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Meditating kid Maitreya Buddha?

Funky_MimizuFunky_Mimizu 631 Posts
edited November 2005 in Strut Central
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4460000/newsid_4465100/bb_rm_4465142.stmAnybody been reading about this kid? Supposedly meditating non-stop for 6 months now, without food or water... At night they put a screen in front of him... a little ...However, even if he is taking food and water at night, 6 months of sitting perfectly still all day until dark is quite a feat in and of itself...That's a lot of meditating... even if he's cheating, thats at least 13 hours a day of meditation... and for six months!Truly Peace...FNM

  Comments

  • Sun_FortuneSun_Fortune 1,374 Posts
    When the hunger artist dies, they'll replace him with a puma.


    The food and water part is suspect. Tho, I'm pretty sure a lot of monks spend six months in meditation at a time (with food and water of course). Apparently, it feels pretty good. Its pretty cool that he's only 15 but I think the real buddha was a lot older when he sat underneath his tree. 15 is probably too young for the meditation to mean anything. It feels like one of those 7 year old prodigies that paint exactly like Picasso. If in ten years if he starts saying some knowledge, then i'll believe.
  • FunkyFlatulentFunkyFlatulent 1,106 Posts
    maybe he's just really tired?

    shit, if i had no job and was out there with no tv or records.. i could sleep sitting up for 15 hours a day no problem...

    how do they really know he's meditating.

    give me some movies and popcorn i could sit still for 15 hours. I'm not impressed.
  • BreakSelfBreakSelf 2,925 Posts
    Thanks for that link, FM. Fascinating!

    Regardless of whether this is a scam or not, the child is clearly special. Let's hope he has a competent teacher.

    It may also be worth mentioning for those interested that there's a substantial difference between Maitreya, the coming Buddha, and reincarnations of Sakyamuni, the Buddha of our time. The term Buddha itself simply refers to someone who has passed beyond the endless cycle of death and rebirth (samsara in Sanskrit), and there are thousands of them occupying the different world systems in the Buddhist cosmos. Particularly great meditators and spiritual adepts are often recognized as reincarnations of different Buddhas (and boddhisattvas). Padmasambhava, for instance, the Tantric master who brought Buddhism to Tibet in the 9th century, is often refered to as a second emanation of Sakyamuni, just as the Dalai Lama is considered a reincarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddhist god of compassion.

    In the distant, distant future, the teachings of the Buddha will eventually be forgotten, and the lifespan of humans will start to decline until people live to be no older than 10. At this point, human life will be spent in perpetual, undirected warfare, and not a single compassionate or optimistic thought will enter the mind of a single individual. At this point, Maitreya will appear in our world to restore the dharma and return stability to the realm of humans. That, at least, is one version from within the tradition. Maitreya, therefore, is a Buddha in his own right, not just a reincarnation of Sakyamuni.

    Also of note is the fact that Maitreya is said to have set out on his quest to become a Buddha (by living life as a bodhisattva) well before Sakyamuni. For thousands of years Maitreya progressed along the path to enlightenment as a human while Sakyamuni lived in immense suffering in the lower realms of existence. At some point, however, the dharma eye of Sakyamuni opened and he commited himself to pursue the life of a boddhisatva. So quickly did Sakyamuni progress that he soon surpassed Maitreya in his spiritual accomplishment and passed over into nirvana well ahead of his friend.

    okay, that's it.
  • mylatencymylatency 10,475 Posts
    knowledge dropped!



    My question is, how do they ID such reincarnations? Is there some sign or symbol a child must display?
  • BreakSelfBreakSelf 2,925 Posts
    When the hunger artist dies, they'll replace him with a puma.


    The food and water part is suspect. Tho, I'm pretty sure a lot of monks spend six months in meditation at a time (with food and water of course). Apparently, it feels pretty good. Its pretty cool that he's only 15 but I think the real buddha was a lot older when he sat underneath his tree. 15 is probably too young for the meditation to mean anything. It feels like one of those 7 year old prodigies that paint exactly like Picasso. If in ten years if he starts saying some knowledge, then i'll believe.

    Six months is nothing, believe me. Three years, three months, and three days is a common length of meditation retreat in Tibet, and I've spoken with monks who've spent as long as 25 years in a single cave subsisting solely off donated barley flour and yak butter.
  • BreakSelfBreakSelf 2,925 Posts
    knowledge dropped!

    My question is, how do they ID such reincarnations? Is there some sign or symbol a child must display?

    When a Dalai Lama or other great spiritual leader is approaching death, they'll typically give their closest followers some hints about when and where their reincarnation will be born. After the lama dies, his followers are generally expected to find his reincarnatin within about five years or so. When a potential candidate is found, the child is given a series of interviews, and tests to see if karmic link exists between him and the last Dalai Lama. Common indications of this karmic link, are a natural affinity for monks and monasteries, uncommon compassion and/or wisdom, a fascination with Buddhist icons, etc. Another common practice is for the followers of the Dalai Lama to place a number of objects in front of the child and ask him to choose his favorite. Items that are particularly attractive to children (toys, jewelry etc.) are always included, as is one article that belonged to the former Dalai Lama (usually something less eye-catching like a book or a piece of cloth). If the child chooses the object that belonged to the Dalai Lama, it is taken as a sign that a connection betweenthe two exists. This process is usually repeated a number of times. It's an arduous process, and mistakes have definitely been made in the past. What's most worrisome for the present Dalai Lama is that China will undoubtedly try to elect a Dalai Lama of their own choosing. The Chinese-elected Dalai Lama would ostensibly serve as the political and religious ruler of Tibet, but would in reality be nothing more than a figurehead used to further subjugate the people of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has already made it clea that he will not be reborn in Tibet or China, but his death will nonetheless be a defining moment in the history of Tibet.
  • Funky_MimizuFunky_Mimizu 631 Posts
    knowledge dropped!

    My question is, how do they ID such reincarnations? Is there some sign or symbol a child must display?

    When a Dalai Lama or other great spiritual leader is approaching death, they'll typically give their closest followers some hints about when and where their reincarnation will be born. After the lama dies, his followers are generally expected to find his reincarnatin within about five years or so. When a potential candidate is found, the child is given a series of interviews, and tests to see if karmic link exists between him and the last Dalai Lama. Common indications of this karmic link, are a natural affinity for monks and monasteries, uncommon compassion and/or wisdom, a fascination with Buddhist icons, etc. Another common practice is for the followers of the Dalai Lama to place a number of objects in front of the child and ask him to choose his favorite. Items that are particularly attractive to children (toys, jewelry etc.) are always included, as is one article that belonged to the former Dalai Lama (usually something less eye-catching like a book or a piece of cloth). If the child chooses the object that belonged to the Dalai Lama, it is taken as a sign that a connection betweenthe two exists. This process is usually repeated a number of times. It's an arduous process, and mistakes have definitely been made in the past. What's most worrisome for the present Dalai Lama is that China will undoubtedly try to elect a Dalai Lama of their own choosing. The Chinese-elected Dalai Lama would ostensibly serve as the political and religious ruler of Tibet, but would in reality be nothing more than a figurehead used to further subjugate the people of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has already made it clea that he will not be reborn in Tibet or China, but his death will nonetheless be a defining moment in the history of Tibet.


    I heard that Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's reincarnation was found, and he's been recieving a very strict upbringing, and being kept on a bit of a short chain, since he was such a hell-raiser in his previous life... haha.

    Poor kid.

    Peace...
    FNM
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