Will continue to serve humanity, says Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, turned 81 in July

Dharamsala, Nov 2: Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Wednesday said he will continue to serve all human beings and hoped to live another 25 years to this end.

"... there have been certain revelations that I will live for more than a hundred years," he told a gathering of Tibetans and devotees who had come to join in the prayer for his long life.

"Personally, I also pray and hope to live for the next 25 years or more to continue to serve the well-being of all sentient beings," he said.

The spiritual leader, respected by millions as a living god, also spoke about his scheduled visit to Arunachal Pradesh in March next.

The long-life prayer ceremony is one of the most poignant in Tibetan Buddhism. The ceremony is marked by an elaborate display of devotion, prayers and a procession of symbolic offerings towards a spiritual teacher.

The Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, turned 81 in July.

He starts his day as early as three in the morning with prayers and meditation, say his aides.

After that, he takes a short morning stroll in his official residence or even loves to work on a treadmill to stay fit.

"He attends his office from 12.30 p.m. until around 3.30 p.m. He normally retires in the evening by 7," Tenzin Taklha, joint secretary at the Dalai Lama's office, told IANS.

The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since fleeing Tibet during a failed uprising in 1959.

IANS