Redefining Modern

According to China Daily, Tenzin Dorje, 30, a reincarnated Living Buddha in Lhasa, is called a “modern Living Buddha” because of his unconventional behaviour and lifestyle. He uses a red-skinned iPad to match his religious robes, listens to hip hop and other English pop music, follows football star Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, goes to the movies and is a microblogger where he’s posted photographs of himself wearing chic sunglasses, inviting comments from some 5,000 followers.

Senior Tibetan music producer Ermao who’s worked with him on a 10-minute TV documentary on Buddhist music puts it into perspective better. “In Tibet, there are various types of Living Buddhas,” he says. “Some of them choose to live only in monasteries, while others prefer living with the community. But as long as they are not addicted to certain hobbies and entertainment, I think it is okay for them to learn how ordinary people live and work.”

That’s commendable, but Dorje is also young and goodlooking and it’s natural that women would be attracted to him and, indeed, some of them have expressed their admiration. So how does he deal with that? Simple. He tells them, “I cannot be yours because I belong to Sakyamuni.”

Now, besides the fact that Sakyamuni would have never wanted someone to ‘belong’ to him like a piece of land or item of clothing, how can having an interest in someone of the opposite sex — which is part of being ordinary — interfere with the realisation of the Four Noble Truths or the Eightfold Path? And if it does, can such a person seriously be called a Living Buddha?