Religion
Dalai Lama, a citizen of world, undeterred by protests
By
Vishal GulatiDharamsala, Feb 17
Globetrotting elderly monk
the Dalai Lama, who is revered as a spiritual leader in the Orient and
the West, considers himself a citizen of the world. He loves to interact
with the public, especially youth, despite encountering protests.
Wearing
his trademark maroon robes, the Nobel Peace Laureate explains that the
protesters are exercising their freedom of expression.
"Yes,
there are people out there shouting at me. They are exercising their
freedom of expression," he explained to his followers in Basel,
Switzerland, about the protest by the pro-Shugden group, a breakaway
Buddhist group, outside his hotel.
The Dalai Lama returned to India Feb 14 after concluding his two-week-long tour of Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and the US.
Feeling
sorry for the demonstrations by pro-Shugden supporters against him in
Copenhagen last week, the Dalai Lama said they were misinformed.
"The
people manipulating these demonstrators and protesters, who are not
fully informed, do so for their own reasons. I feel sorry for them in
their ignorance," he said.
Undeterred by the protests, his
aides say the Dalai Lama has made 38 trips just in the last 13 months,
to places within India and outside. They said the demonstrations by
pro-Shugden supporters are mainly held out of India.
The foreign visits included the US, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, Latvia, the Netherlands and Norway.
Interacting
with a group of Danish parliamentarians in Copenhagen Feb 12, a post on
his official website quoting the Dalai Lama said: "In 1973, as I was
about to set out on my first trip to Europe, BBC correspondent Mark
Tully asked me why I was going and I told him that although I was a
refugee I considered myself a citizen of the world."
But the
spiritual leader, who chuckles throughout his talks and often slaps
visitors on their back, does not mind clarifying to his followers that
he has no miraculous or healing power.
"Some may come because
they feel the Dalai Lama has some kind of miraculous power. That's
nonsense! Some people may feel the Dalai Lama has some kind of healing
power. But if there are some real 100 percent guaranteed healers here,
I'd like to show them my knee. It has been
giving me problems!" said a post on his website.
Officials
of the Dalai Lama's office, which is based here, say the spiritual guru
visits places only on invitation. These include invitations for various
religious, social and cultural events.
"His Holiness the Dalai
Lama himself takes a call on the invitation," Tenzin Taklha, joint
secretary at the Dalai Lama's office, told IANS.
And he prefers
visiting universities and educational institutions to speak on peace,
non-violence, environment, promoting human values and Buddhism.
Ever
since he fled Tibet in 1959, the Tibetan spiritual leader has travelled
to more than 50 countries and met with presidents, prime ministers and
crown rulers of major nations, said his aides.
In the past five
years, the Dalai Lama's preferred foreign destinations have included
Japan, the US, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France.
This summer, the Dalai Lama, 79, is all set to take off for Japan and Australia for his teachings and public talks.
Before flying abroad, the spiritual leader will give a short teaching in his abode Dharamsala March 5.
(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at [email protected])