Dear Suan,

> Guess what? This Tibetan lama is an acquaintance of mine. He is
> married with children and goes about in lay clothes. He wears lama
> robes only when there are ceremonies such as during Dalai Lama's
> visit.

You probably are unfamilar with the nuances of Tibetan Buddhism, dress and
culture. I do not know of this particular lama, but one does not
necessarily have to be a monk to be called a lama as it is merely a title of
respect for a teacher. Even you could be a lama if you were sufficiently
qualified as a teacher or practitioner. I would be surprised if he even
calls himself a monk -- since he is married etc, he is more likely to be a
yogin or ngakpa, even if he may have been a monk once. As such, it would be
perfectly acceptable for him to wear lay clothes or not as he wishes. There
are a number of well-respected Tibetan lamas here who do the
same --fortunately people here are sophisticated enough to realize that
those lamas are not monks and do not pretend to be such. Tibetans know as
well anybody else that bhiksus should live as bhiksus, and, in my
experience, take this quite seriously.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge