Richard Gere With Melvin McLeod of Lion's Roar...
Photo by Richard Ellis / Alamy Stock Photo Photo by Sonam Zoksang. Melvin McLeod: How did you first make your connection to the Dalai Lama and the people of Tibet? Richard Gere: Well, it’s a long story, as most of these are long stories, but I’ll make it as brief as I can. In my early twenties, I was searching to make sense of myself in the world. Zen was what captured my imagination. I was a student of Zen for many years and had a regular practice that came from that. When I was in my late twenties, I went to Asia for the first time. My first film was at the Cannes Film Festival, and I took the opportunity after Cannes to go to India and Nepal. That was the first time I met Tibetans, in a refugee camp outside of Pokhara in Nepal. I was struck by the utter normalcy of His Holiness, and how quickly he was able to get past my defenses and my romanticism. I was kind of floored by the experience. I felt it was otherworldly, but really it’s not otherworldly....