This is a monk on the move. Brought up in a hamlet in north-eastern Tibet, the fifth of 16 children, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama began his monastic education at the age of six. He fled China in 1959 aged 24, and has since lived in exile in Dharamsala, India. The 81-year-old has a hectic schedule - his record is one 75-day trip visiting 12 European countries - and he does his best to keep fit: he goes to the gym where he listens to the BBC World News, and has an annual check-up at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He's visited Barack Obama in the White House four times, led a peace walk in Londonderry, given a lecture on happiness in Brisbane, and went up a ski lift in Santa Fe when visiting the Tibetan community there. His credits include 100 books, guest-editing French Vogue, winning the Nobel Peace Prize and being godfather to Homer Gere, son of actor Richard Gere. He collects watches - no bad thing with his routine: prayers at 3am, hot porridge at 5.30am, a day of studying and meditation, and bed at 7pm without dinner.
This feature first appeared in Condé Nast Traveller January/February 2017