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The "Buddha boy." AP

A young Nepalese boy who many believe is the reincarnation of Buddha has re-emerged from the jungle in southern Nepal, and thousands of people have flocked to Nijgadh town, about 100 miles (160 km) south of Kathmandu, to see the boy.

Dubbed the “Buddha boy,” Ram Bahadur Bomjam, 18, became famous in 2005 after his family claimed he could sit for months on end without sleep, food or water. He retreated into the jungle for more than a year, and re-emerged on Monday.

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The Little Buddha of Bara

Keith D Leslie in Nepali Times:

At first, I was skeptical about going to receive darshan from Ram Bahadur Bomzon, ‘The Little Buddha of Bara’. I didn’t want to be part of a human circus. I felt this young man was showing us the way each of us should practice our own dharma in search of greater good, devotion or sanctity-not racing off to see someone else practice theirs. Still, I was intrigued.

So, with friends, we drove over the Tribhuban Rajpath amidst the spectacular backdrop of the Central Himalaya. We first passed an RNA check point in Palung then below Daman drove by young well-armed Maoists chopping down trees. A night-stop at the Avocado Motel in Hetauda, then early next morning we drove to Bara. As we woke, I recalled that exactly one year ago on 2 January I had watched the sun rise driving back to Bangkok after the cremation of our friend, Robin Needham, the former CARE Nepal Director. Now the sun was rising anew with the miracle of life full circle as we were off to see a young boy seeking inspiration and salvation in the jungles of Nepal.

[Keith D Leslie cultivates bamboo and live with his children Joshua, Ezra and Leah Prajna Rose outside Kathmandu.]

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