By Pete Bowles
Staff Writer
The 14th Dalai Lama, who has been addressing sold-out crowds from coast to coast, will give a free public talk at noon Sunday in Central Park’s East Meadow, an event expected to draw tens of thousands of people.
“It will be a nice, beautiful day in the park,” said Josh Baran, a publicist for the Dalai Lama’s visit to New York. “People should come early to get a good seat on the grass and bring their blankets, water and sandwiches.”
Also speaking will be actor Richard Gere, a close follower of the Dalai Lama whose foundation helped organize the U.S. visit.
The talk is also expected to be attended by a large number of New York’s Tibetan community. “There will be a lot of Tibetan monks camped out under the trees in the ancient and timeless tradition,” Baran said.
The Dalai Lama, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize who fled to India in 1959 when China suppressed an uprising of Tibetans, is expected to speak about “compassion, happiness and peaceful resolutions to conflicts, external and internal,” Baran said. “He responds to peoples’ concerns and issues in their lives.”
The popular spiritual leader, who is on his 15th trip to the United States, will wind up his visit next week with a private conference at the Tibetan Buddhist Center in upstate Garrison for 300 leaders of local Buddhist centers in the Western Hemisphere.
Those who want to attend the Central Park event can enter at 90th Street and Fifth Avenue for seating. Baran said special security arrangements will be in place.
