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Nicholas Vreeland

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Nicholas Vreeland, also known as Rato Khensur Thupten Lhundup, is a Tibetan Buddhist monk and the former abbot of Rato Dratsang, a 14th-century Tibetan Buddhist monastery reestablished in India. Vreeland is also a photographer.[1] He is the son of Ambassador Frederick Vreeland and grandson of Diana Vreeland, former editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and special consultant to The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, where she set the "standard for costume exhibitions globally."[2][3]

Nicholas Vreeland, Rato Khensur Thupten Lhundup
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Khen Rimpoche Nicholas Vreeland at Rato Dratsang, Mundgod, in the south Indian state of Karnataka.
TitleKhensur Rinpoche
Personal
Born
Switzerland
ReligionTibetan Buddhism
NationalityAmerican
Parent(s)Frederick Vreeland
Vanessa Somers
SchoolGelug
EducationAmerican University of Paris, New York University, Rato Dratsang
OccupationBuddhist Monk
RelativesDiana Vreeland (grandmother)
Caroline Vreeland
(cousin)
Senior posting
TeacherKhyongla Rato Rinpoche
Based inRato Dratsang

Vreeland spends his time between India and the United States, where he is the Director of Kunkhyab Thardo Ling—The Tibet Center, New York City's oldest Tibetan Buddhist center. He is also the first Westerner His Holiness the Dalai Lama appointed Abbot of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the important Tibetan government monasteries under his authority.[4][5]

Monk With A Camera, a documentary film about Vreeland, was released in 2014.[6]

History

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Vreeland was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1954. He also lived in Germany and Morocco before coming to live in the United States at the age of 13 when his father was assigned to the United States Mission to the United Nations.[7][8]

Vreeland attended Groton School in Massachusetts, where he became interested in photography. In the early 1970s, Vreeland attended The American University of Paris, subsequently receiving his BA in 1975 from New York University, where he studied film.[7] He apprenticed to photographers Irving Penn and Richard Avedon.[9]

In 1977, Vreeland began his studies of Buddhism with Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, a Tibetan lama sent to the West in the early 1960s by the 14th Dalai Lama to introduce Tibetan culture and Buddhist religion and philosophy. On a photographic assignment in India in 1979, Vreeland met the Dalai Lama, and was asked to photograph the Dalai Lama's first trip to North America.[10][11]

In 1985 Vreeland became a monk, joining Rato Dratsang in the Mungod Tibetan refugee settlement in the South Indian state of Karnataka, India, the "only Western person there for a long time."[12][13][14] He was awarded a Geshe degree, equivalent to a PhD, in 1998, and returned to New York to assist his teacher, Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, and to help run The Tibet Center, Kunkhyab Thardo Ling, which Rinpoche founded. He became the director of The Tibet Center in 1999.[15][16] Vreeland also helped raise the funds, in part through offering his photographs for sale, to enable Rato Dratsang to build a new monastic campus in Karnataka, India to accommodate an ever increasing monastic population.[7][17][18][19] He chronicles his daily life through photographs displayed on his website.[20][21][22]

Vreeland has edited two books by the Dalai Lama, An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life, 2005, a New York Times bestseller, and A Profound Mind: Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday Life, 2011.

 
Temple at Rato Dratsang, January 2015

In 2012, the Dalai Lama appointed Vreeland abbot of Rato Dratsang. It is considered one of the important Tibetan Government monasteries, known for its emphasis on the study of Buddhist philosophy and logic.[23] He is the first Westerner to be appointed the Abbot of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. This appointment marked a historic moment in Tibetan Buddhism, symbolizing the convergence of Eastern and Western cultures within Tibetan Buddhist institutions.[24] The Dalai Lama explained that Vreeland's

"special duty [is] to bridge Tibetan tradition and [the] Western world."[25]

In May 2014, Vreeland was awarded Honorary Doctorate degrees from The American University of Paris and John Cabot University in Rome.[10]

Documentary film

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Monk With A Camera: The Life and Journey of Nicholas Vreeland, a biographical documentary film about Vreeland, was released in 2014.[26] Variety noted "This pleasing documentary from Guido Santi and Tina Mascara charts the improbable story of Nicholas 'Nicky' Vreeland."[27][28][29]

Photography exhibitions

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  • An exhibition of twenty of Vreeland's images, Photos for Rato, has traveled to twelve cities around the world, and has raised funds to enable the rebuilding of Rato Monastery in India.[30][31][32][33]
  • Return to the Roof of the World, Leica Gallery, New York, NY, April 2011; Taipei, Taiwan February 2013; Palm Beach, Florida, April 2015. These were photographs taken when Vreeland accompanied Khyongla Rato Rinpoche on his return to the Dagyab district of Tibet.[34][35][36][37][38]

Bibliography

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  • An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life, by H. H. the Dalai Lama (Author), Khyongla Rato (Afterword), Richard Gere (Afterword), Nicholas Vreeland (Editor), Little, Brown and Company, 2001, ISBN 0316989797, ISBN 978-0316989794, ISBN 0316930938, ISBN 978-0316930932, ASIN B000SEHT48, ASIN B00005QTHL
  • A Profound Mind: Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday Life, by H. H. the Dalai Lama (Author), Nicholas Vreeland (Editor), Richard Gere (Afterword): Harmony, Random House, 2011, ISBN 0385514670, ISBN 978-0385514675, ISBN 0385514689, ISBN 978-0385514682, ASIN B004KPM1RQ

References

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  1. ^ Vreeland, Nicholas (17 September 2012). "Photos for Rato". Tricycle. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Diana Vreeland: Immoderate Style". metmuseum.org. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  3. ^ "About The Met /Collection Areas /The Costume Institute". metmuseum.org. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  4. ^ Alvarez, Lizette (May 19, 2010). "Even the Dalai Lama Has a Point Man". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  5. ^ Elder, Sean (November 25, 2014). "Nicky Vreeland: The Playboy and the Prayer Wheel". Newsweek. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  6. ^ Ben, Kenigsberg (November 20, 2014). "A Holy Man in India, Descended From New York Fashion". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  7. ^ a b c PBS, WNET, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, June 15, 2012, "Buddhist Abbot Nicholas Vreeland" [1] Accessed 2014-6-3
  8. ^ "Nicholas Vreeland Biography & Info". invaluable.com. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  9. ^ Porter, David (May 30, 2013). "Bridging Tibetan tradition and the Western World". Groton School. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  10. ^ a b American University of Paris [2] Accessed 2014-6-3
  11. ^ Strochlic, Nina (December 3, 2014). "From Fashion Player to Photographer Monk Holy U-Turn". Daily Beast. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Geshe Nicholas Vreeland, Interview India 1985". meridian-trust.org. The Meridian Trust. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  13. ^ Vreeland, Nicholas (October 1, 2012). "The Monk with a Camera". Tricycle. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Monk in the City". Beliefnet. October 1, 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  15. ^ Kennedy, Randy (August 17, 1999). "PUBLIC LIVES; Testing That Buddhist Serenity in New York". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Our Teachers". thetibetcenter.org. The Tibet Center. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  17. ^ Talley, Lauren; Yi, Fred (June 8, 2012). "Awake In the World". Religion and Ethics News Weekly, PBS. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  18. ^ "Photos for Rato". ratodratsangfoundation.org. Rato Dratsang. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  19. ^ Jordan, Miriam (July 14, 1998). "An American Monk in India Finds a Path to Financial Success : Buddhist-Chic, the Enlightened Decor". New York Times, International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  20. ^ "Karuna in the Age of Corona". United Nations, UN Chronicle. May 26, 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  21. ^ "Nicholas Vreeland – A Tree Ballet from Rato Monastery". loeildelaphotographie.com. The Eye of Photography. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  22. ^ "Nicholas Vreeland : The Year of the Iron Rat". loeildelaphotographie.com. The Eye of Photography. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  23. ^ Lawton, Kim (27 June 2012). "Dalai Lama Taps Nicholas Vreeland, American Buddhist, To Bridge East And West At Rato Monastery In Southern India". huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  24. ^ Lawton, Kim (June 15, 2012). "Buddhist Abbot Nicholas Vreeland". Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, PBS. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  25. ^ Lawton, Kim (June 26, 2012). "Dalai Lama taps American to bridge East and West at Tibetan monastery". The Washington Post. Religion News Service. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  26. ^ King, Susan (December 12, 2014). "'Monk With a Camera' filmmakers found Nicholas Vreeland 'fascinating'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  27. ^ [3] Accessed 2014-6-3
  28. ^ "The "Monk with a Camera": An Interview with Khen Rinpoche Nicholas Vreeland". fpmt.org/mandala/archives/mandala-for-2015. Manandala Magazine, FPMT. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  29. ^ "From Chic Manhattanite To 'Monk With A Camera'". National Public Radio. December 6, 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  30. ^ Tripathi, Shailaja (January 7, 2010). "The Monk With a Camera". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  31. ^ Saxena, Poonam (January 9, 2010). "A Monk's Mission". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  32. ^ Murdoch, Emily (December 11, 2014). "Nicholas Vreeland: From New York Socialite to Buddhist Monk". World Religion News. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  33. ^ Kalra, Vandana (January 14, 2010). "The Monk Who Sold His Pictures". The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  34. ^ "Nicholas Vreeland Photography Opening at the Leica Gallery". Getty Images. April 21, 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  35. ^ Leica Internet Team. "Nicholas Vreeland: Capturing Photographs to Honor and Preserve His World". leica-camera.com. Leica Camera AG. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  36. ^ "PHOTOS FOR RATO". ratodratsangfoundation.org. Rato Dratsang Foundation. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  37. ^ Lordi, Laura (April 25, 2015). "American monk chronicles return to Tibet". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  38. ^ Sjostrom, Jan (September 24, 2016). "Tibetan Buddhist monk Nicholas Vreeland shows photos at Ann Norton". Palm Beach Daliy News. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
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