G'day Dalai Lama - nice lid you've got yourself
MEAGAN DILLON
June 22nd, 2013
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The Dalai Lama wearing an akubra hat he was given in Adelaide that should come in handy when he arrives in Darwin.
Picture: RUSTY STEWART
THE Dalai Lama is set to touch down in the Territory.
The spiritual leader was in Adelaide yesterday where he was given an Akubra hat - which he donned most of the day, calling it "very practical".
His Holiness boarded a plane this morning and is expected to touch down at Darwin International Airport about midday.
Staff working on the "Beyond Religion - The Benefits of Living Ethically" tour told the Dalai Lama that the hat would come in handy to combat the Darwin heat.
He will go from a wet and cold top temperature of 15 degrees in Adelaide to a maximum of 29 degrees in the Top End.
Tour organisers said more than 6000 people had booked tickets for the NT events, but there were still several hundred seats available at the Darwin Convention Centre for his talks tomorrow.
"It is wonderful that so many people have taken it upoin themselves to listen to the words of wisdom and deep embrace offered by the DelaI Lama. This man is a brilliant guru but a man who speaks simply and to the souls of people. He is a man who practices through his life the words he utters. He is humble and a man of and for all people. Surely the Delai Lama would make a wonderful United Nations Secretary of State. He is a man who unites and builds accord, oneness, unity and togetherness."
Edward Kynaston of "Thinkling Aloud"
Dalai Lama in Australia general manager Lynn Bain said of the talks: "We would love to see a full house."
The Nobel Peace Prize winner will go straight from the airport to the Palmerston Recreation Centre, where he will meet local residents.
Palmerston City Council spent $35,000 for the Dalai Lama to pay them a visit, which alderman described as "the most significant event planned by council in the past 30 years".
More than 2000 Darwin residents are Buddhists, according to the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics census data.
But the Dalai Lama's following in the Territory is believed to go far beyond the Buddhism community.
Darwin will be His Holiness' last stop on his 10-day tour of Australia.
ntnews.com.au