Dalai Lama travels to US for medical checkup

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama points to his swollen right eye as he talks to journalists before boarding his chartered flight in Dharamsala, India, on Jan. 19. AP

DHARAMSALA, India—The Dalai Lama was traveling Tuesday to the United States for prostate treatment and a medical checkup, the Tibetan spiritual leader’s website said.

However, he told reporters before leaving the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala that he had no “specific health complaints.”

The 80-year-old Buddhist leader’s website said he “is scheduled to undergo prostate treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, followed by a period of rest from the end of January 2016 for approximately one month.”

It did not give any details about the treatment.

In September, the Dalai Lama canceled a series of appearances in the United States on the advice of his US doctors. He was told to rest for several weeks after a medical checkup.

The Dalai Lama said he has been going to the Mayo Clinic for regular health checkups for the past nine years.

During the checkup, “if they find any problems, they can carry out treatment,” he told reporters at Dharamsala’s airport.

He said he had a minor swelling in his right eye. He then removed his glasses and laughed, pointing at his slightly swollen eye.

The Dalai Lama said he is likely to return to Dharamasala in March and would resume his regular schedule.

The Tibetan spiritual leader fled across the Himalayas to India after a failed uprising in Tibet in 1959. He settled in Dharamsala and set up a Tibetan government-in-exile there.

Beijing accuses him of seeking to separate Tibet from China. But Tibetans and the Dalai Lama say they simply want a higher degree of autonomy under Chinese rule.