Dalai Lama Magnet for Global Youths

Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, 5 January 2010 (By Nalin Verman, The Telegrah, Calcutta) - At 74, he is an unlikely “destination” for youth. But ask Bernard Wilson, and the 22-year-old will say he has come all the way from Melbourne just to see the Dalai Lama. He isn’t the only one who has crossed oceans to hear the spiritual leader. Among the 30,000 who have gathered in Bodh Gaya for the Tibetan monk’s annual World Peace Lecture that began today, at least 1,000 — most of them between 20 and 40 — are from non-Buddhist countries like Australia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, England, Brazil and several African countries.