by Robert Miller, The Stamford Advocate, October 14, 2012
Danbury, CT (USA) -- He describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. If only. At 77, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, is a man constantly on the move, from his home base in India to California, Italy, Scotland, Slovenia and Canada.
He will visit 11 different countries this year on speaking tours that include more than 70 stops.
Aging, saffron-robed, heavy-framed glasses sitting on his nose, he just talks.
And at every stop, crowds -- thousands of people, clearly not all Buddhists -- flock to him.
This week, his travels will take him to the O'Neill Center at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury for public talks on Thursday and Friday.
The 7,000 tickets for the two events -- some as much as $250 each -- sold out the first day they were offered to the public through a lottery system. [=$ 1.750.000,-- !!]
"Unprecedented,'' said Paul Steinmetz, WestConn spokesman. "He's a rock star. The biggest.''
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