“No food or water for the better part of ten months
Quietly he sat between the folds of a free trunk
Oh to see it with my own eyes
All the men of faith and men of science had their questions.”
Quietly he sat between the folds of a free trunk
Oh to see it with my own eyes
All the men of faith and men of science had their questions.”
– Wide Eyes, Local Natives
My interest in Buddhism was first sparked by the lyrics of a song about Buddha Boy. I watched a documentary on the Nepali boy who had allegedly sustained himself without food or water for ten months through meditation. My psychology major mind needed answers. Back in 2006 he disappeared and it was never clear what the truth was about the boy. While I don’t know if Buddha Boy really could have sustained himself through meditation, I do know one thing – it didn’t gain him anything in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Buddhism is the predominantly practiced religion in Thailand. We got a chance to visit one of the largest Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai and observe the culture of Buddhism firsthand. It was hard to miss the countless people on the floor praying and meditating.
Buddhist meditation is a peaceful ritual, not like the crazy voodoo chanting we experienced in Haiti, so it’s ok right? While it may not be violent or obviously demonic, it binds people in just as severe ways. People meditate to master their own mind. It’s all about control and a demonstration of one’s strength. One thing that sets Christianity apart is that there is no value for our own strength. In fact we are most strong when we are most weak because it is in those moments when God is most glorified.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
