By JIM MCBETH
HE IS a spiritual leader of immense stature who smiles constantly but favours a dress code based entirely on a shade of orange.
Whether His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, is the person to stretch a healing hand across Glasgow’s infamous religious chasm is problematic.
But for four days next year, the great man will give it his best shot.
He has made Glasgow the focal point of his Scottish tour, dedicating all but two of the six days to the city, where, unlike His Holiness, they only get one life and spend most of it arguing about religion.
His other visits, to Edinburgh and Dunfermline, will effectively be days out, but in Glasgow he will teach on love, understanding and compassion.
It is unprecedented for His Holiness to be so “hands on” and commentators claim it is because he will be no stranger to Glasgow’s unique cultural map.
The organisers of the visit, which includes London and Liverpool, expect 30,000 people from Europe and the United States to pack Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre (SECC).
The announcement was made yesterday in St Mungo’s Museum of Religion and Art, which hosted an advance celebration.
Dharma Network 2004 has been working for months with the Tibetan community and inter-faith groups.
The Dalai Lama’s emissary, Kelkhang Rinpoche, a luminary of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in India, was in Glasgow to offer blessings, including the lighting of a special candle.
It led one Catholic insider to quip: “We’ve been lighting candles for years – I hope his burn brighter, in the right places.”
But the Rinpoche said: “Glasgow is a beautiful city of many faiths.”
The organisers were playing down the “missionary” angle, claiming Glasgow had emerged “naturally” as lead city.
Jane Rasch of Dharma Network 2004 said: “Glasgow welcomed us with open arms. The Council, Buddhists and the other faiths were overwhelmingly supportive.
“The Dalai Lama’s message is peace, so visiting any city is beneficial.”
But the significance of the Dalai Lama’s division of attention is not lost on experts.
Hugh Farmer, a former editor of the Scottish Catholic Observer said: “The Dalai Lama will be aware of the city’s culture and it will have played its part in the programme.
“If it takes him to show us the way, so be it.”
A Church of Scotland insider added: “We can use all the help we can get. History has conferred a great weight.”
And Bailie Alan Stewart said: “We can learn from a great spiritual leader like the Dalai Lama.”
His Holiness, 68, will arrive in Glasgow on 29 May and give a “public talk” in the SECC to an expected audience of around 9,000.
The “public talk” represents the norm, but in the course of the following three days he will “teach” 30,000 people.
From Sunday, 30 May to Tuesday, 1 June, he will draw on classic texts, Middle stages of meditation by the 8th century master Kamalashila and the Thirty Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas by the 14th century Lama Thogme Sangpo.
The first is a “manual” on compassion and wisdom and the second inspires service to others.
Tickets, ranging from £5 for the public talk to £120 for the whole series, will be available from February through the SECC.
Ms Rasch added: “We have budgeted for profit; the money raised will cover the cost of organisation.”
Tourist chiefs predict a massive boost and an advance accommodation booking service is being set up.
Nancy McLardie, of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board, said: “This is a unique, prestigious event in Glasgow, the only city in Britain where the Dalai Lama will teach.”
The city is creating a festival – Solus – celebrating Glasgow around the visit. The event will last two weeks.
A series of inter-faith events is planned, which will include a football match between Tibetan monks and Scottish Celebrities.
Darius Danesh, the pop singer, is supporting the festival. He said: “I am honoured that His Holiness has chosen the city.”
Glasgow Friends of Tibet are launching a campaign to make 100,000 prayer flags to decorate the city and lectures on faith are being held at Glasgow University.
LIFE OF EXILE
HIS Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.
He was born as Lhamo Dhondrub in July 1935 in north-eastern Tibet.
His Holiness was recognised at the age of two, in accordance with tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor.
The young Lhamo was subsequently renamed Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso – Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom. Tibetans refer to him simply as Kundun – the Presence.
His enthronement took place on 22 February, 1940 in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.
In 1950, he was called upon to assume full political power after 80,000 Chinese soldiers invaded Tibet.
In 1954, he went to Beijing to meet Mao Tse-tung, but his efforts to bring about a peaceful solution were thwarted.
In 1959 Lhasa was the scene of the largest demonstration in Tibetan history, but the uprising was crushed and His Holiness fled to India.
Since 1960, His Holiness has stayed in Dharamsala, which is known as “Little Lhasa”.
In 1989 his decades of non-violent effort to free Tibet were rewarded with a Nobel Peace Prize.
All his life he has described himself as a “a simple Buddhist monk – no more nor less.”
