I didnt want to put this in the religion section to be butchered and besides I believe allot of the situation has to do with culture. Afterall, our religions have all evolved from their pure forms to thier modern day versions via influence of surrounding culture.
Devotees Say Teen Is Buddha Reborn
Devotees Say Teen Is Buddha RebornBy BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, AP
posted: 1 HOUR 22 MINUTES AGOcomments: 56filed under: World NewsPrintShareText SizeAAARATANPUR, Nepal (Nov. 12) - The teenage boy revered by many as a reincarnation of Buddha sat silently in the jungle as he blessed his devotees Wednesday with a light tap on the head, which they consider the touch of the divine.
His face was still, his long hair spilled over his white robe, and he never said a word.
The followers of Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 18, believe he has been meditating without food and water since he was first spotted in the jungles of southern Nepal in 2005, when believers say he spent months without moving, sitting with his eyes closed beneath a tree.
Bamjan re-emerged this week to meet his followers, who have come by the thousands to see him in the jungles of Ratanpur, about 100 miles south of Katmandu.
“I got a chance to see God today,” Bishnu Maya Khadka, a housewife, said after receiving Bamjan’s blessing Wednesday. “They say he is Buddha, but for me he is just God.”
Bamjan was expected to address his followers on Nov. 18 and then retreat again into the jungle for meditation, said Kamal Tamang, a Buddhist priest.
Bamjan received the pilgrims from atop a podium covered in yellow cloth and placed before a massive tree. He looked healthy and strong and showed no signs of starvation or dehydration.
Buddhism, which has about 325 million followers, mostly in Asia, teaches that every soul is reincarnated after death in another bodily form.