Homage to His Holiness
From our UK edition
The Dalai Lama is a controversial figure of late. The fury of millions of Chinese at the Tibetans’ sullying of China’s international reputation in the lead up to their beloved Olympic moment may be dismissed as nationalist hysteria, but the perception that he is, in Rupert Murdoch’s insinuating slur, ‘a very political monk in Gucci shoes’ has begun to take hold. However there is nothing in the recent glut of new books about Tibet’s spiritual leader to suggest that he is anything other than a sincere and diligent monk (who owns no Gucci shoes, but at least a couple of pairs of Hush Puppies).