The Dalai Lama said he was “doing very well” and recovering from his recent knee replacement surgery in the Big Apple as his followers celebrated his 89th birthday Saturday.
“There may be people trying to confuse you about my health, saying that the Dalai Lama has gone to a hospital and is undergoing treatments, and so on, making my condition sound grave. You don’t need to trust such misinformation,” the exiled leader of Tibetan Buddhism said in a video.
“Basically, I am doing very well, so please relax and be at ease.”
In late June, the Dalai Lama made his first trip since 2017 to the US for the operation at the renown Hospital for Special Surgery on the Upper East Side, which is regularly cited as one of the best orthopedic hospitals in the country.
The June 28 surgery was successful, and he has since been recuperating at the ritzy Park Hyatt Hotel on West 57th Street, where he is expected to make a full recovery.
Outside the hotel, dozens of devotees gathered in recent days to pray for his recovery and wish him a happy birthday.
Between his advancing age and health concerns, however, many Tibetans worry about the issue of his successor, particularly those seeking greater autonomy or complete independence from China, which annexed Tibet in 1951.
In 1959, a then-23-year-old Dalai Lama fled into exile in India after an uprising against Chinese rule over Tibet was crushed.
The Dalai Lama has said he will answers all questions about his successor —including about whether he will be reincarnated — when he turns 90.
“I am nearly 90 now but I don’t feel unhealthy, except for the slight discomfort in my legs,” he said.
“I would like to thank all my fellow Tibetans in and outside Tibet for your prayers on my birthday.”
With Post wires.