Dalai Lama arrives in US for knee surgery [Video]

Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived Sunday in New York to undergo knee surgery, drawing a warm and festive welcome from thousands of followers.

His office in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, his adopted home, announced early this month that the 88-year-old Buddhist spiritual leader would travel to the United States to undergo “treatment” on his knees.

He is scheduled to have surgery on both knees, but no further details have been released.

Followers, many wearing traditional Tibetan outfits, waited outside the Dalai Lama’s Manhattan hotel in crushing heat hoping to catch a glimpse of the man.

“Once we saw him, it felt really powerful. And everyone was, like, emotional because he’s, like, our leader,” said one of them, 18-year-old US born Tenzin Pasang, who has now seen the Dalai Lama three times.

She welcomed the spiritual leader by joining in a performance of a traditional Tibetan dance.

…