life, Nepal

When I read the news about Bomjan’s plan to start the ‘patal samadhi’ (underground meditation), it appeared to me that he’ll go under the trench and they’ll literally bury him alive. I was very worried about his safety and wished that he knew what he’s doing. But I feel better after reading eKantipur’s report that he’s meditating in a bunker, which is cemented from all sides and has a roof of tiles. Now that’s not a live burial, I guess.

According to Inspector Rameshwor Yadav of the Area Police Post Nijgadh, Bomjon was inside the bunker-like square ditch of seven feet.

“We call it bunker,” he said, adding, ” Although it’s seven feet deep, there is no lack of oxygen inside,” said Yadav, who claimed to have seen him going inside it from close range Monday.

A police team, under the command of Yadav, had gone to the place after word of Bomjon being on underground meditation spread in the area.

“His face was clean and hair was combed well,” Yadav said. According to him, “the bunker” has been cemented from all sides with roof of tiles.

So, some people think he’s looking for a peaceful place to meditate while others think he’s doing this for popularity and more money. I think he’s doing this for the same reason Buddha did 2600 years ago. Of course it’s a different matter whether he’ll be able to attain enlightenment or not. I’m not sure about his followers, but I’m quite sure about him, that he neither cares about money nor fame.

Buddha boy plans live burial

by niranjanPosted on March 26, 2007 Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit, Buddha Boy, Life, Nepal

Ram Bahadur Bomjoan, the Buddha Boy is back in the news with reports that he plans to be buried alive while meditating.

Bomjan now plans to begin ‘patal samadhi’ (underground meditation), a private TV channel reported Monday, quoting a local journalist.

According to reports, his followers have already dug up an eight-feet deep trench in which Bomjan plans to descend. The trench will be then filled.

Asian religious traditions narrate tales of holy men being buried alive, braving extreme heat or cold and subjecting the body to other torments in order to master the senses and attain salvation.

A question is being asked whether the district administration will allow Bomjan’s followers to bury him. There has been no official response.

I’ve no idea what this means or will lead to if it’s true. I just hope that he knows what he’s doing. Searched Google to see if anyone has attempted this before and found this interesting overview of Scientific Studies of Contemplative Experience by Michael Murphy.

Like heart stopping, the live burial of yogis has excited the interest of several researchers. A physician, Rustom Jal Vakil, published an account in the British journal Lancet of such a confinement that was witnessed by some 10,000 people near Bombay in February 1950. According to Vakil, an emaciated sadhu named Ramdasji sat cross-legged in a subterranean 216-cubic-foot cubicle and remained there for sixty-two hours. His pulse remained steady at eighty beats per minute; his blood pressure was 112/78; and his respiratory rate fluctuated from eight to ten breaths per minute. Though he had some scratches and cuts, Vakil wrote, Ramdasji appeared “none the worse for his grueling experience.”

Buddha Boy goes missing again

by niranjanPosted on March 10, 2007 Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit, Buddha Boy, Life, Nepal

Update 13 March 2007: He’s been found safe and is meditating in a new place.

All Headline News is reporting that the Buddha Boy (Ram Bahadur Bomjan) has gone missing again after he re-appeared in December last year on Christmas day. He’s been meditating near Halkhoriya pond in Bara, since his re-appearance in December. Locals in the district said he left his meditating place Thursday midnight.

Officials of Namo Buddha Service Committee searched for him throughout the day on Friday. Inspector Rameshwor Yadav of the Area Police Office in Nijgadh said the police have not been able to reach the spot though they were reported about his missing.