He wears orange and burgundy robes and he’s the only Westerner the Dalai Lama has ever chosen to be the abbot of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Vreeland is also the grandson of long-time Vogue editor and queen of fashion Diana Vreeland. The son of a diplomat, Vreeland spent his early life in Europe chasing women and driving fast cars. After moving back to the U,S., Vreeland apprenticed with master photographers Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. That was before he decided to become a monk, shave his head and move to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India. There’s a movie about Vreeland’s life called “Monk with a Camera.” I’d seen it. That’s how I recognized him walking down the street in Manhattan and asked him to be on “Now What?” Listen to what Vreeland told me about mortality, celibacy, the Dalai Lama and the experiences in life that are really important.
