Ticket buyers wait in line hours ahead of time to get a chance to attend tomorrow's talk at Salve Regina University.

01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, November 16, 2005

BY RICHARD SALIT
Journal Staff Writer

NEWPORT -- In the dream, Nicole Ainsleigh stands in a large performance venue. Beside her is Tibet's exiled religious leader. Next to him is her Catholic priest.

"The Dalai Lama was there and Father McKenna was there," said Ainsleigh, 36, of Middletown. "And I got a hug from the Dalai Lama."

The hug will likely prove to be mere fantasy. But Ainsleigh's dream of seeing the Dalai Lama speak at Salve Regina University tomorrow is coming true. Yesterday, she held two of the precious admission tickets in her hand.

Ainsleigh and about 100 others got in line at the Newport County Convention & Visitors Bureau yesterday morning in hope of grabbing a pair of tickets. Only a limited number are being made available to the public and the first 500 sold out in an hour last week. Yesterday, another 300 tickets became available at $50 each. There was less publicity for this batch, but they still sold out by midafternoon.

Meanwhile, tickets for the Buddhist monk's half-hour talk -- "A Human Approach to World Peace" -- were being sought and sold in online want-ads. Several eBay auctions were being held -- with starting bids of about $200 per ticket -- until more tickets went on sale yesterday morning. The auctions were abruptly withdrawn.

So why would New Englanders of all ages wait in line for hours for tickets to see an icon of an Eastern religion who comes from a country many Americans couldn't even find on the map?

"It is kind of a strange phenomenon," said Daniel Cowdin, chairman of the religious studies department at Salve, where the Dalai Lama's teachings are part of the Catholic school's curriculum.

While Americans dislike governments founded on religion, he said, Tibet was a nation where religion and politics were "organically tied together" and where the Dalai Lama was enthroned as its head of state and religious leader. The Buddhist monk, said Cowdin, is a "charismatic figure" who for many years sought to rally the world against China's occupation of Tibet through nonviolent efforts. He won the Nobel Peace Prize.

"He's something like a Buddhist pope," said Cowdin. "I think the Dalai Lama speaks to universal problems and universal desires that people have. I think that the world is a pretty harsh place and his message of compassion is very much welcomed.

"He has a compassion and a peace and a humility that is not just something he talks about but something he seems to manifest in his personality. And I think people want to touch that."

Baby boomers learned of the beaming Buddhist while experimenting with drugs and Eastern religions during the antiestablishment '60s, and a younger generation has been exposed to Tibet's plight through Hollywood -- the 1997 Brad Pitt movie Seven Years in Tibet.

Yesterday, Dalai Lama fans of all ages lined up in a place that usually peddles unlimited tickets for mansions and museums. The limit yesterday was two per person.

Eli Akerstein, a 24-year-old personal trainer, drove down from Boston, leaving at 4 a.m.

"I was half expecting to not get any tickets that late. If everyone was as excited about the Dalai Lama as me, I figured I was too late."

Akerstein wound up being among the first in line when the visitors bureau opened its doors early, at 7:30 a.m., for the ticket-seekers

"I grew up Jewish and am practicing Buddhism," said Akerstein, who called the Dalai Lama "one of my favorite people."

Lisa Pritchard's husband tried to buy tickets last Thursday. But they sold out just as he was getting tantalizingly close to the ticket window. He had showed up just half an hour before they went on sale. So yesterday, Pritchard, 44, of Middletown, arrived at 6:30, 2 1/2 hours early.

"I've been aware of him and how special he is for 20 years," she said, referring to the Dalai Lama. "Of any religion, I would subscribe to Buddhism. I'm not a devout Buddhist [being kind to all living things]. I swat flies."

Pritchard got tickets for herself, her 12-year-old son who has read books about the Dalai Lama, and her 7-year-old daughter, who has seen Seven Years in Tibet. She was able to get a third ticket because Paul Kowal, who was standing in line behind her, bought an extra ticket and sold it to her at face value.

The 72-year-old Cranston man actually picked up two tickets last week, for his son and granddaughter. Yesterday, he needed just one more, for himself.

"When I got the tickets for them, I said why don't I go," he said. "I don't follow him. I know little facts here and there."

Ainsleigh had her dream about the Dalai Lama the night before the tickets went on sale yesterday. Her priest had told her he had two tickets to see the Buddhist monk.

"I'm a Catholic. But I'm eclectic. I take what feels good from every religion and make it my own," she said. "I think [the Dalai Lama] has some good energy. One of my friends, an acupuncturist, said I should see him."

Ainsleigh had tried to buy tickets last week, but after waiting in line for about two hours it was announced there were none left. So the cosmetologist showed up early yesterday with a book on massage therapy to help her pass the time. She approached yesterday's ticket sales in a Zen state-of-mind.

"I figured if it was meant to be, it would happen," she said.

She left with two tickets, one for herself and one for her husband.

"He studied all of the 'isms. Buddhism, Hinduism," she said. As for the Dalai Lama, she said, "I have no idea what he's speaking about, but it will be good."

Most of the 3,500 tickets for seats under a large tent were made available to students, faculty and staff. Those that were still unclaimed by Monday were sold at the visitors bureau yesterday morning.

"That's it," said Mattias Boxler, Salve's spokesman. "We're done."

Reporter Richard Salit can be reached at (401) 277-7467 or by e-mail at rsalit@projo.com