Dalai Lama to Receive Templeton Prize on May 14

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will receive the prestigious 1.1 million pound Templeton Prize here tomorrow for his contribution in encouraging common ground between science and religion.

The 76-year-old Dalai Lama will also announce how he is to spend the award money during the ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral where he will receive the prize.

The honour is awarded annually to someone who has encouraged common ground between science and religion - Mother Teresa was its first recipient.

With its 1.1 million purse, the award is by some measure the world's largest prize, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The award follows the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for the Dalai Lama's commitment to non-violence, and highlights his championing of science as a vital element in religious life.

According to the report, the Dalai Lama still hopes that China will change its approach to Tibet and will initiate democratic reforms within his lifetime.

"My lifetime means if I remain another 10, 20 years, then definitely we'll see it. If I die next year, I don't know," he told the newspaper in Dharamsala.

He believes that the Arab Spring has had a deep impact on China's thinking, and that Buddhist logic could offer its leaders a way out of totalitarianism.

"If they face the reality, then there is no reason for fear or distrust" - which he believes are the product of China's rule.

"A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity."

The Dalai Lama cited Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Albert Einstein as people who inspired him but said he has been most heavily influenced by the second century Indian Buddhist monk Nagarjuna.