Buddha boy - Nepal trouble and Yodha

His Holiness the Dalai Lama congratulated Hon. Nancy Pelosi on her re-election as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He reiterated his belief that the United States is the leading nation of the free world and his confidence that in her role as the Speaker, she would help to lead during these difficult times.

In the Himalayas, a young monk, about to be crowned the Rinpoche of the monastery, is kidnapped by a gang of black magicians who wish to make a human sacrifice of Rinpoche to attain invincibility. The young Rinpoche manages to escape from the clutches of the magicians and runs away to Kathmandu. At the other end of the subcontinent, in a small village in Kerala, Ashokan (Mohanlal) is an unemployed youth of no great virtues ends up guarding …..  that was ‘Yodha’ – Malayalam movie of 1992 scripted by SasidharanArattuvazhi and directed by Sangeeth Sivan, starring Mohanlal in the lead.

Dalai Lama  is a title given to spiritual leaders of the Tibetan people. They are part of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The  man in news is 14^th  and current Dalai Lama -  Tenzin Gyatso. Dalai Lama is  considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, a Bodhisattva of Compassion.   Dalai Lama figure is important for many reasons. Since the time of the fifth Dalai Lama, his personage has always been a symbol of unification of the state of Tibet, where he has represented Buddhist values and traditions.   The Dalai Lama was an important figure of the Geluk tradition, which was politically and numerically dominant in Central Tibet, but his religious authority went beyond sectarian boundaries. While he had no formal or institutional role in any of the religious traditions, which were headed by their own high lamas, he was a unifying symbol of the Tibetan state, representing Buddhist values and traditions above any specific school.

                     From 1642 until 1705, and from 1750 to the 1950s, the Dalai Lamas or their regents headed the Tibetan government (or Ganden Phodrang) in Lhasa which governed all or most of the Tibetan plateau with varying degrees of autonomy under the Qing Dynasty of China, up to complete sovereignty.   Tibet's sovereignty was later rejected, however, by both the Republic of China and the current People's Republic of China.

Not great news for Buddhism or its followers ~  A Nepali spiritual leader believed by his followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha is under investigation over the disappearance of several devotees, police in Kathmandu have said.

Ram Bahadur Bomjan, known as “Buddha boy”, became famous in 2005 after followers said he could meditate motionless for months without water, food or sleep in Nepal’s jungles. The 28-year-old has a devout following but has been accused of physically and sexually assaulting some of his followers. Special police investigators have begun inquiries after the families of four devotees allegedly vanished from his ashrams.

“The police have started investigating these complaints against Bomjan,” said  a spokesman for Nepal’s Central Investigation Bureau. “The investigation is in preliminary stage and we cannot share many details.” Bomjan has long been dogged by accusations of abuse, even as thousands of worshippers queued for days to witness his “miracles of meditation” deep in the jungle.

In September last year, an 18-year-old nun accused him of raping her at one of his ashrams. Dozens more have filed complaints against him alleging assault. Bomjan said he beat them for disturbing his meditation. The Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangha, an organisation associated with Bomjam, recently claimed fresh allegations made by a local website were baseless..

With regards- S. Sampathkumar

8^th Jan 2019.