Osel Hita Torres - The reluctant lama
A Spanish toddler identified as the reincarnation of a revered Buddhist lama spent his entire childhood in an Indian monastery. But at the age of 18 he returned to his family in Spain. Still hailed as a teacher, he is more comfortable on the beaches of Ibiza.
When he was two, Osel Hita Torres was enthroned as a reincarnated Tibetan Buddhist lama.
He was dressed in robes and a yellow hat. Grown men prostrated themselves in front of him and asked for his blessing.
No-one was allowed to show him affection unless he initiated it. He had his own special cutlery.
"It must have been tempting to take advantage of that sometimes and act badly," I say to him now.
"Yes," he replies. "I was a tyrant and an obnoxious spoiled brat. I was pretty bossy, let's say."
Even by Tibetan Buddhist standards, two was a young age for enthronement, and Osel was not even Tibetan - he is Spanish.
We are speaking in Ibiza, in the courtyard to his mother's villa. Osel is 27 and no longer a lama.
Osel would like to become a documentary maker
He has swapped the rigours of monastic life for playing the drums on the beach, and chilling to trance music. He is not sure he is still a Buddhist.
Because of his bad experiences with the media, he hardly ever gives interviews. But he is relaxed and charming to me, and philosophical about his extraordinary history. read on...
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