Lama Ole Nydahl - a Modern Lama?

A few months back I went to a session with the Danish Lama, Lama Ole Nydahl. I’m primarily interested in Theravada Buddhism, but of course (almost) any type of Buddhism has my interest. So I went to the lecture with Lama Ole, not really knowing what to expect. I’ve seen Lama Ole on TV and I’ve visited his website a few times. At face value he “presents” himself as a modern Buddhist teacher that likes to provoke (thought) with harsh or sarcastic remarks, travelling the world around twice a year, driving a big BMW, skydiving, and often posing for the camera with a crew-cut and (army) camouflage clothing. I think it’s easy to some (it was to me) to write him off as a “rock-star” Buddhist with little or no substance – however I quickly realised that this was due to my own shortcomings and prejudice, and not fair to Lama Ole. So I went to the lecture with an open mind, or so I thought. Lama Ole spoke about the life and teaching of the Buddha for 3.5 hours non-stop and without a written manuscript – pretty impressive by any standard. What was less impressive was how he presented the subject at hand. Not to say that he couldn’t teach me anything, or that he couldn’t inspire and help me comprehend new aspects of Buddhism, on the contrary, he could all that. But for me, what clouded the lecture was his “rock-star” attitude and way of communicating. Mostly when he talked about Buddha and his life and teachings, Ole Lama would be very calm and composed. But when he talked about skydiving and driving a big BMW, his eyes, voice and body would light up with energy, truly captivating his audience (Seeing that, I understood his popularity. I should say that his stories about skydiving and his BMW were valid and had a very good point.) What I didn’t like was that this “glow” wasn’t present when he spoke directly about Buddha and his teachings - when Lama Ole spoke of that, it was without passion. I realise that this is (probably) not a fault with Lama Ole, but it is more likely me having certain expectations and prejudices about “how a Lama should be and teach”. So I can only say this: Lama Ole Nydahl, Thank you for teaching me something about myself.