Dalai Lama blesses Tuscan land for new complex

Tibetan spiritual leader teaching in Tuscany

(ANSA) - Pisa, June 13 - Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama urged his followers to cover their heads to beat the heat of the Tuscan sun as he blessed the site of a new Buddhist monastic complex Friday.

"I remember one time in Mumbai when it was so hot that I took a towel, wet with cold water, to put on my head and that's what I do even now," said the Dalai Lama as he tried to cool off with a damp white cloth on his head. "Today is really hot but I think that mentally, we are all happy to be here," he added. The Dalai Lama is visiting a Tibetan Buddhist centre in Pomaia in northern Tuscany near the historic city of Pisa, meeting with visitors from around Italy including Franciscan monks as well as Buddhists.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Dalai Lama will take part in teaching events in Livorno on the sea coast. Before the ceremony blessing the site of the new monastery, the Dalai Lama admired the seeds of plants placed in a large pot by children. These will become the shoots of brotherhood and peace," he said.