Refund information Ticket costs will be refunded automatically starting Oct. 5. Any customers whose credit cards have expired or changed will be contacted by ticketing officials. For more information, visit dalailamacolorado.com.

Citing medical reasons, the Dalai Lama is canceling his planned visit to Boulder and the University of Colorado next month.

The Tibetan spiritual leader will not be able to attend any of his planned events in the United States next month after a medical evaluation at the Mayo Clinic on Thursday, CU officials said.

“Upon completion of the evaluation, the doctors have advised that His Holiness take complete rest,” according to a statement from the Office of Tibet provided by CU. “As a result, His Holiness will be returning to Dharamsala, India, next week and will not be able to visit the United States next month. We deeply regret cancellation of the visit.”

The Office of Tibet is open to rescheduling the visit, according to a university news release, and all ticket holders will get their money back.

The 80-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader had been scheduled to make public appearances Oct. 20 and 21 at the Coors Event Center on the Boulder campus.

CU had planned to host a private event for students and employees Oct. 20, and the Tibetan Association of Colorado had planned to host two public teachings Oct. 21.

Tickets for the two public teachings sold out quickly, with high demand causing the ticketing website to crash.

The trip would have been the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Boulder in 18 years. The current Dalai Lama — who was formally recognized as the 14th incarnation in 1950 at the age of 15 — was last in Boulder in 1997, when he spoke at both CU and Naropa.

CU spokesman Ryan Huff said the university was “saddened” by the news that the Dalai Lama’s health would not allow him to visit Boulder.

“We are hopeful that his health improves and he can come to CU-Boulder at some point in the future,” Huff said. “But these visits often require more than a year of planning, and any rescheduling would be up to the Office of Tibet based on the Dalai Lama’s health and availability.”

Representatives of the Tibetan Association of Colorado seemed hopeful that the Dalai Lama would make an appearance in Boulder in the “very, very near future,” said Tenzin Tashi, a spokesman for the group.

“All of the organizing team is very, very sad, and we are sad not just for missing His Holiness but also for the whole Boulder and Colorado community to have missed this opportunity this time,” Tashi said. “But at the same time, we are really optimistic.”

Tashi said he does not believe the Dalai Lama’s health problems are serious.

“We often forget that His Holiness is 80 years old, and how often he travels around the world is pretty amazing at his age,” he said. “So we are pretty sure this is not serious and with a good rest, he will be fully recovered and we will be able to host him really, really soon.”

Tashi said the Tibetan Association of Colorado will refund every ticket, including those considered “sponsor” tickets, which ranged in price from $250 to $2,500.

The association will also be asking for donations, as it invested most of its savings in preparation of the Dalai Lama’s visit. The association is unsure at this point if it will get deposits back for things like parking and transportation services, Tashi said.

“Right now we are in a very serious position negatively, very serious in terms of finance,” Tashi said. “We have put almost everything into the event, and we don’t have any way to recover it, except if we get support from all the community members.”

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta