A new Buddha in India? (Snap Judgment)

Yogi Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Glynn Washington, Jeff Greenwald (Snap Judgment, PRX)

The Buddha-to-come (Ragg Burns Imaging/flickr.com)

  
The Gold Ring and Losing My Religion

Nun Tsultrim Lhamo, Tibet (Xinhua)

(Sept. 7, 2012) Snap proudly presents stories about people looking for something to believe in and finding it in the most unexpected places... Want to help us support the artists that make Snap possible?  Donate $10 through our partner PRX (Public Radio Exchange).  Just text SNAP to the number 20222. For more details listen to the show or visit snapjudgment.org.

In one of the best episodes of Snap Judgment (heard in Los Angeles on SCPR.org/KPCC.org) yet, this wonderful show covered a self-styled Indian guru who represents himself as the new Buddha (presumably Maitreya). He is a charismatic figure called Papa-jii. An American investigates and reports back to National Public Radio.

In "The Gold Ring" Jeff Greenwald visits the Ajanta Caves of India, where he sees the Rebirth Stories (Jataka Tales) as ancient murals. He remembers a past life along the river Anoma, where Siddhartha set off to find enlightenment and liberation from all suffering. He finds the Buddha, now reborn as Papa-jii, in Lucknow, India. It is not possible, so who is this Guru Papa-jii? It is a must listen, because if it is true, time and space and "reality" are far different than we can imagine: LISTEN NOW

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