plans to visit Portland and Eugene in May for public talks and panel discussions on spirituality and the environment.

The last time the Nobel Peace Prize laureate visited Portland, in 2001, he attracted 25,000 to Pioneer Courthouse Square and sold out Memorial Coliseum. His

are bound to attract similar turnouts.

At 77, the Dalai Lama has stepped down as Tibet's official political leader, but his appearances remain at least as controversial amid heightened tension with China's regime. To many in the West, the Buddhist monk known as His Holiness remains a unifying figure across religious faiths, admired for his philosophy of peace and compassion.

, a small Buddhist institution, is planning the visit, which will include interfaith discussions at the University of Portland and an event with Northwest politicians. Administrators of the Southeast Portland college founded in 2005 envision a thematic progression to the three days of events.

"The arc goes from the spiritual approach to the environment, our inner environment and the social one around us, to the policymakers and decisionmakers and how we actually get things done," said Leigh Sangster, Maitripa College director of programs.

Devotees see the 14th Dalai Lama as the latest reincarnation in a series of spiritual leaders reborn to enlighten others. Beijing portrays the bald, bespectacled monk as a political exile fomenting unrest while trying to split the Tibetan region from China.

Up close, His Holiness -- or HH, as insiders call him -- has a profound but modest presence, his quiet charisma punctuated by chuckles and belly laughs. He lives in Dharamsala, India, where he fled after an abortive 1959 uprising against Chinese rule over Tibet.

"It's hard to think of anyone in the world that would be more sought after," said Maria Wulff, executive director of the

which will co-host two events. "So to get him to come to Portland a second time is quite an extraordinary testimony."

Maitripa College officials hope by Dec. 1 to confirm details on tickets, which won't be available until sometime thereafter. Some appearances will be public and others, including a visit with members of the local Tibetan community, will be by invitation.

At Memorial Coliseum on May 11, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to convene a summit on the global environment with participants including

a prominent Canadian author and activist. Others on stage will include Gov. John Kitzhaber and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.

At a second coliseum event that day, the Dalai Lama will speak on the global environment. The previous afternoon, he plans an event in Eugene.

Representatives of the Dalai Lama in New York and Dharamsala could not yet confirm details of his Oregon visit, which has yet to appear on his official schedule.

Currently the

where he has drawn attention to nine monks in the Tibetan region who have died during the past week after setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule.

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