Buddhism is awesome. Why? Because of the crazy things that Buddhist monks can do like decrease their metabolism by 64% at will, raise the temperature of their skin enough to steam dry wet blankets in 40 degree weather, and of course, they can kick ass.

One of Buddha’s premiere figures, Ram Bahadur Bamjan, is making headlines today. He’s said by many to be the reincarnation of Buddha himself at only 18 years old, and the fact that he’s able to meditate sitting still for months at a time without food or water is certainly helping his case. A year ago he wandered off into the jungle to mediate, and recently he emerged and started blessing the thousands that flocked to him. He never said a word the whole time, but plenty of his followers were gushing:

"I have no doubt in my mind he is a God," said Meg Bahadur Lama, a local farmer. "He has been meditating without food and water and no human can achieve such a feat. I used to hear about such miracles in the past but now I got to see one."

But a few are skeptical of his Buddha-ness:

"Meditating without food does not prove that he is the reincarnation of Buddha," said Min Bahadur Shakya of the Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods, a Buddhist research center in Katmandu. "There is much study needed to be done."

I suppose he could be sneaking donuts when he’s off in the jungle by himself, but I kind of doubt it. I don’t really think of Buddhists as “game the system” type people. So can this Ram Bahadur Bamjan guy fly or what?