81 and Still Young: It’s to Do With Peace of Mind, Says Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama, who turns 81 on 6 July, believes that inner beauty is more important than external beauty.

The Dalai Lama will turn 81 on 6 July, 2016. (Photo: AP)

81 and still young. The Dalai Lama believes it’s to do with peace of mind.

Turning 81 on July 6, his age is no obstacle when it comes to campaigning for global peace, happiness and, of course, saving the blue planet from the effects of climate change.

The Dalai Lama believes that the reason he still looks young is to do with peace of mind. (Photo: AP)

His Holiness, an honorific given by his followers, 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 palace and enjoys ussing the treadmill to stay fit.

“He attends his office from 12.30 pm until around 3.30 pm. He normally retires in the evening by seven,” Tenzin Taklha, joint secretary at the Dalai Lama’s office, said.

For breakfast, the Dalai Lama typically has hot porridge, tsampa (barley powder), bread with preserves, and tea. Lunch is served at 11.30 am.

A strict vegetarian when in Dharamsala, the globetrotting Buddhist monk, known for wearing his trademark maroon robes, drinks a cup of tea at 5.30 pm. He does not have dinner. Before retiring for the night, he prays and meditates for two hours.

Taklha says his daily schedule changes when he’s travelling out of Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile he once headed.

When I was on my way to the US, at Heathrow airport, someone told me that although I’m now 81, my face looks only that of a 60-year-old and asked what’s the secret. I first teasingly said ‘It’s my secret and I don’t want to tell you’, but then explained that it’s to do with having peace of mind.

Dalai Lama 

Lady Gaga with the Dalai Lama. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

“I personally find analytical meditation more effective and more satisfying,” the elderly monk told US pop diva Lady Gaga in an interview for her Facebook live broadcast in the US last week (26 June).

At a public talk in the US last week, he jokingly said, “Sometimes I tease young women who go to such lengths to make themselves beautiful. But the important thing is that while it’s fine to look good, what’s even more important than external beauty is the inner beauty of having a warm heart.”

But the Dalai Lama, who chuckles throughout his talks and often slaps visitors on their back, says he gets angry too.

You never stop getting angry about small things. In my case, it’s when my staff does something carelessly, then my voice goes high. But after a few minutes, it passes.

Dalai Lama to <i>Time </i>magazine

The Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, believes in the “middle-path” policy that demands “greater autonomy” for the Tibetans.

He’s viewed by the Chinese as a hostile element bent on splitting Tibet from China.

The office of the Dalai Lama said His Holiness would participate in the concluding ceremony of his yearlong 80th birthday celebrations in Mundgod in Karnataka on 6 July.

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

(The article was published in a special arrangement with IANS.)