An Actor and a Buddhist, Richard Gere Marches for World Peace in Gaya
Best known for memorable performances in Hollywood hits like American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman and Pretty Woman, actor Richard Gere is said to have led a candlelight march for world peace in Bodh Gaya on Wednesday.
Gere, a close follower of the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, ducked media attention to attend a five-day teaching session by the Dalai, held in this Bihar town.
The march – comprising of hundreds of Buddhist monks of various nationalities, several Tibetans and locals – marked a prayer meeting for peace and prosperity in the world.
The actor, who arrived in Patna Monday before travelling to Gaya in a private vehicle, later described the experience as ‘extraordinary’ and termed “people of all true traditions as brothers and sisters travelling together on the road of life.”
Gere, a scion of one of the oldest American families that traces its roots back to one of the Mayflower pilgrims, embraced Buddhism nearly25 years ago.
Voted the sexiest man alive by the People magazine back in 1999, Gere recently created waves for a huge kiss he planted on Bollywood diva Shilpa Shetty’s unsuspecting cheek, at an AIDS awareness programme in the pink city of Jaipur.
