(Encyclopaedia Brittanica) Diwali (Dipa-wali) is one of the major religious festivals in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism [not Buddhism], lasting for five days from the 13th day of the dark half of the lunar month Ashvina to the second day of the light half of the lunar month Karttika.
(The corresponding dates on the Gregorian calendar usually fall on late October and November). The name is derived from the Sanskrit term dipavali, meaning “row of lights.” The festival generally symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. More
Los Angeles, California Diwali and Annakut Celebration
(BAPSChannel) Experience the lights, festivities, and joy of Diwali and Annakut at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on the outskirts of Los Angeles, For more details, visit: https://www.baps.org/News/2024/Diwali... #BAPS #BAPSDiwali #diwali #diwali2024 #festivaloflights #na50 #diwalicelebration #diwalifestival #losangeles
Buddha Boy (BSDS); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, A. Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
"Buddha Boy" or Ram Bahadur Bomjon (Sanskrit राम बहादुर बम्जन, also spelled Bomjan, Banjan, and Bamjan) was born in 1990.
Previously known as Palden Dorje (his Vajrayana Buddhist monastic name), he is a controversial wandering ascetic (shramana) from Ratanapuri, Bara District, Nepal.
Who is that dusty, napping boy?
At 15 years of age, he gained widespread media attention and popularity because of perceived semblances to the historical Buddha Gautama, leading to claims that he had to be the reincarnation of the Buddha himself.
(This of course is nonsense, but in the popular imagination, it was the only explanation for Bomjon's miraculous power to sit months on end without eating, drinking, or moving, only meditating).
Details
How it all began, a dusty 15-y.o. meditating well
In May, 2005, the 15-year-old Bomjon left his home near the Indian border after a dream in which a deva appeared to him and told him to do so.
He found a good spot and sat in the massive roots of a pipal tree [sacred fig, Ficus religiosa, Bodhi tree, more likely a local banyan tree] to meditate [1].
Looking refreshed and showered
Eyewitness claims suggest that for 10 months he rarely spoke, drank, ate, or even moved. He simply sat under that tree, striving for some attainment or other, possibly even supreme awakening.
Thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands of people made pilgrimages to visit the site in the forest (Terai jungle) to sit with or see (darshan) the miraculous boy motionless for hours, days, and months as rumored.
Tummo generates a lot of fiery heat.
Others came not so much to practice themselves (as would have been very good to do) but out of devotion (puja) and the very real possibility of an important spiritual event occurring. There might be a miracle (siddhi), a public marvel (Buddhist iddhi) like that time he spontaneously burst into flames possibly from practicing tummo meditation.
As a result of some of these widespread claims, Bomjon's followers believed he had to be an incarnation of the historical Buddha Gautama [2] (who Hinduism says was an incarnation (avatar) of the God Vishnu, which is also said of Jesus Christ, possibly for the purposes of conversion, and other peaceful spiritual figures interested in the maintaining of humanity).
Dharmasangha (aka Buddha Boy) inside fire
(Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangha) Nov. 24, 2009: On January 19, 2006, Mahasambodhi Dharmasangha (Ram Bahadur Bomjon or Buddha Boy) spontaneously combusted, burning off the cloth robes he had worn for nine months but leaving no burn scars on his body (bsds.org).
Bomjon is not the Buddha
Why do people keep bothering my meditation?
Bomjon has rejected any such comparisons to a buddha or to the historical Buddha, saying: "Tell the people not to call me a Buddha. I don't have the Buddha's energy currently. I am at the level of a rinpoche [a jewel or precious one]" [3].
Mahiswor Raj Bajracharya, the president of the Nepal Buddhist Council, has stated likewise: "We do not believe he is [a] Buddha. He does not have [the] Buddha's qualities" [4].
Then, on March 11, 2006, he disappeared and went missing for months [5]. On March 19, 2006, Bed Bahadur Lama of the Om Namo Buddha Tapaswi Sewa Samiti (ONBTSS) told reporters that he had been seen in Bara District and that [ONBTSS] had spoken to him for half-an-hour, during which Bomjon reportedly assured them that he would return in six years (at the age of 21) [6].
He was again seen on August 2007, preaching to crowds in Nepal’s Hallori jungle, about 100 miles south of the capital of Kathmandu [7].
Arrest
Budanilkantha looks nice from a distance.
A team of CIB (Central Investigation Bureau) police from Nepal arrested Bomjon on January 9, 2024, nabbing him at his "hideout" [ashram or house] at Budanilkantha [8].
An arrest warrant had been issued in 2020 [9]. The CIB also confiscated Nepalese rupees (NPR 33 million = US $225,000.00) and foreign currencies from over 17 different nations equivalent to about $245,000 [8].
CIB: We got him, we finally got him.
DIG Kuber Kadayat said Bomjon tried to evade arrest, making a run for it by jumping off the roof of the house he was staying in.
Issuing a press release after the day of his arrest, police stated that a key to an SUV, bluebooks of three two-wheelers, two laptops, 14 mobile phones, and multiple electronic devices were also confiscated during the search.
Controversies
Keep moving, dacoit. Your days of criminality are at an end due to the big hand of the CIB.
We want the world to see you now, Bomjon.
Eyewitnesses, Bomjon's followers, and skeptics claimed that Bomjon meditated for months without eating or sleeping [7]. (A scientific team from India tried to debunk these claims but could not, only saying that for the time they were there and watching him, he did indeed seem to be meditating nearly motionless).
In 2010, Bomjon was investigated for accusations that he attacked a group of 17 villagers. He claimed that they were intentionally disturbing his meditation.
However, the villagers said they were just foraging for vegetables [10, 11, 12, 13]. Bomjon explained that he had taken "minor action" against them with just his hands [10, 11, 12, 13] after they had "tried to manhandle" him [11, 13] and stopped as soon as they apologized.
However, the alleged victims claim that for three hours he struck them on their head and back with an axe handle [10, 13], resulting in serious injury of one of them [12, 13].
Bomjon refused to attend any potential trial, stating: "Do you think a meditating sage will go to the court to hear a case? I took action against them as per the divine law [universal justice]" [10, 13].
In 2012, Nepali police announced that they had rescued a Slovak [Central European] woman from Bomjon's followers, but other reports claim that she had been released voluntarily after media coverage of the kidnapping.
Newsweek reported she had been taken from a hotel by two of Bomjon's men on motorcycle, kept tied to a tree for three months, and accused of practicing witchcraft in order to disturb the Buddha Boy’s meditation [14].
However, another report claims she had been kidnapped from a monastery. When she was released, she had a broken arm [15, 16]. A week after her release, Bomjon's siblings accused him of holding his brothers captive overnight and beating his brothers and his sister [17].
Followers of Bomjon assaulted five journalists and destroyed their cameras after they had recorded one of Bomjon's sermons [15].
Oh my! Is it possible he would?
In September of 2018, Bomjon was accused of raping an 18-year-old nun repeatedly for nearly two years.
During a press conference organized by women's rights groups, the nun also accused his wife of trying to keep the abuse hidden so as not to "attract attacks" on their [new] religion.
Bomjon is married? He is no longer referred to as Tapaswi (austerities-practicing) Palden Dorje, so perhaps he disrobed to become a Vajrayana Buddhist lay practitioner.
Supporters of Bomjon claim that nun was in fact involved in theft and had been ejected from the monastery [18].
If I had it to do over again, it'd be different.
An investigation was opened in January of 2019 after complaints from family members that four devotees had gone missing from several of Bomjon's ashrams [19].
In the same month, police raided one of Bomjon's ashrams in Nepal, but he was not found [20].
Prison self-immolation? Not without absorption
On February 6, 2020, the Sarlahi District Court issued an arrest warrant against Bomjon. The following day, police raided another one of his ashrams in Kamalamai, Sindhuli, but Bomjon was not found there either.
However, police did arrest one of his disciples, Gyan Bahadur Bomjon [21]. More
Last weekend, the largest Hindu temple in the United States opened its doors on over 183 acres of former soy farmland in rural Robbinsville, New Jersey.
Standing 191 feet at its highest point and decorated with 10,000 statues, the highly intricate, carved stone Swaminarayan Akshardham is a religious beacon amid fields of green.
However, the temple has also been mired in controversy over allegedly poor labor practices during its nearly 15-year construction, resulting in an ongoing lawsuit and federal investigation, as well as the deaths of two “volunteer” builders. More
PRO-SADHGURU PROPAGANDA:"How Sadhguru built his empire from scratch | 40-year journey in 20 minutes"
(Mystics of India) Sept. 25, 2022. The 23rd of September 2022 was the 40th anniversary of Sadhguru's "enlightenment" day. This video [puts a spin on] his 40-year journey.
Support him to make even more money on Patreon (patreon.com/mysticsofindia). Editing credits: The Edit Master (theeditmaster.com). PR firm: unknown.
How Jaggi Vasudev became "Sadhguru"
(newslaundry) May 25, 2021. Newslaundry published a series on the rise of #JaggiVasudev -- #Sadhguru to his devotees -- as one of India's most influential #godmen and the alleged criminal behavior or "illegalities" involved in the establishment and operation of his Isha Foundation.
Who is this man? Where did he come from? How did he manage to gain such prominence [and so much wealth]? How has he created a “spiritual empire” swimming in money?
In this explainer, let's go through the main points of the series.
Read the full series: newslaundry.com.
High up in the foothills of Los Angeles, above Glendale, there’s a refuge (Ananda Ashrama) for the practice of spirituality, be it Hindu or Buddhist, Christian or whatever, founded by the disciple of Swami Vivekananda.
The American preserver of the Vedanta lineage, Reverend Mother Sudha, honored Swami Paramananda today with a beautiful Sunday service talk about his life and mission.
Sri Ramakrishna’s birthday celebration will be Sunday, Feb. 19th at 11:00 am
Each of Sudha Ma’s talks is streamed live on website, Sundays at 11:00 am EDT and thereafter available on the website.
View talks HERE
There have been attempts to present Mother Durga as a mere symbol of victory of good over evil. The reality, however, is different.
The excellent beauty possessed by her and the formidable weapons held in her mighty arms are a transcendental reality.
If we ever think that strength is only a male’s domain, meet Mother Durga!
She is not only a fearsome fighter celebrated across the three worlds as Mahishasura-mardini for her heroic feat of vanquishing the otherwise invincible demon King Mahishasura, Durga Devi is famed for her exceedingly exquisite beauty that perpetually remains an unsurpassable marvel of Brahma God’s perceivable realm.
With these apparently contradictory and unique characteristics, it is no fault of mortal beings to quickly assume that Durga Devi must be an imagined product of a novelist, storyteller, or poet.
The merciful glance of the divine Ma Durga Devi, a celestial goddess
The modern trend, particularly among scholars and leaders, is to call ancient events "myths" because they are not comprehensible by ordinary human minds. Such a conclusion is a clear sign of a poor fund of knowledge regarding the very purpose of cosmic creation.
There have been even attempts to present Ma Durga as a mere symbol of victory of good over evil. Being the personification of the aggregate feminine principle of material nature, her appearance is inconceivably gorgeous and her activities are enthralling.
The mighty weapons in her hands are presented to her by real celestial beings like King Indra (Sakka, King of the Devas), Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva, and Lord Vishnu himself. The ferocious lion she rides on is not symbolic either.
Ma Durga with her celestial weapons
For example, the trishul or trident she holds is a factual weapon she uses to punish big-time miscreants although she does not always use it as she can execute her missions simply through agencies like epidemics, wars, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, droughts, and so on.
Scientists today are able to make remote sensors and perform wonderful tasks from great distances. They have also invented chemical weapons that can make the atmosphere poisonous and kill thousands. If we tiny-brained humans can do this, why wouldn’t higher celestial beings (like devas) be able to remotely dispatch various atmospheric changes and diseases in targeted locations where misdeeds are on rise?
These examples shed light on the possibility of operating natural resources to control this world remotely by various demigods (devas) from greater distance. Phenomena generally considered mythical by less intelligent people are real.
Brahma-samhita explains Mother Durga’s transcendental position in Sanskrit:
Sristi-sthiti pralaya-sadhana-shaktir eka chhayeva yasya bhuvanani bibharti durga
icchanurupam api yasya cha chestate sa govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
TRANSLATION: The eternal potency Maya [personification of illusion], who is of the nature of the shadow of the mind [chit, citta] potency, is worshiped by all people as Durga, the [threefold] creative, preservative, and destructive agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself (Brahma-samhita 5.4).
In an earlier article, Ma Durga -- busting the biggest myth of all times -- was discussed at length and her divine position from a scriptural point of view. In this article the focus is on her personal features, extraordinary prowess, and transcendental characteristics.
The historical event describing how Ma Durga annihilated Mahish-asura is unique in nature, considering it’s a one-on-one fight between the most powerful male demon of his time, the fearsome son of the demon Rambh and Durga Devi, a stunningly graceful divine female possessing extraordinary powers.
Mahish-asura became extremely powerful after receiving a boon from Lord Brahma that no male would ever be able to kill him. More
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