The Dalai Lama Shops At 7-Eleven, Like You

It's always a surprise when we find out that other-worldly public figures are, in fact, exactly like us. Like the time we discovered that Queen Elizabeth II keeps her cornflakes in Tupperware containers, or that President Barack Obama collects Spiderman comic books. And so it is that we discover that the Dalai Lama, too, gets thirsty, and that when he gets thirsty he, like us, pops into a 7-Eleven for a refreshing beverage.

Yup, that's right. His Holiness the Dalai Lama was spotted in a 7-Eleven in rural Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, while on his way to the Buddhist monastery at Mount Koya. He was buying bottled royal milk tea from Coca-Cola's Kocha Kaden series. In fact, His Holiness was so thirsty that he opened the bottle and started drinking it before he had paid for it. Yeah, we do that too.

The Dalai Lama is halfway through a 12-day trip around Japan, where he has been meeting with survivors of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which left thousands dead. The trip also includes giving lectures in Tokyo and meeting with prominent educational and cultural figures.

Last Monday, the Dalai Lama joined Shinto priests for a prayer service in Sendai, one of the regions worst affected by the earthquake. His Holiness praised the spirit and strength of the Japanese people in the face of such immense suffering and destruction, and encouraged them to look toward the future with optimism.

Image: blauereiter/Twitter