Greetings,
I came across this article today and thought you guys might find interest in it as well. 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/21/wbuddha21.xml
Interesting⌠heard any updates on him?
Nicole,
The age-old Fame-for-Miracles trade: big claims, small proofsâŚ
A telling detail:
Why did they need to draw a big curtain around him âbecause a snake had bitten himâ?
Like a snake (timid animals that stay well away from people) slipped through all those crowds of people watching him, to get a special tasty-bite out of our buddha-boy âŚ
They drew a big curtain around him because there was something going on which people must not be allowed to see.
What was there that people must not be allowed to see?
Burgers, fries and a milk-shake? 
-David
But surely they must have been veggie burgers? lol
âŚsome books, an ipod.
Hopefully not another religionâŚ
a porta-potty. . .
The latest i heard about Ram Boujon, he has been kidnap or been taking away in the forest.
Vishnu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Bomjon
Disappearance
Bomjon, after about ten months of meditation, went missing on March 11, 2006. It is unclear whether or not he voluntarily left for the local jungles or was abducted. Some believe he ventured farther into the jungle to seek a more serene place for intensive meditation. There is an ongoing investigation. Police abandoned the search after the possibility of foul play was eliminated. Interestingly, the authorities froze the bank account of the local committee managing the crowds, which had now gathered more than Rs. 600,000.
On March 19, the Chairman of the Om Namo Buddha Tapaswi Sewa Samiti (ONBTSS), Bed Bahadur Lama, and his colleagues allegedly met with Bomjan about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south-west of his meditation site. They say they spoke to him for thirty-minutes, during which Bomjan told them there is no peace here and he would return in six years. He left a message for his parents telling them not to worry. He has not been seen nor heard from since.
More from Wiki:
An average human being who stops drinking will die of dehydration in three to four days. According to the Guinness Book of Records the longest time a human has survived without water is 18 days. The boyâs followers claim the boy went for several months without drinking any water. 
Bomjon has been observed not to leave the tree at least during the daytime, but nobody is allowed to approach him too closely. Between 5:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. nobody is allowed to see him, and a screen is erected for that purpose. Many people speculate that he eats and drinks during this time.
Glass half empty, eh David? Even if the skepticism in your post holds completely true, doesnât it impress you in the least that a child meditated at least twelve hours daily for ten months straight? 
It has been said, âKnow the truth, and the truth will set you freeâ. Is it true that Ram Bon Jon wasnât drinking or eating anything? Were people set free by believing it?
Did I do a disservice? In the light of the claims that this is a miracle-boy who is defying the laws of nature by eating and drinking nothing for months on end, the question, âWhat did those who covered him with a curtain at night wish to hide from us?â has such an obvious answer that it is pretty clear that this myth was carried in large part by those who wanted to believe more than wanted to know the truth. So, what did the disservice? That which set the illusion up and carried it, or that which dissolved it?
We can ask more questions. Why did his minders wish us to believe he was eating and drinking nothing? Why did the boy participate? Have people really been helped by the likes of this? Are they hurt by the likes of me?
P.T Barnum has his place. Buddha has another. If P.T. Barnum attempts to seize Buddhaâs place, he must be stopped by those who know enough to serve in this way.
doesnât it impress you in the least that a child meditated at least twelve hours daily for ten months straight?
A little, but not hugely. Probably because I could have done it myself at that age. Itâs an uncommon talent, but not the mark of a Buddha.
I see. Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Thanks for putting up the post. And above all, enjoy AYP!
Very well said. I applaud this post and your efforts. This was done with logic, common sense, and without anything that could be called malicious humor. Keep it up David.
Thanks LittleDragon. Appreciations are rare. The way of the skeptic is a hard and lonely path.
[picks up laptop and walks David-Carradine-in-âKung-Fuâ-style into the sunset]
Nice post, David.
Only when you dive into the spiritual society without losing your brain power, I think. In my department which I will be leaving soon, over 80% are skeptics, most of the rest donât even bother to think about it, and very few are interested in spiritual paths.(all Christians)
But then I am in a humilating position: with the standard here (or any spiritual group), I am an unwelcomed skeptic that I simply prefer not to say too much; but in front of my collegues, I can hardly tell them anything about my esoteric yogic practicesâIâll lose my credibility if I canât justify practices other than meditation, and I canât.
Thatâs always in my mind, and triggered again by Davidâs post: as spirituality is almost always accompanied by ignorance, âwrongâ passion about âtruthâ (which is usually made up of liesâŚ); I wonder what spirituality really is, and whether it is something that should be encouraged. I have little doubt that the scope of the term is miscontrued, as weâve disscused in http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=647
But I went further to doubt the whole concept of spirituality. What is it, really? One reason why I appreciate Yoganiâs teaching so much is that he explained it in a simple language: bliss, inner silence, etc. But it could mean more for different people, e.g. God, Jesus,âŚUnfortunately, those âmoreâ very often includes a large amount of ignorance that I think has outweight any possible benefits.
Imagine someone who feels bliss all the time, and may be egoless, but canât properly interact with the others and cause much troubles. Is he enlightened? For many, that may depend on whether he lives alone in a cave or downtown. A paradox for the yogis, but not for B. Russell.
I hope Iâve missed something, but I suspect that spiritual path will in general (just in general) bring people into an illusion of something called âtruthâ, enlightenment, etc, whateverâŚsomething sound fancy, anyway. And the followers get some drug-like effects, like bliss, ecstasy from these believes. Many Christian are so proud to think that they are the chosen ones. Dangerous cults do this effectively, âsafeâ religions adapt and make themselves compatible with our common values.
My pet tarantula could sit still for up to 3 days(usually more than 12 hours daily) and for 5 years straight. She must be Buddhaâs secret teacher in her past life??
The child hardly impressed me. I feel bad and bored to learn the story. The child may have autism and the ignorance of those who praise and promote such feats would ruin the childâs future. Itâs as serious as that, and yet such stories are attractive for most here. See, our desire for the truth will lead us (or the others) to misery, and in the process we feel good! Still say it is spiritual?
Alvin
Alvin said:
But then I am in a humilating position: with the standard here (or any spiritual group), I am an unwelcomed skeptic that I simply prefer not to say too much; but in front of my collegues, I can hardly tell them anything about my esoteric yogic practicesâIâll lose my credibility if I canât justify practices other than meditation, and I canât.
My experience is similar in some ways. In the world of Science, not many have much understanding of yoga and meditation, and in the world of Yoga, not many people have a strong grasp of Science or even Rational Enquiry.
So unfortunately, this means that a person who is strong in both may not fit in very well in the community of either. Which is a curse ( for obvious reasons) but a blessing in another way; such a person can be a bridge between the two, and something of a pioneer.
I like the nature of the thought of someone like Bertrand Russell, and in fact if I could push a button and make it happen, I would prefer to see his taboo-free enquiry-based humanism applied across the board in public human affairs (though not necessarily in private ones). It isnât going to happen though, and in a way, people like Bertrand Russell are a little self-defeating because they have so little understanding of the non-rational side of human beings. This is why someone like Russell, who has a lot of good ideas, can never be convincing on a large scale.
Better to know both the rational and non-rational, and master both.
Hi David,
The problem that I find with this logic is that you seem to have left out transrational, which includes integral and beyond. Placing rational at the top of the ladder is extremely limiting, and actually leaves no room for the idea of enlightenment in the vertical stages of consciousness.
Iâm not sure if you are familiar with the work of Ken Wilber (founder of the Integral Institute), but Iâd recommend checking it out if you ever get a chance. Iâve personally studied his ten disc âKosmic Consciousnessâ program, which I found to be extremely groundbreaking in many areas of understanding human consciousness. There is also a wonderful overview of his work in the new âWhat Is Enlightenmentâ magazine (currently on newsstands), which is quite a bit cheaper than the ten disc set.
Apologies for the threadjack, but Iâd be interested to hear your thoughts on this, as I personally found it to be quite fascinating and it seems to fit it quite well with the current topic at hand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wilber
Namaste,
Brett
Yes David, (and others) I too would like to hear your thoughts on Wilber. I think heâs done some important ground breaking when it comes to bringing science and spirituality together.
An online source of some of his writing is
http://wilber.shambhala.com/html/archive/archive.cfm
But I would recommend the book âThe Simple Feeling of Being, Embracing Your True Natureâ (a collection of his more âspiritualâ writings) more highly. While Ken seems to have walked on just about every path and tries to find the value in each, he is mostly a nondual Buddist type.