Customer Reviews

Reincarnation: The Boy Lama

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a member of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition for ten years. Unfortunately, I never got to meet Lama Yeshe, though I have benefitted much from the organization he founded. Through reading Lama's teachings, I've gotten to know this great man after his death. With Vicki's book, I've gotten to know Lama even better and in a much different way than through his teachings; Vicki was close to Lama and her thorough style of writing helps my feelings of closeness even after his death. And now, I've gotten to know more about Lama Osel, so I hope I have the opportunity to meet him one day. This is a fine book that examines the doubts we Westerners have about reincarnation and how these great beings manipulate what ordinary beings fall victim to. Lama was such a being and this book helps us understand how to accomplish through their teachings to do exactly what they have

see WIKI:

After attaining his majority, formulaic greetings regularly appeared in FPMT publications. In May 2009, Hita gave an interview for Babylon Magazine, a bilingual (Spanish/English) Madrid periodical. In it he expressed belief in reincarnation, and admiration for Lama Zopa and the Dalai Lama, while complaining of discomfort with his exile Tibetan environs:

"I returned to Spain because I had arrived at a point where I no longer fitted within that life. I couldn't find myself, because for me it was a lie being there living something that was imposed from outside."

Having left Sera monastery at eighteen, without going on for the geshe degree, he felt unqualified to teach, as the FPMT expected of him: "The literal translation of lama is teacher, and I'm no teacher."[1]

Similar, but more pointed, remarks soon appeared in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo:

"Con 14 meses ya me habían reconocido y llevado a la India. Me vistieron con un gorro amarillo, me sentaron en un trono, la gente me veneraba... Me sacaron de mi familia y me metieron en una situación medieval en la que he sufrido muchísimo. Era como vivir en una mentira." [2]

["At 14 months I was recognized and taken to India. They dressed me in a yellow hat, they sat me on a throne, people worshipped me ... They took me away from my family and put me in a medieval situation in which I suffered a lot. It was like living a lie."]

Extracts appeared the following day in The Guardian (UK). Wisdom Publications (the FPMT publisher) then reported on the controversy on its blog under the title "Tempest in a Teapot,"[3] 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.

On June 3, a message from Hita appeared on the FPMT website, saying that despite the difficulties alluded to above, he was "privileged" to have received an education rooted in both Eastern and Western cultures.

"That experience was really good and I so appreciate it. However, certain media find ways to sensationalize and exaggerate an unusual story. So I hope that what appears in news print is not read and taken too literally. Don't believe everything that is written! Experience shows that however hard one tries in interviews to sincerely and honestly convey key information, the printed result can tend towards sensationalism to get the most attention. FPMT is doing a great job and Lama Zopa is an immensely special person - very inspiring and a great yogi. [...] There is no separation between myself and FPMT..." [4]

Hita reiterated his plans to pursue a career in cinematograph