BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Teaching English to Tibetan Monks

**Posted by Davina** February 10, 2013 10:29 am

Some (most) of you will know that during his gap year after finishing university Benedict took himself off to Tibet and taught English to monks. Here are a couple of articles based on an interview with The Sun (I have tried to find the original article but without success):

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/104620/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Reveals-Secret-Past-Teaching-English-To-Tibetan-Monks

http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/542156/benedict-cumberbatch-i-taught-english-to-tibetan-monks

Hardly a secret past...but I guess he hasn't been shouting about it from the rooftops. Oh and there are some nice photos...with braces!

**Posted by besleybean** February 10, 2013 10:32 am

Thanks Davina and intersting.
But I confess I rolled my eyes and sighed at these ' news' items!

**Posted by Davina** February 10, 2013 10:46 am

Yeah...slow news day. But he might be 'buttering-up' The Sun a bit.

**Posted by besleybean** February 10, 2013 10:50 am

Oh I hope not.

**Posted by SusiGo** February 10, 2013 11:30 am

Another thing that makes me love this man even if it's not exactly been a secret but that's what the tabloids make of it.
When talking somewhere else about his kidnapping in South Africa he mentioned that he did breathing meditation to calm down. Maybe his experience with the Buddhist monks helped him in this life-threatening situation.