Born in Spain in 1985, Osel Hita Torres was just 18 months old when he was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher, Lama Thubten Yeshe.
Lama Yeshe was an important figure in teaching Buddhism to the West during the 1970s. The idea that heβd βreturnedβ in the body of a Spanish baby was welcomed and celebrated by his students all over the world.
Aged just two, Osel was enthroned in a ceremony. He spent his earliest years away from his parents, travelling the world in the care of monks.
βFor three years I was touring, visiting all the Buddhist centres that Lama Yeshe had foundedβ¦ I had to sit on a throne, I had to sit through all the ceremonies, and I had to give blessings.β
When he was six, he was sent to a monastery in India to start his formal training.
βThe pressure was insane. It was really difficult for me as a child. I didnβt feel accepted for who I was. I had to be someone else in order to be accepted.β
As a teenager, he began to rebel, sneaking in Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Tracy Chapman CDs and cassettes. At 18, he made the difficult decision to leave behind what heβd been told was his βdestinyβ, since his earliest years.
βI said, you know, my life is my life. Nobody else can decide for me. I have to live my own life and thatβs my right.β
He moved from India to the Spanish island of Ibiza where his mother was living. It was a crash course in self-discovery. From spending his hours chanting in Tibetan, he quickly fell into Ibizaβs party scene, organising trance raves across the island. He went studying and travelling around the world.
βI wanted to find my own personality, because I was all jumbled up. I didnβt know who I wasβ¦ that took me about 15 years of travelling and meeting people and having all sorts of crazy adventures.β
Two decades later, heβs become a father and dedicates his time to environmentalism and teaching Buddhism β but this time, on his own terms.
