What did the Dalai Lama give Jeremy Paxman?

Gordon Brown will be missing out on quite an experience if he decides that in order to avoid upsetting the Chinese, he will not meet with the Dalai Lama.

Some years ago at the Hay on Wye Literary festival I heard Jeremy Paxman describe his own encounter with the spiritual leader. 

First he had the Foreign Office boffins on the phone repeatedly to make extensive preparations for a special edition of Start The Week. Said Paxman:

There were all these complicated orders about how he would arrive two minutes before the programme and how he had to be treated with caution.

So we were somewhat startled when he turned up on his own 25 minutes early. Then he asked for a bacon buttie. I was thinking, 'what? I thought you were a Buddhist'. Around 15 people - who claimed they were from the BBC - turned up after the interview to shake his hand.

He went out but then came back in again saying he had forgotten his treasure. He took something out of his bag and shook my hand again. I was thinking, 'no, no I couldn't possibly', opened my hand and it was a toffee.

Then he burst into fits of Sid James-type giggles.

Comments

[SJH]

I'd heard that he was in fact a very political old monk shuffling around in Gucci shoes

[d/o]

Hey SJH - that's what you heard; what's your own impression?

[Carole GS]

Having seen His Holiness in Wisconsin last year for several days in a row, I can attest to the fact that he has no personal ambition.
Political? Only with respect to the survival of the Tibetan people.
He was given about a half million US dollars as a donation, and within a few moments he had given the entire amount away again as a donation.
Gucci shoes? You must be thinking of the Roman Catholic Pope.

[Dev Null]

Dalai Lama go home!