Thursday, December 11, 2008

Palden Dorje aka "Buddha Boy"


Please forgive the long delay. I have been fortunate enough to settle into a new home on the east coast and will be back to the regular frequency of posts starting presently. Please enjoy today's posting! Sometimes on this blog we depart from teaching buddhism 101 in a dogmatic fashion in an attempt to relate better to a western viewer. Today I would like to share a news story. In buddhism we do not typically have much in the way of modern "tabloid type" news but this story has caught the buddhist world by storm and I would like to share it with you.

Have you heard of Nepal's "buddha boy" as he is popularized in the eastern media? He is called Palden Dorje. He is a teenager (18 years old now) who grew up very near the town that Shakyamuni Buddha was born. His mother's name is the same as the mother of the legendary Buddha. He went into meditation at the age of 15 under a Papil tree (the same tree Buddha sat under and attained enlightenment). He advised his brother that he would mediate for 6 years (same length of time Buddha contemplated prior to enlightenment) in an attempt to save human beings and liberate suffering in the world, he would come out of the meditation to teach after the period was over. To many in the buddhist world he is seen as Maitreya...the future buddha told of in buddhist legends. He recently came out of meditation to give the following statement before returning to the jungle to complete his mission. He makes some statements about not disturbing him because devotees have swarmed the remote jungle area to sit and be near him:

"Through my meditation I have learned to control my elements of speech, thinking, and all activity. As long as humans lack
this control, they shall need to eat and drink...this is well, although I urge people to honor the pure way

1. Strict vegetarianism
2. Eggs are not permitted, dairy products are permitted
3. The skins of dead animals are to be avoided as accessories
4. Negative speech is to be avoided. Such things, especially among my followers disrupt my meditation
5. For those who would call me into their presence, I abhor alcohol, drugs and tobacco, and those who would come into my
presence must either abstain from the use of such or desist from entering my ground.
6. No one is to leave money in my presence. Money, through it's circulation, has often aquired negative vibrations
which also disrupt my connection to the higher dimensions.

Keeping these rules will not only help me in my meditation but accelerate your own evolution and facilitate our communication. Please understand that though my love for you is unconditional, I am teaching you methodically the correct way. Be aware that our communication consists not of words but of feelings which engender ideas. Be ever alert to the state of your senses and feelings. No event is without significance, each feeling, pain or the presence of a thing or person carries
meaning. Do not give in to feelings of pride or inadequacy, both will subtract from your presence. You are enough as you
are in the moment, all necessities will be shown to you at the appropriate time."

I think it is deeply inspiring that a boy of such young age has devoted himself to metta, to loving-kindness, to the benefit of others through meditation. In this world of me, me, me I think his selfless devotion and powerful belief that he can make a difference through his actions is moving. To many in the west the fact that he has not eaten or drank during this time is a miracle a marvel that can not be understood by modern medicine...this is however not a surprise to devote buddhist. He was filmed by the Discover Channel for 4 days straight(which would be the length of time most people would die from starvation) and showed no degeneration of his physical condition other than profuse sweating at times which is indicative of the type of meditation practice he is performing. As buddhist we know of many geshle's (teachers) who perform this practice. We know of Tuma meditation and after a 1982 medical experiment on monks who were soaked in cold towels that began to steam with body heat being generated by the monks through meditation, so does the rest of the world. Even novice meditators know that they can altar their blood pressure and cardiac functions through meditation...why not heal the world. I give this to you to inspire those of you who have a meditation practice to reach further in your practice and to spread the word of this young boys compassion and display of spiritual power.

May his efforts benefit us all.

~Namaste

I have given a few photos some quite interesting in regard to his appearance when first starting the meditation to only a few days ago to add interest to this piece. Enjoy!


Palden Dorje when first beginning the 6 year meditation at age 15


Palden Dorje photo taken on Dec 3rd 2008 right before he returned to the jungle to complete his meditation. Age 18.


Palden's Mother slept at his tree meditation sight when he went missing in 2006. He was discovered further in the jungle under another tree where he fled the distraction of growing crowds.


Maitreya Iconic Representation

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for spreading the message.

joe7sch said...

I wanted to say thank you for posting this message. I've copied and pasted it to three sites and I wanted to let you know. I think its important to spread the word. It is so hard to get quality information on Palden Dorje.

The in for was posted to:
www.paldendorje.org
http://groups.google.com/group/buddhaboy
baus@yahoogroups.com

Thank you again...

Joe

Unknown said...

The faith, dedication and excitement you put into your posts is infectious. Even to those who may not practice your faith, the blog is of interest for historical and general knowledge purposes. I find your posts insightful; they attract my philosophically inclined mind.

sadhu said...

MANY MANY THANKS TO SPREADING THIS WONDERFUL MESSAGE IN THE WORLD.I AM VERY IMPRESSED BY THIS LITTLE LORD BHUDDHA.I THINK I LIKE(LITTLE BHUDDA) HIM.I LIKED YOUR THIS BEAUTIFUL ARTICLE.

Anonymous said...

You can get uncensored and unfiltered full information, free from cheap propaganda, on Dharma-sangha.com former official website, and the list of more than 40 victims of the physical attacks, rape, kidnapping, robbery and forgery of documents by Ram Bomjon and his cult of fanatics in the article THE RAM BAHADUR BOMJON CONTROVERSY (see on Google) , Viewsonbuddhism and other places (see Google). Also watch the YouTube videos of Dharma Dhara, Zsuzsi Takacs (one of his victims) and Green Light Presentations, among many others, describing Bomjon's kidnapping, tortures and rape ordering. It is very sad that peopel don't check the truth independently, before starting to propagate this dangerous black magician and his gang of criminals! Thisis why his victims had been also fooled and went to him in full trust... Because they also believed in such propagatory blogs.