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11-27-2005, 01:14 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Senior Contributor
Join Date: 06-23-05
Location: 35 minutes outside Chicago (please don't refer to it as "Chi-Town"...that's annoying)
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Is Mary Crying 'Cause Buddha Is Back?
So, without meaning any disrespect whatsoever, What do you all think about this? I think that it can be explained in some way, I don't personally know how, though. But if it helps to ' " ... change ourselves, to love one another," Hoang said', then I say something great has been accomplished and it does not matter how the "tears" got there.
Quote:
Believers Flock to 'Crying' Virgin Mary
Carrying rosary beads and cameras, the faithful have been coming in a steady stream to a church on the outskirts of Sacramento for a glimpse of what some are calling a miracle: A statue of the Virgin Mary they say has begun crying a substance that looks like blood.
It was first noticed more than a week ago, when a priest at the Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs Church spotted a stain on the statue's face and wiped it away. Before Mass on Nov. 20, people again noticed a reddish substance near the eyes of the white concrete statue outside the small church, said Ky Truong, 56, a parishioner.
Since then, Truong said he has been at the church day and night, so emotional he can't even work. He believes the tears are a sign.
"There's a big event in the future — earthquake, flood, a disease," Truong said. "We're very sad."
On Saturday, tables in front of the fenced-in statue were jammed with potted plants, bouquets of roses and candles. Some people prayed silently, while others sang hymns and hugged their children. An elderly woman in a wheelchair wept near the front of the crowd.
A red trail could be seen from the side of the statue's left eye to about halfway down the robe of concrete.
"I think that it's incredible. It's a miracle. Why is she doing it? Is it something bothering her?" asked Maria Vasquez, 35, who drove with her parents and three children from Stockton, about 50 miles south of Sacramento.
Thousands of such incidents are reported around the world each year, though many turn out to be hoaxes or natural phenomena.
The Diocese of Sacramento has so far not commented on the statue, and the two priests affiliated with the church did not return a telephone message Saturday.
The Rev. James Murphy, deacon of the diocese's mother church, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, said church leaders are always skeptical at first.
"For people individually seeing things through the eyes of faith, something like this can be meaningful. As for whether it is supernatural or a miracle, normally these incidences are not. Miracles are possible, of course," Murphy said. "The bishop is just waiting and seeing what happens. They will be moving very slowly."
But seeing the statue in person left no doubt for Martin Operario, 60, who drove about 100 miles from Hayward. He took photos to show to family and friends.
"I don't know how to express what I'm feeling," Operario said. "Since religion is the mother of believing, then I believe."
Nuns Anna Bui and Rosa Hoang, members of the Salesian Sisters of San Francisco, also made the trek Saturday. Whether the weeping statue is declared a miracle or not, they said, it is already doing good by awakening people to the faith and reminding them to pray.
"It's a call for us to change ourselves, to love one another," Hoang said.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051127/...statue_s_tears
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As for the following...
I have been thinking about this since I 1st read it the other day and I am still not sure what I think entirely. I know that meditation has the ability to allow the human body to act in ways it normally could not; for example, to go with out sleep, food or water. But as the story says, the boy is covered at night so who knows what goes on then. Do I think he is the reincarnation of Buddha? No. I don't think so.
Quote:
Thousands flock to see boy 'Buddha'
A teenage boy who has been meditating under a tree in the verdant forests of southern Nepal is attracting thousands of pilgrims who are convinced the youth is another Buddha.
Devotees flock daily to catch sight of Ram Bahadur Banjan, who sits cross-legged and silent with his eyes shut beneath a tree in the jungle of Bara, 160km south of the capital, Kathmandu.
It is claimed that the 15-year-old has not eaten or drunk anything since he sat down at his chosen spot on May 17. He also has not relieved himself in six months, claim devotees. Some say they have seen light emanating from the teenager's forehead.
Ram Bahadur's fame grew after he appeared to shake off the effects of being bitten by a poisonous snake. He is said to have told onlookers that "a snake bit me but I do not need treatment. I need six years of deep meditation."
The boy also told crowds that he was not a Buddha but a lesser divine spirit known as a rinpoche.
"I don't have the Buddha's energy."
Buddhism teaches that correct thinking and self-control can enable people to reach peace and release themselves from worldly distractions and desires.
The Buddha was born 256km from Bara in 540 BC and found enlightenment under a pipal tree. Ram Bahadur is sitting under a pipal tree.
A reporter for the Kantipur newspaper, Sujit Mahat, told The Associated Press that he had spent two days at the site, and that about 10 000 people are believed to visit every day.
He said pilgrims can catch a glimpse of Ram Bahadur from a roped-off area about 25m away between dawn and dusk. But the boy is screened from observers at night.
"We could not say what happens after dark," Mahat said. "People only saw what went on in the day, and many believed he was some kind of god."
A thriving market has developed in the once-pristine forest, supplying pilgrims with everything from tobacco and bicycle repairs to incense and sacred amulets.
Police are seeking to verify the claims about the boy's fast.
"We have a team ... investigating the claim on how anyone can survive for so long without food and water," police Inspector Chitra Bahadur Gurung said. Officers have not directly questioned the boy, who appears to be meditating deeply.
Buddhism has about 325-million followers, mostly in Asia. -- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx...ticleid=257512
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"He no play-a da game, he no make-a da rules."-Earl Butz, on the Pope's attitude toward birth control
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11-27-2005, 01:34 AM
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#2 (permalink)
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Ubi dubium ibi libertas
Senior Contributor
Join Date: 09-04-03
Location: Boston, MA, USPRA
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Just a bunch of meaningless superstition, IMO. But people can do whatever they think will make them happy.
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