Monday, February 9, 2015

A Detective

Pedro’s friend Mary is a psychologist. She likes to read mystery novels and play amateur detective. Lately, a story about the Buddha Boy, Ram Bahadur Bomjon, fascinates her greatly. She has seen a video documentary on the Internet that shows the Buddha Boy sitting still in meditation without food and water, under a tree in Nepal, for many months.


His meditation is witnessed by a large crowd that surround him. With many people around day and night, it’s really impossible to smuggle food and water to him without being noticed. Yet no one can say for sure, since the night is totally dark there.

This documentary draws attentions from worldwide audience. Many people, especially scientists, do not believe it is possible that a person can go without food and water for so long. For this, the video makers set up a camera to record what goes on around the clock. After 4 days of recording, it shows that the Buddha Boy does not eat or drink, and his body does not wither as scientists predict it would under such fasting.

Does the Buddha Boy have magical powers? Or is it some trick he does for money and fame? As far as money goes, no donation goes to him. But he is famous. Meditation is no easy task. It is painful to sit for hours without moving or stretching the body. Doing it for days is unimaginable. Yet this young man has done it for months! What motivates him to endure such hardship?

He says he wants to become a Buddha by doing what the Buddha did 2,500 years ago.

Mary looks up the life story of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, whose teaching has become a major religion of Asia. Before becoming the Buddha, Siddhartha was a young prince in Nepal who lived inside a palace compound. There he got the best food, clothes, education, exercise, and entertainment. He did not know the affairs of the world or the lives of people outside the palace. By fate or accident, one day Siddhartha walked outside the palace compound and saw some very old men and some sickly people in the street. Walking around further, he saw a dead body being cremated in a funeral. He had seen no such sights ever before. The sufferings he witnessed greatly moved him, so he vowed to leave home and find a solution to end the pains of old age, sickness, death, and childbirth.

His father the king didn't like his son to abandon the throne he prepared him for. But Siddhartha's determination moved him, so he agreed to let him go. Then Siddhartha began his journey. For many years he wandered in forest and wilderness, seeking ascetic teachers and practicing what he learned. But the solution did not come to him. At last he decided not to wander around or to learn from others anymore. He stopped by a bodhi tree and sat down. For 49 days and nights he sat under the tree in meditation, during which the demon Mara appeared before him, seducing him with beautiful maidens and challenging him his own life and identity. At the end of this spiritual battle, Siddhartha vanquished Mara, and in peace he found the answer he was looking for! From then on he taught his discovery to the world. For this he was called the Buddha, the enlightened one or the awakened one.

A similar story is told in the Bible, Matthew 4:1, where Jesus Christ was in a desert for 40 days and nights.

Mary wonders about what that enlightenment was. How does the enlightenment remove the sufferings of death, birth, old age, and sickness? She researches further. The clues point to the modern day Zen Meditation. The word “Zen” is an English translation of the Chinese / Japanese word “chan” or 禪, which in turn is a Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word “dhyana”. The translations are all based on pronunciation and offer no clues as to what they mean. Dhyana is translated to “absorption” or “meditative state”, which is about as helpful as the word “enlightenment”.

Patriarch Huineng.gif
Patriarch Huineng


What has the Buddha Boy found out about enlightenment?

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