Dalai Lama speaks to 15,000 Canadians

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TORONTO, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The Dalai Lama told a Toronto audience he is ready to retire and looking forward to a life of leisure.

About 15,000 people attended his speech Friday night at the Rogers Center, during which he said he isn't the best nor the worst of the 14 Dalai Lamas, the Toronto Star reported.

"I'm certainly not the best Dalai Lama of the 14, and certainly not the worst. But I am a popular Dalai Lama," he said.

The Buddhist monk had Friday's audience laughing and at times contemplative, as he described his life as Tibet's spiritual leader, the Star said.

He called on Canadians to do more to fight poverty and chastised countries that blocked a climate change agreement last December. The position of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government at the U.N. Copenhagen summit has been criticized by environmentalists.

"At the Copenhagen summit, some important countries (thought) national interests are more important than global interests. This is a pity," he said.

Now 75, the Dalai Lama said he is ready to slow down.

"I'm looking forward to complete retirement," he said. "If I have human rights, I should have the right to retire."