Nepalese boy Buddha reincarnate?

A fifteen year old boy, Ram Bahadur Bamjan, in Bara, south-cental Nepal, has supposedly been meditating under a tree for six months without food or water leading villagers and worshipers to dub him Buddha Reincarnate. Like Siddartha Gautam, who attained Nirvana and became the Buddha over 2,500 years ago, he plans never to stop until he has achieved spiritual enlightenment and escaped from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth - become a Buddha. He has so far undergone two 'tests' - both being bitten by poisonous snakes yet surviving without treatment - supposedly. However, a curtain was drawn across him for five days before he was seen again. And, every night, a curtain is drawn so no-one really knows if he isn't gorging on cake whilst hidden from view.

I have never considered myself a religious person, but I have always been fascinated by Buddhism. It seems a very serene, thoughtful and egalitarian faith.

Maybe it's the undying skeptic in me, but something tells me that this isn't all it appears to be. I would love to be proven wrong, but the one thing that keeps all religion together - faith - can also be its downfall. It leads people who are totally devout to completely innocently take at face value those things which should possibly be awarded further investigation. And that's just what's going to happen. Scientists from the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology are to study the boy - without disturbing him - to learn more about him.

The BBC article did mention a rather curious quote:

"He never touched alcohol," said his primary education teacher, Salden Lama.

I should think so too!