“Reincarnated Lama goes off the rails”? (Updated)
That’s one version of a headline for what might just be a big news story, for the Buddhist world and way beyond. But don’t believe everything you read.
Based on an original story from El Mundo, the UK’s Guardian and also The First Post are running pieces about the “former” Lama Osel of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, in which Osel seems to be coming out against his having been recognized, when he was a child, as the reincarnation of the great Lama Yeshe. (The Guardian piece has already been picked up by the Huffington Post.)
But again: don’t believe everything you read. First of all, there are various “small” details in the stories that show research wasn’t done. “Lama” is defined in the Guardian piece as “one of a lineage of reincarnated spiritual leaders.” Actually, a lama is simply a teacher. (The word that should have been used is tulku.) Whether a lama is also a reincarnated spiritual leader or not is another matter.
Far more important, though, is this: the story just doesn’t paint a full picture. It’s been known for years now that Osel was going to quietly pursue film and explore life as a non-lama. (And while the news here suggests that he’s still addressed as “Lama,” he isn’t; the FPMT folks have been happy to address him as he wishes.) So why would someone who wants to quietly pursue their own thing knowingly seek publicity? And why would that person seek publicity that might damage his relationship with the FPMT, which, from all I’ve heard about, is just fine?
And what seem to be Osel’s complaints about being essentially kidnapped don’t wash, either — the young Osel often visited his family, and his father and his brother even lived with him for a time at Sera Monastery!
One dear friend suggests that perhaps Osel was caught in a “Phelpsian moment.” Only, where Michael Phelps let his guard down and had a big ol’ bong hit with a camera present, Osel instead let his guard down and perhaps said some things that were taken wildly out of context. Was this lazy journalism? Was it somehow agenda-based?Whatever it was, this will be an important story to watch, because it should create discussion: about how we think about reincarnation (especially within the framework of Tibetan Buddhism), and how we think about the media, especially when it’s about Buddhism. Perhaps the FPMT (a wonderful organization from all the contact I’ve had with it, and from all I’ve ever heard about it) will even see this as an opportunity to lead us toward a smarter and more balanced discussion. (I mean, they should have been interviewed by El Mundo to begin with!) At the very least, it reminds us that there’s never just one side to a story. We Buddhists should be watching closely when it comes to how the mainstream media covers and treads into our world.
So: stay tuned!
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June 2nd, 2009 at 6:44 am
I like that you mentioned that this story should affect how we think about the media… It’s important to remember that news reporting is NOT an exact science. The object of news reporting is to get viewers — and that goal sometimes supersedes the goal of accuracy.
Let’s face it, we’ll never see headlines like “Local lama helps local rape victim heal” or “Lama helps former drug addict recover” — though both I’ve witnessed and know to have occurred.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I am currently in Spain and have read the original report in “El Mundo”.
Some English language extracts on the Web (such as the article directly above) either imply or claim that Mr Torres “has completely renounced his former association with the Foundation..”, but that is not the impression I got from the “El Mundo” original. Mr Torres seems to have promised to his lama (Zopa) to one day return to the Buddhist fold.
I am not certain on this point because my Spanish is not good, but since I have a keen interest in this subject I hope a complete English translation will be made available, or at least that people with more insight will comment here.
We need more news like this. Westerners, disillusioned with “their own” religious institutions, often turn to Buddhism, thinking that it is purer and that its institutions are not corrupt. But Tibetan Buddhism has its own skeletons in the closet, past and present, and ironically, quite similar to the monstrosities committed by the Christian church(es).
The main reason most Westerners have no clue is because the mainstream media deliberately hush up anti-Dalai news. But search beyond the Dalai Lama–Richard Gere glitz and you are likely to very soon discover absolutely appalling facts about Tibetan Buddhism. I do not wish to mention anything specifically, but it is enough to pay attention to little details and they will soon take you to the larger picture…
Little details such as this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osel_Hita_Torres
“In May of 2009, Hita gave an interview for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo … Extracts appeared the following day in the The Guardian (UK). At this time, references to “Lama Osel” suddenly disappeared from the FPMT’s website. [3] [4]
[However, the removed pages are still available in the Google cache:]
Google cache Osel Birth http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:dGZbwnuBAzwJ:www.fpmt.org/teachers/osel/birth.asp+osel+fpmt&cd=4&hl=es&ct=clnk&gl=es
google cache Teachers Osel http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:k-OgKBFCyd4J:www.fpmt.org/Teachers/Osel/+osel+fpmt&cd=3&hl=es&ct=clnk&gl=es
”
(Bravo, Wikipedia, god job!)
—
Again, if anyone spots a complete English translation of the El Mundo report please let us know…
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Thanks for the thoughtful reflections. I agree that this is a chance for meaningful dialogue and to challenge some assumptions. I worked full time for the FPMT for a number of years and I’ve spoken to a fellow former paid FPMT worker and both of our views on the Guardian piece were ‘Go Osel!’
June 2nd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
But please note: that Wikipedia entry seems to be mostly baloney. See the note I’ve just posted from Osel himself, on Shambhala SunSpace:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=9695
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 am
Mike
I’ve read the Guardian’s sensationalist misrepresentation of the column in El Mundo and it is very sloppy journalism. El Mundo did not mention that Osel had renounced either the foundation or Buddhism. He just mentioned the hard time he had as a child. Imagine a young westerner walking around central Madrid in maroon robes during rush hour.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:42 am
This is an interesting story.
With all the different prospectives occuring in different mind.
Hopefully in near future we can see the reflection of his learning from those years in the Monastery through documentary or film etc or his words “… live a lie” will influence his work.
….need to wait and see.
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
Hi to everyone! I am a Spanish Buddhist and I am very surprised about all that subject!
I have followed the link from Mike in wikipedia…
It is clearly written that the El Mundo article (and the Guardian one) is based in another article from Babylon Magazine, a journal about Spanish Culture.
In wikipedia there is a link with the magazine (really amazing, as the article of Osel, I am so impresive!). Please, take a look at it, it is so strange that, after six years outside India, suddenly there is some newspapers who talk about Osel(appparently, this Babylon Magazine the first one). That is the link,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osel_Hita_Torres
“Osel’s Awakening: A Kid Against His Destiny,” by Diego Pontores. In Babylon Magazine # 5, May 2009, pp. 56-63. http://www.babylonmagazine.com/BabylonMagazine5.pdf
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:49 am
FROM WIKIPEDIA
Wisdom Publications (the FPMT publisher) then reported on the controversy on its blog under the title “Tempest in a Teapot.” [5], claiming that Hita’s original comments had been misrepresented and taken out of context. According to Wisdom, the article from El Mundo had been based on the one for Babylon Magazine.
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
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