Nepal Budda Boy's goes 6 months without water

Mid · 1st December 2005, 04:38 AM

From this article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4479240.stm

Quote:

Ram Bahadur Bamjan's friends, relatives and managers say he has been meditating without drinking water for six months now and that he will carry on for another six years until he gains enlightenment - as did the Buddha some 250km (160 miles) away in Lumbini in western Nepal.

And:

Quote:

Some say he has eaten nothing since he began his meditation, others that he used to take a milk-like liquid from the roots of the peepal tree at the beginning.

In either case colour me sceptical on these claims

, although does anyone have any information about the nutritional value of the peepal tree?

I suppose it all could be true as the boys obviously a freak:

Quote:

"He never touched alcohol," said his primary education teacher, Salden Lama.

I mean who doesn't drink alcohol whilst at primary school

The Don · 1st December 2005, 04:43 AM

In a news report I read, each night he is shielded by a curtain for a number of hours. Now I wouldn't necessarily call shenannigans, but if I were trying to appear to go for a year without food or water, a convenient period of "private meditation" in the middle of the night (possibly with a Big Mac and fries) would be on the cards

brettDbass · 1st December 2005, 04:49 AM

Originally Posted by The Don

In a news report I read, each night he is shielded by a curtain for a number of hours. Now I wouldn't necessarily call shenannigans, but if I were trying to appear to go for a year without food or water, a convenient period of "private meditation" in the middle of the night (possibly with a Big Mac and fries) would be on the cards

Ooh, how harsh of you.
Don't you know he's just going there for a private meeting with David Blaine?

Psi Baba · 2nd December 2005, 11:05 AM

I don't know why they keep saying it's difficult to examine him because they don't want to touch or disturb him. What's to examine? Just observe him--continuously--for a week or so. Eventually he will drink water or die. Mystery solved.

alfaniner · 2nd December 2005, 12:32 PM

You know, every single paranormal story starts like this, with an interesting premise. If it stayed within those parameters, it would be fascinating. But then there's always more detail that clouds the issue.

CFLarsen · 2nd December 2005, 12:38 PM

Does he ever pee?

Azrael 5 · 2nd December 2005, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by Psi Baba

I don't know why they keep saying it's difficult to examine him because they don't want to touch or disturb him. What's to examine? Just observe him--continuously--for a week or so. Eventually he will drink water or die. Mystery solved.

Succintly put.

Ryokan · 2nd December 2005, 12:57 PM

Rather than comment on this again, I'll link to the last discussion we had on this topic

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=47841

c4ts · 2nd December 2005, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Ram Bahadur Bamjan's friends, relatives and managers say he has been meditating without drinking water

So he didn't drink water, he drank something else!

Quote:

Some say he has eaten nothing since he began his meditation, others that he used to take a milk-like liquid from the roots of the peepal tree at the beginning.

Yep. He's drinking root-fluid stuff, and probably eating, too.

Mid · 3rd December 2005, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by Ryokan

Rather than comment on this again, I'll link to the last discussion we had on this topic

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=47841

Had a scan to see if this had been covered obviously missed it, oh well never mind

Dancing David · 4th December 2005, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by The Don

In a news report I read, each night he is shielded by a curtain for a number of hours. Now I wouldn't necessarily call shenannigans, but if I were trying to appear to go for a year without food or water, a convenient period of "private meditation" in the middle of the night (possibly with a Big Mac and fries) would be on the cards

Don't forget the commode!

Jyera · 4th December 2005, 09:38 PM

Originally Posted by CFLarsen

Does he ever pee?

Perhaps if he arranged for a shower regularly every day, then he doesn't need to explicitly go for a pee.

Or perhaps he goes for a swim regularly.

tumnus · 5th December 2005, 04:04 AM

Hi folks, I signed up to add this point, which was mentioned in the bbc online news story. Apparently many people were arriving to make donations to the boy, at the time of the news story they had made almost £7000 (and I know the average wage in India is £100 pm for a software engineer).

If the boy doesn't need food or water, why the donations? i smell something fishy...

Mid · 5th December 2005, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by tumnus

Hi folks, I signed up to add this point, which was mentioned in the bbc online news story. Apparently many people were arriving to make donations to the boy, at the time of the news story they had made almost £7000 (and I know the average wage in India is £100 pm for a software engineer).

If the boy doesn't need food or water, why the donations? i smell something fishy...

From the article:

Quote:

Local people have formed a committee to make sure Bamjan gets the right environment to meditate and to manage the influx of visitors and the offerings they make.

The money's obviously needed for committee running expenses e.g. pay for photocopying, the phone bill, marketing expenses etc.

sf108 · 5th December 2005, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by Jyera

Perhaps if he arranged for a shower regularly every day, then he doesn't need to explicitly go for a pee.

Or perhaps he goes for a swim regularly.

WoW. A shower a day? A swim a day? Plenty of water around...but he resists to drink it? Fantastic!

According to the latest article, the authorities are going to investigate this boy:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/sus...631201011.html

Elind · 5th December 2005, 10:50 PM

Just proves that Buddhists can be just as stupid as many others.

Many others.

(I believe there are Buddhist roaming here. My apologies, provided you call an obvious fraud a fraud.)

Ryokan · 5th December 2005, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by Elind

(I believe there are Buddhist roaming here. My apologies, provided you call an obvious fraud a fraud.)

I wouldn't call it a fraud, but neither do I believe the story is true.

vbloke · 5th December 2005, 11:55 PM

I find it amazing that the faith of the believers is so trusting that there's no secret feeding going on when the curtains are drawn.

My first thought when I heard about this was "why the curtain?" they have a barrier to stop people getting too close, so why does he need this secondary barrier to put him out of sight for a few hours a day? Why aren't the believers asking these questions?

I applaud the position of the authorities that they're going to investigate this, although they've taken their time over it - the whole situation is too far down the line and worldwide news before they decide to act.

CFLarsen · 6th December 2005, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by vbloke

I find it amazing that the faith of the believers is so trusting that there's no secret feeding going on when the curtains are drawn.

My first thought when I heard about this was "why the curtain?" they have a barrier to stop people getting too close, so why does he need this secondary barrier to put him out of sight for a few hours a day? Why aren't the believers asking these questions?

If we can only get believers to ask that kind of question, we have come far.

Elind · 6th December 2005, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by Ryokan

I wouldn't call it a fraud, but neither do I believe the story is true.

Could you clarify that? Sounds like a contradiction unless you think all those involved are so mindlessly brainwashed they don't know what they are doing.

Ryokan · 6th December 2005, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by Elind

Could you clarify that? Sounds like a contradiction unless you think all those involved are so mindlessly brainwashed they don't know what they are doing.

I don't know much about Nepalese Buddhism, to be honest, but I do know that the Nepalese are very very religious when it comes to their Buddhism.

I believe that the people involved believe they have the real deal, although I have no way to know that.

Fraud, to me, means they have intent to decieve. I don't believe that's the case here.

Elind · 6th December 2005, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by Ryokan

I don't know much about Nepalese Buddhism, to be honest, but I do know that the Nepalese are very very religious when it comes to their Buddhism.

I believe that the people involved believe they have the real deal, although I have no way to know that.

Fraud, to me, means they have intent to decieve. I don't believe that's the case here.

Either you believe this boy can survive without food or water as claimed, or it is fraud because someone knows what his daily crap looks like.

What do you think?

Jesus Baby Daddy · 6th December 2005, 01:36 PM

I don't profess to know much about these peoples level of education, but could they possibly mean "no water" as in drinking no clear liquid that you get out of a tap? I myself have had no water in nearly a week. But I do manage to drink about 6 cokes, 4 mountain dews, 2 coffee's a day. An occasional beer as well. But no water.

(and my Dentist loves this fact $$$)

1st December 2005, 04:38 AM	#1
Mid Muse Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 752	Nepal Budda Boy's goes 6 months without water From this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4479240.stm Quote: Ram Bahadur Bamjan's friends, relatives and managers say he has been meditating without drinking water for six months now and that he will carry on for another six years until he gains enlightenment - as did the Buddha some 250km (160 miles) away in Lumbini in western Nepal. And: Quote: Some say he has eaten nothing since he began his meditation, others that he used to take a milk-like liquid from the roots of the peepal tree at the beginning. In either case colour me sceptical on these claims , although does anyone have any information about the nutritional value of the peepal tree? I suppose it all could be true as the boys obviously a freak: Quote: "He never touched alcohol," said his primary education teacher, Salden Lama. I mean who doesn't drink alcohol whilst at primary school
Mid Muse Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 752

1st December 2005, 04:49 AM	#3
brettDbass Kurious Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: The Birmingham School Of Business School (Leicester branch) Posts: 1,320	Originally Posted by The Don In a news report I read, each night he is shielded by a curtain for a number of hours. Now I wouldn't necessarily call shenannigans, but if I were trying to appear to go for a year without food or water, a convenient period of "private meditation" in the middle of the night (possibly with a Big Mac and fries) would be on the cards Ooh, how harsh of you. Don't you know he's just going there for a private meeting with David Blaine?
	__________________ ist's single Pep Talk available to downlaod on Amazon US, Amazon UK & iTunes NOW! Why not check out my Legendary Guitar Sounds Series?

2nd December 2005, 11:05 AM	#4
Psi Baba Homo Skepticalis Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: On a recumbent bike Posts: 2,202	I don't know why they keep saying it's difficult to examine him because they don't want to touch or disturb him. What's to examine? Just observe him--continuously--for a week or so. Eventually he will drink water or die. Mystery solved.
	__________________ "I was afraid of this enormous emptiness, but my personal view is that when we die, we die, and we go from a state of something to a state of absolute nothingness; and I don’t believe for a second that there’s anything above or beyond or anything like that; and this makes me enormously secure." -- Ingmar Bergman

2nd December 2005, 12:32 PM	#5
alfaniner Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 7,399	You know, every single paranormal story starts like this, with an interesting premise. If it stayed within those parameters, it would be fascinating. But then there's always more detail that clouds the issue.
	__________________ It's pronounced "alpha-nine-er".

2nd December 2005, 12:38 PM	#6
CFLarsen Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 42,805	Does he ever pee?
	__________________ SkepticReport.com

1st December 2005, 04:43 AM	#2
The Don Illuminator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Brizzle Posts: 3,527	In a news report I read, each night he is shielded by a curtain for a number of hours. Now I wouldn't necessarily call shenannigans, but if I were trying to appear to go for a year without food or water, a convenient period of "private meditation" in the middle of the night (possibly with a Big Mac and fries) would be on the cards

2nd December 2005, 12:45 PM	#7
Azrael 5 Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Yorkshire,Uk Posts: 4,171	Originally Posted by Psi Baba I don't know why they keep saying it's difficult to examine him because they don't want to touch or disturb him. What's to examine? Just observe him--continuously--for a week or so. Eventually he will drink water or die. Mystery solved. Succintly put.
	__________________ "I achieve these results through a mixture of magic,misdirection,suggestion and showmanship"-Derren Brown Photography here

2nd December 2005, 12:57 PM	#8
Ryokan Insert something funny here Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 3,874	Rather than comment on this again, I'll link to the last discussion we had on this topic http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=47841
	__________________ Ryokan is an ex Resident Buddhist here, but I changed him. - yrreg I wouldnt blame dustin or Yrreg. You guys have demonised them enough because you cant counter their very valid arguments. - onemind You heard it here first, people! Ryokan admits to being a pedophile! - shemp

2nd December 2005, 06:33 PM	#9
c4ts Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Your base Posts: 8,428	Quote: Ram Bahadur Bamjan's friends, relatives and managers say he has been meditating without drinking water So he didn't drink water, he drank something else! Quote: Some say he has eaten nothing since he began his meditation, others that he used to take a milk-like liquid from the roots of the peepal tree at the beginning. Yep. He's drinking root-fluid stuff, and probably eating, too.
	__________________ Ha ha ha ha.... Stupid signature size limit.

3rd December 2005, 07:50 AM	#10
Mid Muse Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 752	Originally Posted by Ryokan Rather than comment on this again, I'll link to the last discussion we had on this topic http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=47841 Had a scan to see if this had been covered obviously missed it, oh well never mind
Mid Muse Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 752

4th December 2005, 06:30 PM	#11
Dancing David Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 17,339	Originally Posted by The Don In a news report I read, each night he is shielded by a curtain for a number of hours. Now I wouldn't necessarily call shenannigans, but if I were trying to appear to go for a year without food or water, a convenient period of "private meditation" in the middle of the night (possibly with a Big Mac and fries) would be on the cards Don't forget the commode!
	__________________ I’m not ready to make nice, I’m not ready to back down, I’m still mad as hell and I don’t have time to go round and round and round, It’s too late to make it right I probably wouldn’t if I could, ‘Cause I’m mad as hell, Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should- Dixie Chicks

4th December 2005, 09:38 PM	#12
Jyera Muse Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 736	Originally Posted by CFLarsen Does he ever pee? Perhaps if he arranged for a shower regularly every day, then he doesn't need to explicitly go for a pee. Or perhaps he goes for a swim regularly.
Jyera Muse Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 736

5th December 2005, 04:04 AM	#13
tumnus Scholar Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: The backwards boondocks of Kent, UK Posts: 57	Hi folks, I signed up to add this point, which was mentioned in the bbc online news story. Apparently many people were arriving to make donations to the boy, at the time of the news story they had made almost £7000 (and I know the average wage in India is £100 pm for a software engineer). If the boy doesn't need food or water, why the donations? i smell something fishy...

5th December 2005, 10:53 AM	#14
Mid Muse Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 752	Originally Posted by tumnus Hi folks, I signed up to add this point, which was mentioned in the bbc online news story. Apparently many people were arriving to make donations to the boy, at the time of the news story they had made almost £7000 (and I know the average wage in India is £100 pm for a software engineer). If the boy doesn't need food or water, why the donations? i smell something fishy... From the article: Quote: Local people have formed a committee to make sure Bamjan gets the right environment to meditate and to manage the influx of visitors and the offerings they make. The money's obviously needed for committee running expenses e.g. pay for photocopying, the phone bill, marketing expenses etc.
Mid Muse Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 752

5th December 2005, 10:17 PM	#15
sf108 Thinker Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sydney Posts: 180	Originally Posted by Jyera Perhaps if he arranged for a shower regularly every day, then he doesn't need to explicitly go for a pee. Or perhaps he goes for a swim regularly. WoW. A shower a day? A swim a day? Plenty of water around...but he resists to drink it? Fantastic! According to the latest article, the authorities are going to investigate this boy: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/sus...631201011.html
	__________________ "You touch me, I touch you back" - Bruce Lee.

5th December 2005, 10:50 PM	#16
Elind Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Florida Posts: 5,741	Just proves that Buddhists can be just as stupid as many others. Many others. (I believe there are Buddhist roaming here. My apologies, provided you call an obvious fraud a fraud.)

5th December 2005, 11:48 PM	#17
Ryokan Insert something funny here Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 3,874	Originally Posted by Elind (I believe there are Buddhist roaming here. My apologies, provided you call an obvious fraud a fraud.) I wouldn't call it a fraud, but neither do I believe the story is true.
	__________________ Ryokan is an ex Resident Buddhist here, but I changed him. - yrreg I wouldnt blame dustin or Yrreg. You guys have demonised them enough because you cant counter their very valid arguments. - onemind You heard it here first, people! Ryokan admits to being a pedophile! - shemp

5th December 2005, 11:55 PM	#18
vbloke Disturbing shirts Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 721	I find it amazing that the faith of the believers is so trusting that there's no secret feeding going on when the curtains are drawn. My first thought when I heard about this was "why the curtain?" they have a barrier to stop people getting too close, so why does he need this secondary barrier to put him out of sight for a few hours a day? Why aren't the believers asking these questions? I applaud the position of the authorities that they're going to investigate this, although they've taken their time over it - the whole situation is too far down the line and worldwide news before they decide to act.
	__________________ http://intelligentdesignr.org.uk Who Is The intelligent designr? http://www.ukskeptics.com Skepticism in the UK

6th December 2005, 12:10 AM	#19
CFLarsen Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 42,805	Originally Posted by vbloke I find it amazing that the faith of the believers is so trusting that there's no secret feeding going on when the curtains are drawn. My first thought when I heard about this was "why the curtain?" they have a barrier to stop people getting too close, so why does he need this secondary barrier to put him out of sight for a few hours a day? Why aren't the believers asking these questions? If we can only get believers to ask that kind of question, we have come far.
	__________________ SkepticReport.com

6th December 2005, 11:50 AM	#20
Elind Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Florida Posts: 5,741	Originally Posted by Ryokan I wouldn't call it a fraud, but neither do I believe the story is true. Could you clarify that? Sounds like a contradiction unless you think all those involved are so mindlessly brainwashed they don't know what they are doing.

6th December 2005, 12:22 PM	#21
Ryokan Insert something funny here Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 3,874	Originally Posted by Elind Could you clarify that? Sounds like a contradiction unless you think all those involved are so mindlessly brainwashed they don't know what they are doing. I don't know much about Nepalese Buddhism, to be honest, but I do know that the Nepalese are very very religious when it comes to their Buddhism. I believe that the people involved believe they have the real deal, although I have no way to know that. Fraud, to me, means they have intent to decieve. I don't believe that's the case here.
	__________________ Ryokan is an ex Resident Buddhist here, but I changed him. - yrreg I wouldnt blame dustin or Yrreg. You guys have demonised them enough because you cant counter their very valid arguments. - onemind You heard it here first, people! Ryokan admits to being a pedophile! - shemp

6th December 2005, 12:55 PM	#22
Elind Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Florida Posts: 5,741	Originally Posted by Ryokan I don't know much about Nepalese Buddhism, to be honest, but I do know that the Nepalese are very very religious when it comes to their Buddhism. I believe that the people involved believe they have the real deal, although I have no way to know that. Fraud, to me, means they have intent to decieve. I don't believe that's the case here. Either you believe this boy can survive without food or water as claimed, or it is fraud because someone knows what his daily crap looks like. What do you think?

6th December 2005, 01:36 PM	#23
Jesus Baby Daddy Scholar Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: outside Dee-troit Posts: 94	I don't profess to know much about these peoples level of education, but could they possibly mean "no water" as in drinking no clear liquid that you get out of a tap? I myself have had no water in nearly a week. But I do manage to drink about 6 cokes, 4 mountain dews, 2 coffee's a day. An occasional beer as well. But no water. (and my Dentist loves this fact $$$)