The Reluctant Lama

The extraordinary story of the Spanish boy chosen by the Dalai Lama as the living reincarnation of a great Buddhist lama, or teacher.

Jolyon Jenkins goes to meet him in Ibiza, where he now lives, having turned his back on his epic destiny.

In 1987, two year old Osel Hita Torres was whisked from his family home in Granada and moved to a monastery in southern India. He had a strange childhood, dressed in a yellow hat, seated on a throne with grown men worshipping him and watching his every move as he grew up.

He was separated from his parents and his brothers and sisters for many years.

But when he turned 18, Osel decided to leave and cut his ties with Buddhism. He went to high school, and later to film school in Madrid. His defection caused a sensation. He now lives quietly in Ibiza near his mother Maria. She is a committed Buddhist who still believes that her son is a reincarnation and that it was right to send him to the monastery.

Osel has now decided to get involved in Buddhism again, and continue his studies, although he refuses to call himself a lama. Despite his years in the monastery, he is very much a westerner. To his followers, however, he's still known as Lama Osel, and every word he utters is considered to be imbued with wisdom. They want him to return and lead them.

Producer: Beth O'Dea

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2012.

*** Music featured in this programme - Yang Chen Ma by Ludo Ji, from the CD Organic Nasha.