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The Hoax Story of Remarkable Testimony of a Buddhist monk in 
Myanmar (Burma) who came back to life a changed man! 







 Hoax Monk Story 


The Hoax Story of Remarkable Testimony of a Buddhist monk in Myanmar (Burma) who came back to life a changed man! 


Introduction 

The story that follows is simply a translation of a taped testimony 
from a man with a life-changing story. It is not an interview or a 
biography, but simply the words from the man himself. Different people 
react in different ways when they hear this story. Some are inspired, 
some skeptical, a few will mock and ridicule, while some others have 
even been filled with rage and anger, convinced these words are the 
ravings of a mad man or an elaborate deception. Some Christians have 
opposed the story simply because the radical and miraculous events 
described herein do not fit their feeble image of an Almighty God. 


We were first made aware of this story from several Burmese church 
leaders who shared it with us. These leaders had looked into the story 
and had not found any suggestion of it being a hoax. It was with this 
in mind that we decided to step out and circulate the story. We do not 
do so for any monetary gain, or with a motivation of self-promotion. We 
just want to let the story speak for itself, and invite Christian 
believers to judge it according to Scripture. If God wants any part of 
it to be intended for His glory or to encourage His people, then we 
pray His Spirit will work in the hearts of the readers in those ways. 


Some people have told us they think the monk in this story never 
actually died, but that he just lapsed into unconsciousness, and the 
things he saw and heard were part of a fever-driven hallucination. 
Whatever you think, the simple fact remains that the events of this 
story so radically transformed this man that his life took on a 
complete 180-degree shift after the events described below. He has 
fearlessly and boldly told his story at great personal cost, including 
imprisonment. He has been scorned by his relatives, friends and 
colleagues, and faced death threats for his unwillingness to compromise 
his message. What motivated this man to be willing to risk everything? 
Whether we believe him or not, his story is surely worth listening to 
and considering. In the cynical West many people demand hard evidence 
of such things, evidence that would stand up in a court of law. Can we 
absolutely guarantee, beyond doubt, that all of these things happened? 
No, we cannot. But we feel it is worth repeating this man's story in 
his own words so that readers can judge for themselves. 


My Early Years 

Hello! My name is Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu. I am from the country of 
Myanmar. I would like to share with you my testimony of what happened 
to me, but first I would like to give some brief background information 
from my life growing up. 


I was born in 1958 in the town of Bogale, on the Irrawaddy Delta area 
of southern Myanmar [formerly Burma]. My parents, who were devout 
Buddhists like most people in Myanmar, named me Thitpin [which means 
'tree' in English]. Our lives were very simple where I grew up. At the 
age of 13 I left school and started working on a fishing boat. We 
caught fish and sometimes also shrimp from the numerous rivers and 
streams in the Irrawaddy area. At the age of 16 I became the leader of 
the boat. At this time I lived in Upper Mainmahlagyon Island 
[Mainmahlagyon means 'Beautiful Woman Island' in English], just north 
of Bogale where I was born. This place is about 100 miles southwest of 
Yangon [Rangoon], our nation's capitol city. 


One day, when I was 17, we caught a large number of fish in our nets. 
Because of the many fish, a large crocodile was attracted to us. It 
followed our boat and tried to attack us. We were terrified so we 
frantically rowed our boats toward the riverbank as fast as we could. 
The crocodile followed us and smashed our boat with its tail. Although 
no one died in this incident, the attack greatly affected my life. I no 
longer wanted to fish. Our small boat sank because of the crocodile 
attack. We had to go home to our village that night on a passenger 
boat. 


Not long after, his employers transferred my father to Yangon City 
[formerly spelt Rangoon]. At the age of 18 I was sent to a Buddhist 
monastery to be a novice monk. Most parents in Myanmar try to send 
their son into a Buddhist monastery, at least for a time, as it is 
considered a great honor to have a son serve in this way. We have been 
observing this custom for many hundreds of years. 


A Zealous Disciple of Buddha 

When I turned 19 years and 3 months old (in 1977), I became a normal 
monk. The senior monk at my monastery gave me a new Buddhist name, 
which is the custom in our country. I was now called U Nata Pannita 
Ashinthuriya. When we become a monk we no longer use the name given to 
us at birth by our parents. The name of the monastery I lived at is 
called Mandalay Kyaikasan Kyaing. The senior monk's name was called U 
Zadila Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw [U Zadila is his title]. He was the most 
famous Buddhist monk in all of Myanmar at the time. Everyone knew who 
he was. He was widely honored by the people and respected as a great 
teacher. I say he "was" because in 1983 he suddenly died when he was 
involved in a fatal car accident. His death shocked everyone. At the 
time I had been a monk for six years. 


I tried hard to be the best monk I could and to follow all the precepts 
of Buddhism. At one stage I moved to a cemetery where I lived and 
meditated continually. Some monks who really want to know the truths of 
Buddha do things like I did. Some move deep into the forests where they 
live a life of self-denial and poverty. I sought to deny my selfish 
thoughts and desires, to escape from sickness and suffering and to 
break free from the cycle of this world. At the cemetery I was not 
afraid of ghosts. I tried to attain such inner peace and 
self-realization that even when a mosquito landed on my arm I would let 
it bite me instead of brushing it off! 


For years I strived to be the best monk I could and not to harm any 
living being. I studied the holy Buddhist teachings just like all my 
forefathers had done before me. 


My life proceeded as a monk until I got very, very sick. I was in 
Mandalay at the time and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. 
The doctors did some tests on me and told me I had both Yellow Fever 
and malaria at the same time! After about one month in the hospital I 
was getting worse. The doctors told me there was no chance for me to 
recover and discharged me to make arrangements to die. 


This is a brief description of my past. I would now like to tell you 
some of the remarkable things that happened to me after this timeS..

 
A Vision that Changed My Life Forever 

After I was discharged from the hospital I went back to the monastery 
where other monks cared for me. I grew weaker and weaker and was 
lapsing into unconsciousness. I learned later that I actually died for 
three days. My body decayed and stunk of death, and my heart stopped 
beating. My body was prepared for cremation and was put through 
traditional Buddhist purification rites. 


Although I faded away in my body I remember my mind and spirit were 
fully alert. I was in a very, very powerful storm. A tremendous wind 
flattened the whole landscape until there were no trees or anything 
else standing, just a flat plain. I walked very fast along this plain 
for some time. There were no other people anywhere, I was all alone. 
After some time I crossed a river. On the other side of the river I saw 
a terrible, terrible lake of fire. In Buddhism we do not have a concept 
of a place like this. At first I was confused and didn't know it was 
hell until I saw Yama, the king of hell [Yama is the name ascribed to 
the King of Hell in numerous cultures throughout Asia]. His face looked 
like the face of a lion, his body was like a lion, but his legs were 
like a naga [serpent spirit]. He had a number of horns on his head. His 
face was very fierce, and I was extremely afraid. Trembling, I asked 
him his name. He replied, "I am the king of hell, the Destroyer." 


The terrible, terrible lake of fire 

The king of hell told me to look into the lake of fire. I looked and I 
saw the saffron colored robes that Buddhist monks wear in Myanmar. I 
looked closer and saw the shaven head of a man. When I looked at the 
man's face I saw it was U Zadila Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw [the famous monk 
who had died in a car accident in 1983]. I asked the king of hell why 
my former leader was confined to this lake of torment. I said, "Why is 
he in this lake of fire? He was a very good teacher. He even had a 
teaching tape called 'Are You a Man or a Dog?' which had helped 
thousands of people understand that their worth as humans is far 
greater than the animals." The king of hell replied, "Yes, he was a 
good teacher but he did not believe in Jesus Christ. That's why he is 
in hell." 


I was told to look at another person who was in the fire. I saw a man 
with very long hair wrapped on the left hand side of his head. He was 
also wearing a robe. I asked the king of hell, "Who is this man?" He 
replied, "This is the one you worship: Gautama [Buddha]." 


I was very disturbed to see Gautama in hell. I protested, "Gautama had 
good ethnics and good moral character, why is he suffering in this lake 
of fire?" The king of hell answered me, "It doesn't matter how good he 
was. He is in this place because he did not believe in the Eternal 
God." 


I then saw another man who looked like he was wearing a soldier's 
uniform. He had a large wound on his chest. I asked, "Who is this man?" 
The king of hell said, "This is Aung San, the revolutionary leader of 
Myanmar." I was told, "Aung San is here because he persecuted and 
killed Christians, but mostly because he didn't believe in Jesus 
Christ." In Myanmar the people have a common saying, "Soldiers never 
die, they live on." I was told that the legions of hell have a saying 
"Soldiers never die, but they go to hell forever." 


I looked and saw another man in the lake of fire. He was a very tall 
man and he was dressed in military armor. He was also holding a sword 
and a shield. This man had a wound on his forehead. This man was taller 
than any person I have ever seen. He was six times the length between a 
man's elbow and the tips of his fingers when he stretches his arm out 
straight, plus one span of a man's fingers when he spreads out his 
hand. The king of hell said, "This man's name is Goliath. He is in hell 
because he blasphemed the Eternal God and His servant David." I was 
confused because I didn't know who either Goliath or David were. The 
king of hell said, "Goliath is recorded in the Christian Bible. You 
don't know him now, but when you become a Christian you will know who 
he is." 


I was then taken to a place where I saw both rich and poor people 
preparing to eat their evening meals. I asked, "Who cooked the food for 
these people?" The king of hell replied, "The poor have to prepare 
their own food, but the rich people get others to cook for them." When 
the food had been prepared for the rich people they sat down to eat. As 
soon as they started a thick smoke came up. The rich people ate as fast 
as they could to ease their consciences. They were struggling to breath 
because of the smoke. They had to eat fast because they were fearful of 
losing their money. Their money is their god. 


Another king of hell then came to me. I also saw a being whose job is 
to stoke the fires beneath the lake of fire, to keep it hot. This being 
asked me, "Are you going into the lake of fire too?" I replied, "No! I 
am only here to observe!" The appearance of this creature stoking the 
fire was very terrifying. He had ten horns on his head and a spear in 
his hand that had seven sharp blades coming from the end. The creature 
told me, "You are right. You came here just to observe. I cannot find 
your name here." He said, "You must now go back the way you came." He 
pointed me toward the desolate plain that I had first walked along 
before I came to the lake of fire. 


The Road of Decision 

I walked a long time, until I was bleeding. I was hot and in great 
pain. Finally, after walking for about three hours I came to a wide 
road. I walked along this road for some time until I came to a fork. 
One road, going off to the left, was wide. A smaller road went off to 
the right hand side. There was a signpost at the fork saying that the 
road to the left was for those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The smaller road to the right was for believers in Jesus. 


I was interested to see where the larger road led so I started down it. 
There were two men walking about 300 yards ahead of me. I tried to 
catch up with them so I could walk with them but no matter how hard I 
tried I couldn't catch them up, so I turned around and went back to the 
fork in the road. I continued to watch these two men as they walked 
down the road away from me. When they reached the end of the road they 
were suddenly stabbed. These two men cried out in great pain! I also 
cried out when I saw what happened to them! I realized the bigger road 
ended in great danger for those who traveled down it. 


Looking into Heaven 

I started walking down the believers' road instead. After traveling for 
about one hour the surface of the road turned to pure gold. It was so 
pure that when I looked down I could see my own reflection perfectly. I 
then saw a man standing in front of me. He was wearing a white robe. I 
also heard beautiful singing. Oh, it was so beautiful and pure! It was 
much better and more meaningful than the worship we have in churches 
here on the earth. The man in the white robe asked me to walk with him. 
I asked him, "What is your name?" but he did not answer. After I asked 
his name six times the man answered, "I am the one who holds the key to 
heaven. Heaven is a very, very beautiful place. You cannot go there now 
but if you follow Jesus Christ you can go there after your life has 
finished on the earth." The man's name was Peter. 


Peter then asked me to sit down and he showed me a place to the north. 
Peter said, "Look to the north and see God create man." I saw the 
Eternal God from a distance. God spoke to an angel, "Let us make man." 
The angel pleaded with God and said, "Please don't make man. He will do 
wrong and will grieve you." [In Burmese literally: "He will make you 
lose face."]. But God created a man named anyway. God blew on the man 
and the man came to life. He gave him the name "Adam". [Note: Buddhists 
do not believe in the Creation of the world or of man, so this 
experience had a significant impact on the monk]. 


Sent Back with a New Name 

Then Peter said, "Now get up and go back to where you came from. Speak 
to the people who worship Buddha and who worship idols. Tell them they 
must go to hell if they don't change. Those who build temples and idols 
will also have to go to hell. Those who give offerings to the monks to 
earn merit for themselves with go to hell. All those who pray to the 
monks and call them 'Pra' [respectful title for monks] will go to hell. 
Those who chant and 'give life' to idols will go to hell. All those who 
don't believe in Jesus Christ will go to hell." Peter told me to go 
back to the earth and testify about the things I had seen. He also 
said, "You must speak in your new name. From now on you are to be 
called Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu ["Paul who Came Back to Life."]. 


I didn't want to go back. I wanted to go to heaven. Angels opened a 
book. First they looked for my childhood name (Thitpin) in the book, 
but they could not find it. They then looked for the name I had been 
given when he entered the Buddhist monk hood (U Nata Pannita 
Ashinthuriya) but it wasn't written in the book either. Then Peter 
said, "Your name is not written here, you must return and testify about 
Jesus to the Buddhist people." 


I walked back along the gold road. Again I heard beautiful singing, the 
kind of which I have never heard before or since. Peter walked with me 
until the time I returned to the earth. He showed me a ladder that 
reached down from the heaven to the sky. The ladder didn't reach to the 
earth, but stopped in mid-air. On the ladder I saw many angels, some 
going up to heaven and some going down the ladder. They were very busy. 
I asked Peter, "Who are they?" Peter answered, "They are messengers of 
God. They are reporting to heaven the names of all those who believe in 
Jesus Christ and the names of those who don't believe." Peter then told 
me it was time to go back. 


It is a Ghost! 

The next thing I was aware of was the sound of weeping. I heard my own 
mother cry out, "My son, why did you leave us now?" I also heard many 
other people weeping. I realized I was lying in a box. I started to 
move. My mother and father started shouting, "He is alive! He is 
alive!" Other people who were farther away did not believe my parents. 
I then placed my hands on the sides of the box and sat upright. Many 
people were struck with terror. They cried out, "It is a ghost!" and 
ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. 


Those who remained were speechless and trembling. I noticed I was 
sitting in smelly liquid and body fluids, enough to fill about three 
and a half cups. This was liquid that had come out of my stomach and my 
insides while my body was lying in the coffin. This is why people knew 
I had indeed been dead. Inside the coffin there was a type of plastic 
sheet fixed to the wood. This sheet is placed there to retain a 
corpse's liquids, because many dead bodies release much fluid like mine 
did. 


I learned later that I was just moments away from being cremated in the 
flames. In Myanmar people are placed in a coffin, the lid is then 
nailed shut, and the whole coffin is burned. When I came back to life 
my mother and father were being allowed to look at my body for the very 
last time. Moments later the lid of my coffin would have been nailed 
shut and I would have been cremated! 


I immediately started to explain the things I had seen and heard. 
People were astonished. I told them about the men I had seen in the 
lake of fire, and told them that only the Christians know the truth, 
that our forefathers and us have been deceived for thousands of years! 
I told them everything we believe is a lie. The people were astonished 
because they knew what kind of a monk I had been and how zealous I had 
been for the teachings of Buddha. 


In Myanmar when a person dies their name and age is written on the side 
of the coffin. When a monk dies, the monk's name, age and the number of 
years he has served as a monk are written on the side of the coffin. I 
had already been recorded as dead but as you can see, now I am alive! 


Epilogue 

Since 'Paul who came back to life' experienced the above story he has 
remained a faithful witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Burmese pastors 
have told us that he had led hundreds of other monks to faith in 
Christ. His testimony is obviously very uncompromising. Because of 
that, his message has offended many people who cannot accept there is 
only one Way to Heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite great 
opposition, his experiences were so real to him that he has not 
wavered. After many years in the Buddhist monk hood, as a strict 
follower of Buddhist teachings, he immediately proclaimed the Gospel of 
Christ following his resurrection and exhorted other monks to forsake 
all false gods and follow Jesus Christ with all their hearts. Before 
the time of his sickness and death he had no exposure to Christianity 
at all. Everything he learned during those three days in the grave was 
new to his mind. 


In a bid to get his message out to as many people as possible, this 
modern-day Lazarus began distributing audio and video cassette tapes 
with his story on them. The police and Buddhist authorities in Myanmar 
have done their utmost to gather these tapes up and destroy them. The 
testimony you have just read has been translated form one of those 
cassette tapes. We are told it is now quite dangerous for citizens of 
Myanmar to be in possession of these tapes. 


His fearless testimony has landed him in prison at least once, where 
the authorities failed in their bid to silence him. Upon his release he 
continued to testify of the things he saw and heard. His current 
whereabouts are uncertain. One Burmese informant told us he is prison 
and may have been killed, while another informant was told he is now 
released from prison and is continuing his ministry. 


Translated by: 

Asian Minorities Outreach
 
P.O.Box 901 

Palestine, TX 75802 

U.S.A. 

E-Mail: monkst... @yahoo.com 

Website: http://www.antioch.com.sg/mission/asianmo 
 

________________________ 


Dear Triplegem Members, 

The following message was posted to the NDE.com Website by 
someone called 'James' on 23rd July, 2000. (NDE = Near Death 
Experience). The Monk's story is identical. But the source is 
different. Details can be viewed at 


<> 


The message began with: 

 "Buddhist Monk visits Hell" 

 I believe this person died, body decay & rotten. 

He was then brought to those places by the LORD to show him some 

vision. <---------> 


 This is taken from a mission paper 

"Northside Missions Update" 

 Northside Christian Centre 

 31-61 McLeans Road 

 Bundoora Victoria 3083 

 Australia 


The same 'Monk's Story' followed. 

Then, exchange of interesting messages took place at the NDE.com 

Bulletin Board among NDE regulars, some of them are Christians, and 
finally, someone called 'Melvin', 'a Myanmar Buddhist', posted the 
following message and the discussion came to a close. 


The fact that the same story has re-surfaced in another form 
(cassette), perhaps in a another country is a bit disturbing! 


Best wishes to all our Triplegem members, 

MM Lwin 


................................................................... 


Dear All NDE Fans, 

I was alerted and requested by someone in a responsible position 
to check for the authenticity of the story behind this posting. After 
speaking to and exchanging Emails with Myanmar (Burmese) monks as 
well as fellow Myanmar Buddhism experts in many countries, I am 100% 
confident that this NDE story is completely fictitious. The reasons 
are given below. 


(1) All Burmese experts said they had never heard of the story 
about this Myanmar Buddhist monk before. 


(2) There is also no reports either in Burma or outside Burma of 
mass defection of Myanmar Buddhist Monks to join the Christian 
Church. 


(3) The monk in the story said he became a novice at the age of 
18. It is rather unusual as most boys Burmese boys join the monastic 
life at younger age than 18. 


(4) At the age of 19, he became a monk. This is also unusual as 
the entry age for becoming a fully ordained monk is 20. (There is one 
exception when one considers the foetal life while in the mother's 
womb) 


(5) U Zadila, also known as 'Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw' was described as 
probably the most famous Buddhist Teacher of the time. That is 
disputable. Venerable Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw was indeed well known and 
very popular as public speaker and preacher. But he was not regarded 
as the most distinguished monk academically and intellectually. 


(6) The monk said 'Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw' died in a car crash in 
1983 . In fact Sayadaw died in Myanmar Era 1339 = about 1977. There 
was a 6 years discrepancy which is unacceptable as the monk said he 
studied under him. He should know the exact year when his teacher 
died. And that 1977 was also the year when he became a monk. This 
fact alone is enough to brand the story as a fake or invention. 


(7) He said he was given a new name of 'U Nata Pannita 
Ashinthuriya' when he entered the monastery. In Burma, the 
title 'shin' was used for the novice. 'U' was never used for a 
novice. 


(8) The monk's new name itself was unusual nor unheard of, 
according to the monks I consulted. 


(9) Doctors diagnosed Malaria and Yellow fever. Actually the 
Yellow Fever was not known to exist in Burma. 


(10) To recover completely after very severe malaria is most 
unusual especially after being discharged to die. 


(11) To regain Life after the body started to decay (decompose) is 
impossible according to conventional medical thinking. 


There are other discrepancies regarding his actual NDE. But there 
is no need to dig deeper. It is a complete FICTION. 
It is very regrettable that a Christian Church was reported to be 
involved in creating this dishonest practice. 


We expect 'James' to say something about our findings. He is the 
one who reported the story to the world media. After reading his 
various postings to this forum, I believe that he is either a priest 
or a serious Christian. We welcome his reply as well as the 
communication from the Church authorities who wrote the Introduction 
to this fictitious story and published in their regular bulletin. 


Best wishes to all, 

Melvin, 

MyanmarBuddhist@n... 


___________________________________________________



 http://www.ccgm.org.au/Articles/ARTICLE-0102.htm



Note: The old link was no longer there so try this link instead 
http://www.christianfaith.com/lookout/the-tale-of-the-resurrected-monk



Resurrected Burmese Monk Story Revisited 

During the year 2000, numerous emails circulated on the Internet 
passing on the dramatic story: ‘BACK FROM THE DEAD The Remarkable 
Testimony of a Buddhist monk in Myanmar (Burma) who came back to life 
a changed man!’ 



With CCG Ministries’ involvement in Asia, including Myanmar, we were 
very interested in this story and its authenticity. 


It was brought to ‘life’ on the Internet through the promotion of a 
Christian missionary organization then called, Asian Minorities 
Outreach, later changing its name to: Asia Harvest, headquartered in 
Texas, USA, and operating from Thailand. Its Director, Paul Hatthaway, 
has written several books, including ‘The Heavenly Man’. 


For quite some time the ‘resurrected Buddhist monk’ story appeared on 
the front page of the organisation’s website. Then the actual story 
was removed from their website, but a remaining reference to it 
encouraged people to request a copy of the story by email. The 
following explanation for the change, was given by the group at the 
time: 


‘A Quick Note: We have been asked by many people why this testimony 
is no longer available on our website. We were ordered to remove the 
story by the government of Singapore, who had apparently received 
complaints from Buddhists. As our website is housed in Singapore at 
the moment, we didn’t have much choice.’ 



AMO/Asia Harvest introduced the story with the following 
introduction: 


‘The story that follows is simply a translation of a taped testimony 
from a man with a life-changing story. It is not an interview or a 
biography, but simply the words from the man himself. Different 
people react in different ways when they hear this story. Some are 
inspired, some skeptical, a few will mock and ridicule, while some 
others have even been filled with rage and anger, convinced these 
words are the ravings of a mad man or an elaborate deception. Some 
Christians have opposed the story simply because the radical and 
miraculous events described herein do not fit their feeble image of an 
Almighty God.’ 



We were concerned with the above wording and commented in our 2001 
report that it was interesting to note the approach they took in the 
introduction. Anyone who questioned the story would immediately be 
labelled as a sceptic, a mocker or ridiculer, someone filled with rage 
and anger, or worse a Christian whose concept of God is feeble and who 
does not believe that an Almighty God can be radical and perform 
miracles. 


This could be seen by some as a form of bullying and intimidation to 
dismiss any form of thought and questioning of the story. It is not a 
healthy or biblical approach to dealing with questions about such a 
dramatic story, nor does it encourage people to use their minds. 


The resurrected monk’s story was quite a dramatic tale and it has 
impressed many people. It was even reported in the well-known 
Christian Singaporean magazine: IMPACT (June/July 2000, p.45). It 
continued to be circulated and passed on through emails for some time. 


But was it true? If it was, it SHOULD be circulated - whatever the 
consequences. But what if it was NOT true? Should it then continue to 
be circulated never-the-less? We believe not! 


It should be noted that there have been several versions of the story 
circulating. One version, which was circulating in March and April of 
2000, began with an ‘Extract’: 


‘Myanmar: Buddhist monk raised from the dead - 300 monks turn to 
Jesus. “In 1998, a Buddhist monk died. A few days later, his funeral 
was held, at which he was to be cremated. From the smell, it was 
obvious that his body had started to decompose - he was very clearly 
dead!” according to the report from missions agency Asian Minorities 
Outreach. “We have attempted to verify this report which reached us 
from a number of sources, and are now convinced that it is accurate,” 
they write. 


Hundreds of monks and relatives of the dead man attended the funeral. 
Just as the body was about to be burned, the dead monk suddenly sat 
up, shouting ‘It’s a lie! I saw our ancestors burning and being 
tortured in some sort of fire. I also saw Buddha and many other 
Buddhist holy men. They were all in a sea of fire!’ ‘We must listen to 
the Christians,’ he continued emphatically, ‘they’re the only ones who 
know the truth!’ 



The events shocked the whole region. Over 300 monks became Christians 
and started to study the Bible. The resurrected man continued to warn 
everyone to believe in Jesus, because he is the only true God. Tapes 
of the monk’s report were distributed throughout Myanmar. The Buddhist 
hierarchy and the government were soon alarmed, and they arrested the 
monk. He has not been seen since and it is feared that he was killed 
to keep him silent. It is now a serious crime to listen to the tapes, 
because the government wants to dampen the sensation.’ 



On Sunday 19th November 2000, CCG Ministries’ Director, Adrian van 
Leen, interviewed and spoke with a man who claimed to be the 
‘resurrected’ Paul in a hotel function room in Yangon in the company 
of four Myanmar Christian leaders. 


That interview raised serious questions as to the authenticity of the 
story under consideration. 


Our detailed review of the interview with the man claiming to be Paul, 
the ‘resurrected’ monk, was published as a report, sent to Asia 
Harvest, and placed on our website. After emailing a copy of the 
report, we also sent a ‘hard’ copy of the TACL containing the printed 
article, to Asia Harvest. In the latter part of 2003 we received the 
following email from Asia Harvest: 


Greetings! 

I’m sure you will remember our communications a year or two back 
regarding the story of the Buddhist monk in Myanmar who came back to 
life. We were the ones who first had his testimony translated and 
published on our website. 


Then you travelled to Myanmar and met with a man regarding this story. 
Your graphic report of that interview, his seemingly unstable mind and 
completely inconsistent testimony left us with no option but to 
withdraw the story from our website and offer our deep apologies. The 
last thing we want to do is discredit the name of our Lord Jesus by 
publishing any story that is untrue. I wrote to you of our intentions 
and you accurately reported, 


[After Asia Harvest received a copy of this report they removed all 
references to the story from their website and stopped sending out 
email transcripts of the claimed resurrection account. They will be 
making some statement regarding their initial endorsement of the 
story. When this is available we will gladly append it to this 
report.] 


However, when we received your magazine article which carried a 
picture of the man you interviewed, we showed it to two Burmese 
pastors who met the original “Paul” in Myanmar and they immediately 
said this was the wrong man! Later a missionary who lives here in 
Thailand but who works in Myanmar also said the man you interviewed 
looks nothing like the monk, being much younger. 


More information since has revealed that there are actually three or 
four different people in Myanmar who claim they were monks who rose 
from the dead! Our contacts in Yangon (Rangoon) say that two of these 
are completely untrustworthy men, with little evidence of a genuine 
conversion to Christ. One of these is the young man you interviewed. 
No wonder his birth-date and other key facts were different from the 
testimony we published - it was not the same person! It almost seems 
that Satan sent along these counterfeits with false testimonies and a 
poor witness in order to discredit the original testimony. 


Can we absolutely guarantee the story we published is true - of 
course not. Only God and the person involved can know what happened in 
such a story. We stated this when we first released the transcript of 
his testimony. But as far as can be verified, we have yet to be 
convinced that this testimony is false. We have been told it now seems 
likely that the monk Paul was killed. He was in hiding for more than 
12 months and has not been heard of since. Another ex-monk who lives 
in Shan State, who also converted to Christ through miraculous 
circumstances is also being hunted by the authorities in a bid to 
silence him. 


In the interests of fairness, would you be willing to publish our 
comments in this email with the story that is on your website? 


God bless you, 


Asia Harvest 


Unfortunately, this update from Asia Harvest still fails to answer 
many of the questions and issues CCG Ministries raised in our report 
initially. 


Our report had already acknowledged that there were several people in 
Myanmar (Burma) claiming to be the ‘resurrected’ monk: Further 
complications have arisen with this whole saga. According to the 
beliefs of some people in Myanmar (or some with friends and/or 
relatives in Myanmar), several different people supposedly, or 
apparently, are claiming to be the resurrected Buddhist monk - at 
least an older man and a not-so-balanced young man. 


Even if we completely remove the questionable ‘Paul’ interviewed by 
CCG Ministries’ Director and several Myanmar Pastors, we are still 
left with serious questions about the whole story anyway. These were 
made clear in our 2001 report and remain unanswered by the recent 
comments from Asia harvest. 


Apart from the contradictions made by [the suspect] Paul in front of 
witnesses, there are still serious questions about the content of his 
[the ‘original ‘Paul’] supposed visions or visit to hell and heaven, 
as well as questions about editorial comments made by Asian Minorities 
Outreach/Asia Harvest. 


AMO/Asia Harvest has made statements about Paul being radically 
transformed and having a 180-degree shift in his life, and him 
continuing to be a fearless witness for Christ, of him being 
persecuted, scorned by family, friends and colleagues, and facing 
death for his unwillingness to compromise. But some Myanmar Christian 
leaders have asked (as we do also) on what do they base this, apart 
from his say so [or the say-so of unnamed pastors whose comments seem 
in clear conflict with that of the majority of pastors – especially 
from known established churches and denominations]? What evidence do 
they have? 


Statements that [the ‘original’] Paul had been arrested and 
imprisoned - probably several times, not seen since, and that it was 
feared that he had been killed to keep him silent - are all highly 
emotive. While claims of imprisonment in such a situation are 
plausible and even probable, they remain unsubstantiated. 


AMO/Asia Harvest has stated that the story was first told them by 
several Burmese church leaders, and that since being initially told 
they ‘have attempted to verify this report which reached us from a 
number of sources, and are now convinced that it is accurate.’ IMPACT 
Magazine reported that a spokesman for AMO/Asia Harvest stated: ‘We 
believe it to be true as there are many witnesses to these events.’ 



CCG Ministries’ Director, Adrian van Leen, before, especially during, 
and after his visit to Myanmar in November 2000, [and subsequent 
visits in 2001 and 2002] has spoken to a number of [numerous] Myanmar 
Christian leaders - including a number who are involved in 
inter-church/inter-denominational work, as well as leaders of several 
denominations. He spoke with leaders from Yangon and across Myanmar 
who attended a conference in Bago, and also Christian leaders in 
Mandalay and a regional township. Many of these leaders from across 
varying denominations had contact with other Christian leaders across 
the country. 


No one was able to give ANY form of authentication to the story. A 
number of leaders, including those who had been in Christian 
leadership in Mandalay, knew of no evidence to confirm any part of the 
story. Some of the Myanmar Christian leaders would very much like to 
know who the ‘several Burmese church leaders’ are that AMO/Asia 
Harvest refers to as their sources for this story. 


In fact, it was pointed out very clearly that, had the story been 
true, especially had there been a number of Buddhist monks converted 
to Christianity - especially as many as 300 and very much so if there 
were as many as 7,000 - the news would have spread rapidly. While the 
government-controlled media might have tried to suppress such news - 
the Christians and churches (particularly in the Mandalay area) would 
not have been able - nor have wanted to - suppress such news. It would 
have spread rapidly and widely through the churches. The Buddhist 
community would also have spread the story - though for different 
reasons. 


The claim that ’there are many witnesses to these events’ is also 
disputed by Myanmar Christian leaders, who have stated that they had 
never met anyone who had been a direct primary witness - nor anyone 
who had personally met a direct witness to these events… The reality 
is that in Myanmar itself no one has been able to find any witnesses 
or any evidence whatever, to support the story of the resurrected 
Paul. 


It was also pointed out that [the ‘original’] Paul’s claim to have 
seen Aung San, the revolutionary leader of Myanmar (father of current 
opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi) in hell ‘because he persecuted 
and killed Christians, but mostly because he didn’t believe in Jesus 
Christ’ was completely without foundation. He is a well known figure 
in Burmese/Myanmar thinking and history - and there is no evidence at 
all that he persecuted any Christians, let alone killed any. 


AMO/Asia Harvest has invited ‘Christian believers to judge it [Paul’s 
resurrection story] according to Scripture.’ 



As one senior Myanmar pastor pointed out, the story and description 
of hell given by Paul, is itself contrary to Scripture. Paul’s story 
is also in conflict with the story Jesus told in the account of the 
rich man and the beggar, Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). When carefully 
examined it is also in conflict with the comments of the Apostle Paul 
in 1 Corinthians 15 - in particular where that Paul was able to name 
eye witnesses to the resurrection of Christ - and acknowledged at the 
time that some were still living - in other words, he was able to 
produce witnesses who could testify to the authenticity of his claims. 


Pastors in Myanmar are still asking for real evidence and living 
witnesses to the claimed miracle with whom they can discuss and verify 
the story. So far, the story’s authenticity remains with the claims 
made by Asia Harvest. 


The story of the ‘resurrected Paul’ is known throughout much of 
Myanmar - and his tape has circulated (in several versions). Hardly 
anyone in Myanmar - especially amongst Christian leaders - has 
accepted or believed the story. There is just nothing to back it up. 


Far from the ‘resurrected monk’ story providing a ‘fearless and 
faithful witness to Jesus Christ, whose testimony is converting 
Buddhists, strengthening the church or bringing glory to God’s name’, 
Myanmar pastor have told our Director that it has brought fear and 
suspicion to many Christians in the country. We concluded our 2001 
report with the comment: Whatever the truth behind this sad saga, 
most Christians, and most pastors and church leaders in Myanmar, are 
not taking this story seriously and see little value in it for the 
growth of the Christian community in that country. 


From the evidence we have been able to examine, including the claims 
and content of the story itself, and all the discussions with Pastors 
and others in Myanmar, we believe it would have been wiser for the 
story not to have been published and circulated. 


We believe that ‘miracle stories’ which cannot be adequately 
substantiated ought to be treated with caution – especially if those 
stories, or significant parts of those stories, do not conform to 
Scripture. Lives continue to be changed by the resurrected and living 
Jesus Christ – sometimes dramatically, sometimes quietly – the 
substance of those changed lives are quiet miracles that are often 
clear and undisputed. They continue to honour Christ and encourage 
others. 



Burmese "Paul" as in the story


___________________________________________________


Taken from http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/12/14/when_jesus_met_buddha/ for the intellectual discussion purposely. Not for commercial gain



When Jesus met Buddha

Something remarkable happened when evangelists for two great religions
crossed paths more than 1,000 years ago: they got along

By Philip Jenkins

December 14, 2008




 While few mainline Christians would put the matter in such
confrontational terms, any religion claiming exclusive access to truth
has real difficulties reconciling other great faiths into its cosmic
scheme. Most Christian churches hold that Jesus alone is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life, and many also feel an obligation to carry that
message to the world's unbelievers. But this creates a fundamental
conflict with the followers of famous spiritual figures like Mohammed
or Buddha, who preached radically different messages. Drawing on a
strict interpretation of the Bible, some Christians see these rival
faiths as not merely false, but as deliberate traps set by the forces
of evil.



Being intolerant of other religions - consigning them to hell, in fact
- may be bad enough in its own right, but it increasingly has real-
world consequences. As trade and technology shrink the globe, so
different religions come into ever-closer contact with one another,
and the results can be bloody: witness the apocalyptic assaults in
Mumbai. In such a world, teaching different faiths to acknowledge one
another's claims, to live peaceably together side by side, stops being
a matter of good manners and becomes a prerequisite for human
survival.



Over the past 30 years, the Roman Catholic Church has faced repeated
battles over this question of Christ's uniqueness, and has cracked
down on thinkers who have made daring efforts to accommodate other
world religions. While the Christian dialogue with Islam has attracted
most of the headlines, it is the encounters with Hinduism and
especially Buddhism that have stirred the most controversy within the
church. Sri Lankan theologians Aloysius Pieris and Tissa Balasuriya
have had many run-ins with Vatican critics, and, more recently, the
battle has come to American shores. Last year, the Vatican ordered an
investigation of Georgetown University's Peter Phan, a Jesuit
theologian whose main sin, in official eyes, has been to treat the
Buddhism of his Vietnamese homeland as a parallel path to salvation.



Following the ideas of Pope Benedict XVI, though, the church refuses
to give up its fundamental belief in the unique role of Christ. In a
widely publicized open letter to Italian politician Marcello Pera,
Pope Benedict declared that "an inter-religious dialogue in the strict
sense of the term is not possible." By all means, he said, we should
hold conversations with other cultures, but not in a way that
acknowledges other religions as equally valid. While the Vatican does
not of course see the Buddha as a demon, it does fear the prospect of
syncretism, the dilution of Christian truth in an unholy mixture with
other faiths.



Beyond doubt, this view places Benedict in a strong tradition of
Christianity as it has developed in Europe since Roman times. But
there is another, ancient tradition, which suggests a very different
course. Europe's is not the only version of the Christian faith, nor
is it necessarily the oldest heir of the ancient church. For more than
1,000 years, other quite separate branches of the church established
thriving communities across Asia, and in their sheer numbers, these
churches were comparable to anything Europe could muster at the time.
These Christian bodies traced their ancestry back not through Rome,
but directly to the original Jesus movement of ancient Palestine. They
moved across India, Central Asia, and China, showing no hesitation to
share - and learn from - the other great religions of the
East.



Just how far these Christians were prepared to go is suggested by a
startling symbol that appeared on memorials and stone carvings in both
southern India and coastal China during the early Middle Ages. We can
easily see that the image depicts a cross, but it takes a moment to
realize that the base of the picture - the root from which the cross
is growing - is a lotus flower, the symbol of Buddhist enlightenment.



In modern times, most mainstream churches would condemn such an
amalgam as a betrayal of the Christian faith, an example of
multiculturalism run wild. Yet concerns about syncretism did not
bother these early Asian Christians, who called themselves Nasraye,
Nazarenes, like Jesus's earliest followers. They were comfortable
associating themselves with the other great monastic and mystical
religion of the time, and moreover, they believed that both lotus and
cross carried similar messages about the quest for light and
salvation. If these Nazarenes could find meaning in the lotus-cross,
then why can't modern Catholics, or other inheritors of the faith
Jesus inspired?



Many Christians are coming to terms with just how thoroughly so many
of their fundamental assumptions will have to be rethought as their
faith today becomes a global religion. Even modern church leaders who
know how rapidly the church is expanding in the global South tend to
see European values and traditions as the indispensable norm, in
matters of liturgy and theology as much as music and architecture.



Yet the reality is that Christianity has from its earliest days been
an intercontinental faith, as firmly established in Asia and Africa as
in Europe itself. When we broaden our scope to look at the faith that
by 800 or so stretched from Ireland to Korea, we see the many
different ways in which Christians interacted with other believers, in
encounters that reshaped both sides. At their best, these meetings
allowed the traditions not just to exchange ideas but to intertwine in
productive and enriching ways, in an awe-inspiring chapter of
Christian history that the Western churches have all but forgotten.



To understand this story, we need to reconfigure our mental maps. When
we think of the growth of Christianity, we think above all of Europe.
We visualize a movement growing west from Palestine and Syria and
spreading into Greece and Italy, and gradually into northern regions.
Europe is still the center of the Catholic Church, of course, but it
was also the birthplace of the Protestant denominations that split
from it. For most of us, even speaking of the "Eastern Church" refers
to another group of Europeans, namely to the Orthodox believers who
stem from the eastern parts of the continent. English Catholic thinker
Hilaire Belloc once proclaimed that "Europe is the Faith; and the
Faith is Europe."



But in the early centuries other Christians expanded east into Asia
and south into Africa, and those other churches survived for the first
1,200 years or so of Christian history. Far from being fringe sects,
these forgotten churches were firmly rooted in the oldest traditions
of the apostolic church. Throughout their history, these Nazarenes
used Syriac, which is close to Jesus' own language of Aramaic, and
they followed Yeshua, not Jesus. No other church - not Roman
Catholics, not Eastern Orthodox - has a stronger claim to a direct
inheritance from the earliest Jesus movement.



The most stunningly successful of these eastern Christian bodies was
the Church of the East, often called the Nestorian church. While the
Western churches were expanding their influence within the framework
of the Roman Empire, the Syriac-speaking churches colonized the vast
Persian kingdom that ruled from Syria to Pakistan and the borders of
China. From their bases in Mesopotamia - modern Iraq - Nestorian
Christians carried out their vast missionary efforts along the Silk
Route that crossed Central Asia. By the eighth century, the Church of
the East had an extensive structure across most of central Asia and
China, and in southern India. The church had senior clergy -
metropolitans - in Samarkand and Bokhara, in Herat in Afghanistan. A
bishop had his seat in Chang'an, the imperial capital of China, which
was then the world's greatest superpower.



When Nestorian Christians were pressing across Central Asia during the
sixth and seventh centuries, they met the missionaries and saints of
an equally confident and expansionist religion: Mahayana Buddhism.
Buddhists too wanted to take their saving message to the world, and
launched great missions from India's monasteries and temples. In this
diverse world, Buddhist and Christian monasteries were likely to stand
side by side, as neighbors and even, sometimes, as collaborators. Some
historians believe that Nestorian missionaries influenced the
religious practices of the Buddhist religion then developing in Tibet.
Monks spoke to monks.



In presenting their faith, Christians naturally used the cultural
forms that would be familiar to Asians. They told their stories in the
forms of sutras, verse patterns already made famous by Buddhist
missionaries and teachers. A stunning collection of Jesus Sutras was
found in caves at Dunhuang, in northwest China. Some Nestorian
writings draw heavily on Buddhist ideas, as they translate prayers and
Christian services in ways that would make sense to Asian readers. In
some texts, the Christian phrase "angels and archangels and hosts of
heaven" is translated into the language of buddhas and devas.



One story in particular suggests an almost shocking degree of
collaboration between the faiths. In 782, the Indian Buddhist
missionary Prajna arrived in Chang'an, bearing rich treasures of
sutras and other scriptures. Unfortunately, these were written in
Indian languages. He consulted the local Nestorian bishop, Adam, who
had already translated parts of the Bible into Chinese. Together,
Buddhist and Christian scholars worked amiably together for some years
to translate seven copious volumes of Buddhist wisdom. Probably, Adam
did this as much from intellectual curiosity as from ecumenical good
will, and we can only guess about the conversations that would have
ensued: Do you really care more about relieving suffering than atoning
for sin? And your monks meditate like ours do?



These efforts bore fruit far beyond China. Other residents of Chang'an
at this very time included Japanese monks, who took these very
translations back with them to their homeland. In Japan, these works
became the founding texts of the great Buddhist schools of the Middle
Ages. All the famous movements of later Japanese history, including
Zen, can be traced to one of those ancient schools and, ultimately -
incredibly - to the work of a Christian bishop.



By the 12th century, flourishing churches in China and southern India
were using the lotus-cross. The lotus is a superbly beautiful flower
that grows out of muck and slime. No symbol could better represent the
rise of the soul from the material, the victory of enlightenment over
ignorance, desire, and attachment. For 2,000 years, Buddhist artists
have used the lotus to convey these messages in countless paintings
and sculptures. The Christian cross, meanwhile, teaches a comparable
lesson, of divine victory over sin and injustice, of the defeat of the
world. Somewhere in Asia, Yeshua's forgotten followers made the daring
decision to integrate the two emblems, which still today forces us to
think about the parallels between the kinds of liberation and
redemption offered by each faith.



Christianity, for much of its history, was just as much an Asian
religion as Buddhism. Asia's Christian churches survived for more than
a millennium, and not until the 10th century, halfway through
Christian history, did the number of Christians in Europe exceed that
in Asia.



What ultimately obliterated the Asian Christians were the Mongol
invasions, which spread across Central Asia and the Middle East from
the 1220s onward. From the late 13th century, too, the world entered a
terrifying era of climate change, of global cooling, which severely
cut food supplies and contributed to mass famine. The collapse of
trade and commerce crippled cities, leaving the world much poorer and
more vulnerable. Intolerant nationalism wiped out Christian
communities in China, while a surging militant Islam destroyed the
churches of Central Asia.



But awareness of this deep Christian history contributes powerfully to
understanding the future of the religion, as much as its past. For
long centuries, Asian Christians kept up neighborly relations with
other faiths, which they saw not as deadly rivals but as fellow
travelers on the road to enlightenment. Their worldview differed
enormously from the norms that developed in Europe.



To take one example, we are used to the idea of Christianity operating
as the official religion of powerful states, which were only too
willing to impose a particular orthodoxy upon their subjects. Yet when
we look at the African and Asian experience, we find millions of
Christians whose normal experience was as minorities or even
majorities within nations dominated by some other religion. Struggling
to win hearts and minds, leading churches had no option but to frame
the Christian message in the context of non-European intellectual
traditions. Christian thinkers did present their message in the
categories of Buddhism - and Taoism, and Confucianism - and there is
no reason why they could not do so again. When modern scholars like
Peter Phan try to place Christianity in an Asian and Buddhist context,
they are resuming a task begun at least 1,500 years ago.



Perhaps, in fact, we are looking at our history upside down. Some day,
future historians might look at the last few hundred years of Euro-
American dominance within Christianity and regard it as an unnatural
interlude in a much longer story of fruitful interchange between the
great religions.



Consider the story told by Timothy, a patriarch of the Nestorian
church. Around 800, he engaged in a famous debate with the Muslim
caliph in Baghdad, a discussion marked by reason and civility on both
sides. Imagine, Timothy said, that we are all in a dark house, and
someone throws a precious pearl in the midst of a pile of ordinary
stones. Everyone scrabbles for the pearl, and some think they've found
it, but nobody can be sure until day breaks.



In the same way, he said, the pearl of true faith and wisdom had
fallen into the darkness of this transitory world; each faith believed
that it alone had found the pearl. Yet all he could claim - and all
the caliph could say in response - was that some faiths thought they
had enough evidence to prove that they were indeed holding the real
pearl, but the final truth would not be known in this world.



Knowing other faiths firsthand grants believers an enviable
sophistication, founded on humility. We could do a lot worse than to
learn from what we sometimes call the Dark Ages.



Philip Jenkins is Edwin Erle Sparks professor of the humanities at
Penn State University. He is author of "The Lost History of
Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle
East, Africa, and Asia -- and How It Died," published last month.



© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.




http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/12/14/when_jesus_met_buddha/






 



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