India is my second home says Richard Gere

NEW DELHI: Two pilgrimages to India every year; a constant dialogue with his guru, his holiness, the Dalai Lama; regular tai chi (form of moving yoga) sessions — followed by 45 minutes of meditation daily; conversations with self, informal chats with Tibetan hermits in Dharamshala; and launching an international campaign for Tibet, that''s lately become an obsessive passion.All in all, that would sum up Hollywood actor Richard Gere''s spiritual quotient.
As recently as 1999, Gere was voted among the World''s Sexiest Men. Yet, this man who has been the American Gigolo, speaks a different lingo from the usual Hollywood sex icons.
"My learning of the soul began in 1982, when I first met the Dalai Lama. In the last 20 years, I have seen constant metamorphosis of the self. I was motivated to change my karma," said Gere, who is in capital for an international campaign for Tibet. Ask him, has spirituality changed him in these 20 years?
"Certainly. But not overnight. Slowly. Very systematically. I access myself every five years. I have enslaved and conquered my ego. If you change fast, its superficial. Real change takes time, its gentle, because the mind is being transformed. My mind wanted answers, which I got in Dharamshala over the years. Positive feelings overcome negativity."
"It wasn''t a trauma that made me take to spirituality. I wanted to change my emotional make-up, because emotions are an illusion. My guru, the Dalai Lama has been an extraordinary teacher. Yet, I haven''t given up my worldly attachments, I have a family, friends and even fame. There''s a balance."
Gere, whose first Buddhist teacher was a Japanese, Sasaki Roshi, said: "He taught me all about Zen Buddhism." Asked what India signified to him, he said: "India for me is a second home. No other nation helped Tibet more than India in time of need."