South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 73

MOTE Sun-Sentinel, Thursday, January 1 5, 1 998 Section PB RAY RECCHI Commentary A od in exile By JOHN KENNEDY George Magazine ollywood has an unlikely new hero. He abhors violence. He eschews material attachments. And he has been celibate for all his 62 years. But the man who is the inspiration for two cent major films (Seven Years in Tibet, with Brad Pitt, and Martin Scorsese's Kundun, after one of the Dalai Lama's titles, opening in South Florida on Friday) has far more important things on his mind than celluloid immortality.

He is the religious and political leader of the Tibetan people and a larger-than-life symbol of their resistance to the Chinese occupation of their homeland. He is also a Nobel laureate, the 14th Dalai Lama and the man his followers believe to be a living form of Buddha. After the 13th Dalai Lama's death, a series of omens had if I I pointed the search party to Tenzin Gyatso's village of Takster. The head of the deceased Dalai Lama had turned east in its coffin while the body lay in state; a rare fungus had suddenly grown on the east side of a sacred pillar; and the name of the young successor's village had appeared to the interim head monk in a dream. But it was not until the child picked out a number of relics that had belonged to his predecessor including a walking stick, a pair of spectacles and a toy drum from a jumble of worthless look-alikes that his divinity was confirmed.

With that, he took up residence in the holy city of Lhasa to begin years of study and reflection in preparation for his ascent to the seat of the Dalai Lama once he reached maturity. In 1950, the Chinese invaded Tibet in search of land and raw materials. The occupying troops of the new People's Liberation Army (PLA) had another mandate, as well: to liberate Tibet from the "poison" of religion, which Mao Tibet's Dalai Lama reflects on four decades of exile and two new movies about his life. Walking 'tradition' can go take a hike Although Casey Martin is half my age and could beat me at golf 1,000 times in 1,000 tries, the Professional Golfer's Association apparently regards us as equals. As far as the PGA is concerned, that is, neither of us should be allowed to play professional golf.

It's obvious why they don't want me. On my best day ever, I shot a 77. These days, I'd be lucky to break 100. Martin, on the other hand, played on a national championship college team with Tiger Woods and regularly shoots below par. What disqualifies Martin is the fact that he can't walk four miles in three hours.

He has a circulatory condition called Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome in his right leg that prevents him from walking very far. The disorder causes weakness in his right shin that makes walking painful. PGA rules, however, state that all golfers on the tour must walk the course no exceptions. Naturally, Martin found that frustrating. If the PGA would allow him to ride in a cart, he might have a chance at fame, fortune and the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

Second opinion recommended So Martin took the PGA to court under the Americans With Disabilities Act and won an injunction allowing him to play in the first two Nike tour events of the year. He won the first one with a 19-under-par 269 last week. The second begins at Palm Aire today. Next month, however, Martin and the PGA will tee off in court. If the PGA wins, this week's tournament could be the last professional event in which Martin is allowed to participate.

My initial reaction to all this was to agree with the PGA. After all, stamina and endurance can be at least minor factors in determining who wins a tournament. After I thought it over, however, my opinion changed. After all, what separates a world-class golfer from a weekend hacker is the ability to consistently make great shots under competitive pressure. Martin has proved he can do that.

Even most couch potatoes, however, could manage to walk about four miles in three hours. Sure, riding in a cart requires less stamina and gives Martin a minor advantage. On the other hand, one might argue that his chronically weak and painful right shin cancels out that advantage. As Martin himself has said, "I would do anything to be able to walk down the fairway." Some traditions need to change Of course, another way to erase that "advantage" would be to let all the pros ride in carts. Why not? After all, no one goes to a tournament to watch the pros walk.

They go to watch them hit massive drives, put iron shots within a few feet of the pin and make long difficult putts. But requiring pros to walk is traditional, and the PGA is standing on tradition. Arnold Palmer, no less, is scheduled to testify on behalf of that tradition next month. Whenever someone uses tradition as an argument, however, I get suspicious. Too often, tradition is used to defend unfair and unreasonable practices.

Slavery was a tradition once. So were elections in which only white males could vote. Obviously, it was only right and decent to change those traditions. The PGA should do the decent thing, too. Let Martin participate in a cart.

Let them all ride Ccirts. Trust me, guys, it won't make watching golf even the tiniest bit less exciting. Wa Vs. vv' believed had kept the country in a semifeudal state. In 1959, after years of escalating humiliations and atrocities at the hands of the Chinese, Tibetans in Lhasa rebelled, only to be ruthlessly suppressed by the Chinese.

The Dalai Lama, along with a few bodyguards and other lamas, fled across the icy passes of the Himalayas and eventually took up residence in Dharamsala, India. The Dalai Lama maintains a public relations campaign on behalf of his cause that is perhaps unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Q. What are you hopeful for in the short term for Tibet? A. In the short term? (Chuckles) Nothing! Beijing has closed the door completely on any negotiations.

So we can do nothing except appeal to our friends in the U.S. the government and some individuals for help. But in the long run, I am optimistic. As time passes, with a more open society the truth will be harder to hide. PLEASE SEE DALAI LAMA 8E AP file photo Modem man without a country: the Dalai Lama in a 1996 portrait Buddhism calls to many Westerners "FT r-f Faith's teachings predate Christianity by four centuries.

In Kundun, the future Dalai Lama, played by Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin, studies with Ling Rinpoche (Tenzin Trinley). the young Dalai Lama. Kundun, directed by Martin Scorsese and opening locally on Friday, looks at Tibet through the young god-emperor's eyes. Books have followed suit. Harp-erSanFrancisco has reissued three seminal American works: Essential Tibetan Buddhism, by Columbia University scholar Robert Thur-man; The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, by Tibetan-born lecturer So-gyal Rinpoche; and The Jew in the Lotus, poet Roger Kamenetz's account of a historic meeting of rabbis with the Dalai Lama in 1990.

The online bookstore amazon.com lists 50 best-sellers on Buddhism in print. The United States, in fact, is home to an estimated 2 million to PLEASE SEE BUDDHISM 8E r7 By JAMES D. DAVIS Religion Editor Beastie Boy punk-rapper Adam Yauch raps in praise of enlightenment. Buddhist monks pronounce Steven Seagal a reincarnation of a revered leader. Richard Gere founds Tibet House in New York along with a religion scholar.

Phil Jackson does Zen when not coaching the Chicago Bulls. The East has come West, yet again, and pop culture is echoing it. The 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet had a German explorer befriend Ray Recchi's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Send a message and read more of his columns in the Internet Edition. Keyword: DEFreetime on America Online or (www.sun-sentinel.comfreetime) on the Web.

Touchstone Pictures photoMARIO TURSI 'Great Tom Selleck Derby' has actor in driver's seat Performer customizes role of good-natured heel in The Closer on CBS. Editor's note: During the TV critics' winter press tour, the networks unveil midseason shows and put their spin on the season so far. for almost two years. CBS announced in the spring of '96 that Selleck would be on the network's fall schedule. The Closer will finally premiere in late February or early March, after an avalanche of promotion during the Winter Olympics.

Selleck, who has almost total control he calls it "approvals" i keeps listening and doesn't tune out if you play somebody who is edgy and flawed. It becomes the audience's secret that underneath, he is a pretty decent guy." Another example of Selleck putting concept first is his decision not to have his name in the title. "I don't know whether I would have been comfortable with that," he said. "I love this title. I'm much more comfortable playing characters.

If we do this show right, people will know what a closer is and certainly who he is." Asner keeps fingers in the pie Ed Asner has a supporting role in The Closer and will continue as a recurring character on Fox's Ask Harriet. Nevertheless, he says he would try to find time if Mary Tyler Moore PLEASE SEE JICHA 8E Review of ABC's new sci-fi thriller Prey. 3E Selleck insisted on a character who wouldn't be mistaken for someone who had wandered over from Touched by an Angel (or even Magnum, p.i). Ed Decter, an executive producer of The Closer, said Selleck issued a directive to all the creative people contending in what Decter labeled The Great Tom Selleck Derby. "He actually said, 'If you write me as the most likable, nicest guy in the world, I will hate the Decter made Selleck the semi-heel he wants to be.

"As an actor, all of us like to play flawed people," Selleck said. "It's a lot more fun than playing perfect people. I think you can say an awful lot of positive things by playing a person who makes mistakes. I think the audience Selleck T.J. FROM L.A.

Dispatches from TV's midscason press tour. By TOM JICHA TVRadio Writer PASADENA, Calif. There is a television credo that quality is a product of time. Rushing a show to the air is like drinking wine before its time. Odds are, it isn't going to be a rewarding experience.

If this maxim is true, Tom Selleck's new sitcom for CBS, The Closer, ought to be a smash. It has been in the works said there is a simple explanation for the delay. "It took that long to find a piece of material I liked." A number of concepts were suggested. In one, he was a magazine publisher. In another, he played an avocado rancher (he might have been kidding about that one).

He finally settled on an amoral advertising executive..