Teenage Buddha Boy in Nepal Goes Missing

Maybe he realized he was creating too much desire in the crowds coming to see him and split?
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TEENAGE ‘BUDDHA’ GOES MISSING
Associated Press
Saturday, March 11, 2006

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/03/11/nepal.missing.ap/

KATHMANDU, Nepal – A teenage boy in Nepal whose followers believe he is the
reincarnation of Buddha has suddenly gone missing after 10 months of
meditation, allegedly without food or water, officials said Saturday.

Followers of Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, reported his disappearance and a police
team has been sent to the jungles of Bara, about 160 kilometers (100 miles)
south of the capital, Kathmandu, to investigate, said Santaraj Subedi, the
chief government official in the district.

It was still unclear when he went missing, but initial reports said he was
last seen on Friday.

Subedi said police were investigating if the boy just wandered into the
jungle or was abducted by local robbers.

Banjan has been sitting cross-legged and motionless with eyes closed in a
niche among the roots of a tree in the jungle since May 17, 2005, according
to his associates, who claim he has had no food or water during that period.

In recent months, thousands of people have come to glimpse the boy, many who
believe Banjan is a reincarnation of Gautama Siddhartha, who was born not
far away in southwestern Nepal around 500 B.C. and later became revered as
the Buddha.

Officials who investigated the claim never interviewed the boy and were
unable to verify the claims.

Visitors have only been allowed to view the Banjan between dawn and dusk
from a roped-off area about 25 meters (80 feet) away. His followers kept him
from public view at night, when they would place a screen in front of him.

Buddhist priests who visited him said the boy was not the incarnation of
Buddha but believed he had been meditating for months.

Buddhism teaches that right thinking and self-control can enable people to
achieve nirvana — a divine state of peace and release from desire. Buddhism
has about 325 million followers, mostly in Asia.