Ann Arbor (US): The Dalai Lama said the need for environmental responsibility dovetails with Buddhist teachings on valuing human life -- whether it's one person or the world's entire population.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader offered his trademark humour and humility before crowds of more than 7,000 at the University of Michigan that gathered for last afternoon lecture on sustainability and a morning teaching session.

"Taking care of our planet, environment, is something like taking care of our own home," he told the audience at Crisler Arena, as he sat cross-legged on a chair on the main stage in his traditional saffron robes. "This blue planet is our only home."

Outside the basketball arena where the Dalai Lama spoke, hundreds of pro-Chinese demonstrators held signs and waved Chinese flags.

Diane Brown, public safety spokeswoman for the university, said the number of demonstrators was estimated at about 600 to 700. Many wore T-shirts that read "Support Beijing 2008," a reference to the upcoming summer Olympics.

As they rallied, a small airplane flew overhead pulling a banner that read: "Dalai Lama Please Stop Attacking Olympic Flame."

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959 in Tibet, arrived in the US on April 10,a day after demonstrators disrupted the Olympic torch run in San Francisco in a protest of China s treatment of his people.

The Dalai Lama has denied Chinese claims that he and his followers have used the run-up to the Olympics to foment unrest.
Source : PTI