Exposing the Buddha Boy and HR

[Jhanananda]

Finding an authentic spiritual teacher
Dialog with Jhananda at the GWV Winter Retreat 2008.1
David Whitehouse Videographer
Bomjon, HR and other teachers who make fantastic claims.
The young man, who is Ram Bahadur Bomjon (born c. 9 April 1990, sometimes spelt Bomjan, Banjan, or Bamjan), and also known as Palden Dorje, (his monastic name), Nicknamed the Buddha Boy.
http://www.paldendorje.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palden_Dorje
December 25, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBPlFVdjrPk&feature=related

Finding an authentic spiritual teacher part II
Dialog with Jhananda at the GWV Winter Retreat 2008.2
David Whitehouse Videographer
Bomjon, HR and other teachers who make fantastic claims.
The young man, who is Ram Bahadur Bomjon (born c. 9 April 1990, sometimes spelt Bomjan, Banjan, or Bamjan), and also known as Palden Dorje, (his monastic name), Nicknamed the Buddha Boy.
December 25, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGhPWwCGqY

[Luke Avedon]

I was curious whatever happened to this guy, so I found this disturbing update:

http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2012/06/02/ram-bomjon-the-buddha-boys-reign-of-terror-continues/

[Jhanananda]

After the kind of wholesale character assassination that I have experienced I am inclined to be skeptical of all report of gurus, both good and bad.  Instead I examine the record.  When we see a teenager, or child, claiming to be enlightened, then we can be sure the person is not enlightened.  The rest is irrelevant. But, good to receive the reports of misbehavior as proof that the Buddha Boy is a fraud. 

My premise after examining the religious literature of the major religions and finding that they all depend upon gross translation errors, that religion is full of frauds, so buyer beware.  Unpack your belief systems so that you know you have not been sold a stinking pile of manure and told it was the words of an enlightened being.

[Luke Avedon]

When we see a teenager, or child, claiming to be enlightened, then we can be sure the person is not enlightened.

do you think a once-returner could be reborn and then meditate a lot from ages 5 - 18 and become a young arahat? It's hard to imagine knowing teenagers.  Just curious.

--Luke

[Jhanananda]

I began meditating as a child before I knew what it was, so did Michael. But, I did not develop a formal meditation practice until I was 20, but I made good progress at the time.  So, I am disinclined to believe a child or a teenager could become enlightened, but there is no reason why children and adolescents could not take up a contemplative life.

[Cybermonk]

Hello Cybermonks,

I agree, children can find a good path, if the elders in their lives truly know
what the heck's going on. Some children are born with a more developed
awareness. My wife, Malia, tells me she could understand language before
she could pronounce words. Is that DNA at work? Perhaps a proof of
reincarnation? Just a smart ass kid? Who knows!

So... Jeffrey, who was it? In the past, I believe you spoke of a grandmother,
who  help answer questions.  Of course, I respect your privacy, so I
don't have to know.

[Jhanananda]

Wiki
Ram Bahadur Bomjon (Sanskrit: राम बहादुर बामजान) (born c. 09 April 1990, sometimes spelt Bomjan, Banjan, or Bamjan), also known as Palden Dorje (his monastic name) and now Dharma Sangha, is from Ratanapuri village, Bara district, Nepal. Some of his supporters have claimed that he is a reincarnation of the Buddha, but Ram himself has denied this, and many practitioners of Buddhism[who?] agree that the Buddha has entered nirvana and cannot be reborn.

He drew thousands of visitors and media attention by spending months in meditation. Nicknamed the Buddha Boy, he began his meditation on 16 May 2005.

 On 8 November 2005 Dorje said, "Tell the people not to call me a Buddha. I don't have the Buddha's energy. I am at the level of a rinpoche." Rinpoche ("precious jewel") is an honorific used in Tibetan Buddhism for a teacher and adept. He said that he will need six more years of meditation before he can become a Buddha

A teenager claiming he is an adept (rinpoche) is pretty arrogant, so he down-played the Buddha, and became just an adept. Oh boy.

wiki
Some supporters believe that claims of inedia are less relevant than Bomjon's undisputed ability to remain nearly motionless in the same position day after day, with no regard for extremes of weather including cold winter and monsoon rains. For example, American writer George Saunders visited Bomjon and observed him through a single night, and was impressed by Bomjon's perfectly still stature, even during an evening climate which seemed unbearably cold to the much better clothed journalist.

It is all too easy to defraud people by forcing them to remain at a distance, while Bomjon and his brother posted a statue looking like Bomjon, while Bomjon went to eat and sleep.

wiki
In 2006, Discovery Channel showed a 45-minute documentary titled The Boy With Divine Powers. One of the aims was to establish whether Ram was indeed abstaining from all sustenance, water included, by filming him continuously for four days and nights. On their first attempt, in January 2006, the film crew was required to stay outside a guarded barbed-wire fence, and their camera's infrared capabilities did not pick up evidence of a body at the base of the tree where Bomjon sat during their non-stop recording.

A Slovak woman held captive for three months by followers of Ram Bahadur Bomjon, was released on March 25, 2012.

I go off and meditate for 2 years, and no one cares.  What is the big attraction to this kid?

[Luke Avedon]

Hi Jeffrey,

Those are good points--thanks for continuing the investigation.

A teenager claiming he is an adept (rinpoche) is pretty arrogant

I guess in theory Rinpoches have to be reborn somewhere.

It is all too easy to defraud people by forcing them to remain at a distance, while Bomjon and his brother posted a statue looking like Bomjon, while Bomjon went to eat and sleep.

Do you think it's possible for folks to remain still for a very very long time in 4th Jhana? In Sheila Catherine's book she claims that in fourth jhana she can sit there all day (I think I have to check the book) and it can be dangerous to the body as one is so equanimous it's easy to ignore what the body needs.  She also claims this experience of the 4th Jhana is where stories of yogis not moving for a whole week ect. come from.

Bes,t Luke

[Jhanananda]

Hi Jeffrey,

Those are good points--thanks for continuing the investigation.

You are welcome.  Yesterday, while searching Google on a topic, I bumped into their list of known frauds.  I found Bomjon, so I read through their listing on him, and coped and posted here what I thought were salient points.