Dalai Lama celebrates 80th birthday with California summit

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader will host a 3-day summit on global compassion starting Sunday in southern California.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVINE — The Dalai Lama is celebrating his 80th birthday this weekend and just about everybody is invited.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader will host a three-day summit on global compassion starting Sunday in Orange County, with events in Anaheim and at the University of California, Irvine.

The Dalai Lama's actual birthday is Monday.

Thousands are expected to attend his talks on compassion, youth leadership and climate change.

Organizers have ordered an 8-foot-tall birthday cake for the Dalai Lama that will feature maroon-and-gold frosting.

Followers are encouraged to tweet (hashtag) #WithCompassion as a present to the spiritual leader.

The International Shugden Community also plans to protest.

Its members accuse the Dalai Lama of preventing them from following their form of Buddhism, which he once practiced but renounced in the 1970s.

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