A Buddhist Monk in Burma claims to have died and had a variety of experiences which convinced him of the truth of Christianity then three days later he came back to life…during his own funeral.
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The Truth: This is not the typical eRumor because there is first-hand information that the man actually exists, claims to have been raised from the dead, and has a lot of supporters, but TruthOrFiction.com is classifying it as Unproven! as to whether he was actually dead and came back to life.
We have traced this story to a group called Asian Minorities Outreach. According to the group, the monk’s name is Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu. Asian Minorities Outreach says it has had contact with several Christian pastors from the area of Myanmar who know of the story and have visited the monastery where some of the events happened. Asian Minorities Outreach says it has yet to find a pastor who does not believe the story. They also claim to have a cassette tape of the former monk telling the story first-hand.
The former monk says that during the time he was living in a monastery, he was diagnosed with both malaria and yellow fever. He prepared himself for death. He remembers growing weaker by the day then, he was later told, he lapsed into unconsciousness and died. He was told his breathing and pulse stopped, his body began to decay, and he was prepared for Buddhist cremation. The monk claims that during the time he was regarded as dead, he had an elaborate series of supernatural experiences which convinced him of the truth of Christianity and he came back to become a Christian preacher instead of a Buddhist monk. He says he came back to life while lying in his coffin at his own funeral and while his parents were looking at him for the last time.