Speaking before a packed Anglican cathedral, a ticket-only crowd of 2,000 had queued since daybreak to see His Holiness and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Liverpool John Moore's University.

A further 1,000 had been placed on a waiting list stretching back six months, but for those unable to gain admission the event was simultaneously webcast across the world.

The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama then delivered an address as part of JMU's Roscoe Citizenship Lecture series, which has in the past included contributions from Irish President Mary McAleese, Dr George Carey, former Arch Bishop of Canterbury and Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

Over the course of the next hour he spoke near-perfect English during an impassioned appeal for personal accountability.

In a warm, lucid speech punctuated with laughter from both speaker and audience, the Dalai Lama preached that a single individual can help diffuse global unrest. All he or she need do is recognise the essential sameness of all people, cultures or religious beliefs.

"We all share an identical need for love," said His Holiness.

"It is foolish to dwell on external differences because our basic natures are the same."

The Dalai Lama singled out 'The Mersey Miracle' in which a city framed by two notable cathedrals belonging to Anglican and Catholic communities had succeeded in melding a sense of mutual respect and tolerance for further denominations.

Statue of the Buddha

"Here there is no need to dream, no need to plan. It has already been achieved.

"Therefore, there is no need for my lecture!" he joked.

A passionate advocate of non-violence and an intermediary for religious and political factions shunned by the international community, the Dalai Lama's own personal history is similarly marked by conflict and exile.

Born Lhamo Dhondrub in July 1935, in a small village called Taktser in North Eastern Tibet, he was recognised as the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama, at the age of two.

Following a vision made manifest to a delegation of monks, the party happened upon a remote farmhouse. Here the infant son of a peasant family greeted them by name and demanded that his rosary beads be returned; correctly selecting additional items belonging to his former self.

Dharamsala, India

In 1950 the land of Tibet, over which the Dalai Lama presided as both spiritual and temporal leader, was invaded by China who claimed the region as their own. Following an increasingly brutal rule of force he was compelled to flee the country in 1959 and has not returned since.

Some 80,000 Tibetan refugees followed His Holiness into exile. Today, these number more than 120,000. Since 1960, he has resided in Dharamsala, India, known as "Little Lhasa," the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile.

Dalai Lama literatlly translates as 'Ocean of Wisdom'. Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as Yeshe Norbu, 'The Wishfulfilling Gem', or simply 'Kundun' - The Presence.

Prince Charles will meet the Dalai Lama later today for a private reception at St James's Palace. While in the UK, His Holiness will travel on to Glasgow and Edinburgh, where he will address the Scottish Parliament.