The Dalai Lama is due to arrive in Glasgow on his third visit to Scotland.
The exiled political leader and spiritual head of Tibet’s Buddhists will spend four days in the city before going on to Edinburgh and Dunfermline.
In a series of talks, he is expected to consider the moral and ethical challenges faced in the 21st century.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner will address MSPs at Holyrood and religious leaders at Dunfermline Abbey, as well as talking to schoolchildren.
The Dalai Lama is completing the final leg of his visit to the UK.
He is expected to discuss citizenship, ethics, religion and the environment and promote his philosophy of non-violence and peace.
The trip, which has been five years in the planning, has been welcomed by religious and political leaders.
The leader of Tibetan Buddhists is also head of state for the Tibetan government in exile since 1950, after China took over control.
A busy schedule will begin with time in Glasgow to host a series of Buddhist spiritual teachings at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre and to give a public talk there.
As part of the build-up to the Dalai Lama’s arrival, Tibetan monks made a traditional mandala design at the Tramway on Glasgow’s southside and then ceremonially destroyed it, to be scattered in the River Clyde.
The monks, who are from the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in southern India, said the mandala represents the celestial mansions of one or more deities.
To make them, millions of grains of sand are laid down in elaborate designs described by Buddhist texts, which the monks have to learn by heart during their training.
On Wednesday in Edinburgh, the Dalai Lama will give the traditional Time for Reflection in the Scottish Parliament’s main chamber before addressing MSPs and speaking to schoolchildren.
Cultural events
Later he will give a keynote address to 2,200 people at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, which like most of his Glasgow engagements is already sold out.
In Dunfermline he will meet religious leaders including the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dr Alison Elliot, and leader of Scotland’s Catholics Cardinal Keith O’Brien before meeting more schoolchildren.
There will also be a number of cultural events surrounding the visit such as performances from the Tibetan musician Soname Yangchen and the Tashi Lhunpo Monks.
The Dalai Lama was first invited to Scotland by the Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association and later by the Dharma Network who are organising his Glasgow visit.
