The buyers are mostly foreigners,' Lhasang Tsering of The Bookworm, a bookstore at McLeodganj near here which deals with books only on Buddhism and the Dalai Lama, said.

The books that are much in demand include 'Man, Monk, Mystic', written by Chicago-based Indian origin journalist Mayank Chhaya; 'In My Own Words: An Introduction to My Teachings and Philosophy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama' edited by Rajiv Mehrotra; '365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice from the Heart', published by HarperCollins India; 'Great Ocean', written by Roger Hicks and Ngakpa Chogyam and 'Portrait of a Dalai Lama', written by Sir Charles Bell.

James Pulitzer, a tourist from the US who was here to have audience with the Buddhist monk, said: 'The reading of a book on the Dalai Lama is a meditative experience. It is like having an audience with the Dalai Lama where he could offer you personal advice on how to generate compassion and positive thoughts.

'I have especially purchased this book, 'The Art of Happiness at Work'. It's in fact a sequel to his earlier work, 'The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living', which contains the Dalai Lama's message on happiness. In this book, Howard Cutler together with the spiritual guru explores ways to finding happiness at workplace. During my vacations (in India), I will go through the entire book,' Pulitzer said.

Born July 6, 1935 at Taktser hamlet in northeastern Tibet, the Dalai Lama, 74, was recognised at the age of two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso. He fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, basing his Tibetan government-in-exile here.

Around 140,000 Tibetans now live in exile, over 100,000 of them in different parts of India. Over six million Tibetans live in Tibet.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)