Osel Tendzin; 1st Westerner to Head Tibet Buddhist Sect

Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin, who became the first Westerner to head an international sect of Tibetan Buddhism and who later scandalized his followers by his sexual behavior while infected with the AIDS virus, died Saturday in San Francisco from an AIDS-related illness. He was 47.

Tendzin, born Thomas Rich in Passaic, N.J., died of respiratory failure at Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center, members of the Boulder, Colo.-based Dharmadatu Buddhist church called Vajradhatu told the Associated Press.

Tendzin became involved with Buddhism in 1971 after dropping out of Fordham University and meeting the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche.

Trungpa, a Tibetan monk of the Kargu lineage, had escaped the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 and began teaching Buddhist meditation in Boulder in 1970.

Under Trungpa’s leadership, the church grew into the largest Buddhist sect in the nation. It now encompasses about 35 meditation centers in North American and Europe with about 3,500 members.

Tendzin became Trungpa’s star pupil and was given the name Osel Tendzin, or “radiant holder of the teachings.” Trungpa named Tendzin as his successor before his death in 1987.

Though the sect is rather traditional in its teachings, the two leaders were not celibate monks as is common in Tibetan and other Buddhist branches. Both Trungpa and Tendzin married and engaged in other sexual liaisons--a practice not considered immoral in the organization.

But church members were stunned in 1988 when senior officials disclosed that Tendzin had been infected with the AIDS virus since 1985, and had continued to have sexual relations with men and women, according to members.

“The result of this situation--a tragic catastrophe--are that individuals have been infected and will die,” wrote Elizabeth Goldblatt, coordinator of a Portland, Ore., study group, to other Vajradhatu leaders in December, 1988. “Our community is seriously injured and even the dharma (Buddhist teaching) in the West has been marred.”

The revelation split the church, with supporters insisting Tendzin should remain as leader and critics arguing he should resign for having betrayed his followers.

Tendzin stepped down from active leadership of the organization and went into retreat last year on the advice of a prominent Tibetan teacher in Asia.

Tendzin is survived by his wife, Lila, and their four children, all of Halifax, Nova Scotia.