Tibetan Buddhist leader Dalai Lama to receive world spirituality prize

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama will receive a global prize that honours people who "affirm life's spiritual dimension," Belfast Telegraph reported.

The 76-year-old religious leader, who leads a Tibetan government in exile in India, will receive the 2012 Templeton Prize in London on May 14 for his engagement with science and with people far beyond his own religious traditions.

The Dalai Lama, born Tenzin Gyatso, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He joins a list of recipients of the Templeton Prize which includes fellow Nobel laureate Mother Teresa, the first recipient of the prize in 1973.

The prize also comes with a £1.1 million purse. It is the world's largest annual monetary award given to an individual and honours a living person who has made exceptional contributions to affirming life's spiritual dimension.

The Dalai Lama has already reportedly said he will give the money away and reveal the recipient during the ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral, which he will be visiting for the first time.

Meanwhile, China accused the Dalai Lama of being deceitful after he reportedly alleged that Chinese agents trained Tibetan women to assassinate him by planting poison in their hair for him to touch during blessings. After the Tibetan spiritual leader's allegations were reported in the Sunday Telegraph, the Chinese foreign ministry said the accusation was not worth refuting.

It added that the Dalai Lama generally spreads false information. A spokesman said: "The Dalai always wears religious clothes while carrying out anti-China separatist activities in the global community, spreading false information and deceiving the public."