Tibetan monk loses life's work after Tube selfie with Boris Johnson

Updated
tibetan-buddhist-monk-loses-life-work-boris-johnson-selfie-tube
tibetan-buddhist-monk-loses-life-work-boris-johnson-selfie-tube



A Tibetan Buddhist monk got distracted while taking a selfie with Boris Johnson on the Tube - and lost his laptop containing his life's work.

Tibetan-born lama Lelung Rinpoche, 43, from Eastcote, north west London, was travelling back from Uxbridge on the Metropolitan line when he bumped into the mayor of London.

After taking a pic of himself with Boris, Lelung started chatting to him about Tibet.

But in his excitement, he almost missed his stop and jumped off in a rush, leaving his backpack and his laptop on his seat.

The laptop contained 900 pages of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures that he had gathered from around the world, and was preparing to publish in two books.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Lelung, director of the Lelung Dharma Trust in Eastcote, said: "I saw Boris on the train and he was two or three seats in front of me. Other people were having pictures with him, so I did too. I thought he was a very modest person to take the Tube and we talked about Tibet.

"When I got off the train, he waved at me and I went on my way."

Lelung did not realise his bag was missing until he got home. He managed to get it back from TfL's lost property, but, while his camera, keys, and son's passport were still in there, his laptop had gone.

According to the Metro, he added: "I had visited libraries in countries like Mongolia to try to find any pages they have. The two books were nearly at a stage where I could publish them. But I have lost almost all of it.

"As a Buddhist, I will leave this body behind and there's no point in crying over it. But it is upsetting."

The Trust is offering a £500 reward for the laptop's safe return. Anyone with information should call 0208 868 0655.

Related articles

Tube passenger dragged along station platform after scarf caught in train doors

Passengers trapped on smoke-filled Tube train

Advertisement