To his legions of followers, he epitomizes spiritual perfection and the wisdom of the ages. Many more are captivated by his celebrity status -- a status both inevitable and uncomfortable for him.

This is the complex reality of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet: He is the spiritual leader of millions of Tibetan Buddhists and practitioners of the religion worldwide. He is also the exiled political leader of a nation invaded nearly 50 years ago by communist Chinese forces. And that has catapulted the man who describes himself as ``a simple monk'' into the limelight.

His much-anticipated visit to Florida International University on Friday has many South Floridians giddy with excitement. They want blessings. A photograph. Or just the chance to see him.

Janice Heller, owner of Conscious Childbirth of Hollywood, will be there. The last time the Dalai Lama came through South Florida, she left her midwifery business early, drove 20 miles and stood in a waiting room for an hour holding fresh flowers to catch a glimpse of him. That was in 1995, when the spiritual leader passed through Miami International Airport during a layover on an overseas flight.

``I'm not prone to being star-struck, but I was in awe,'' Heller said. ``When you get around him, he has this energy. I had goose bumps from 15 feet away.''

Even among those who are not students of Buddhism or New Age mysticism, the Dalai Lama's draw is powerful.

Free tickets to his appearance at the Golden Panther Arena at FIU's University Park Campus went fast -- 4,000 in less than an hour.

That makes him as hot an attraction as the Spice Girls, for which it took a day to fill 20,000 seats at Coral Sky Amphitheater in West Palm Beach last June, and Bob Dylan, whose fans gobbled up 2,000 Cameo Theatre tickets for a sellout in 18 minutes in March 1998.

Part of the reason is that although he lives a simple life in a corner of northern India, in the ramshackle town of Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama has gained celebrity status as pop stars have flocked to his fold -- or to his cause.

Photographs abound of His Holiness flanked by Buddhist Richard Gere. Beastie Boy Adam Yauch organized two concerts for Tibetan freedom.

Two recent films -- Kundun  and Seven Years in Tibet  -- have brought the plight of the Tibetan people and the life of the saffron-and-maroon-robed monk into households and movie theaters around the world.

``Because he is an icon of virtue and also a victim, we admire him for his steadfastness in times of adversity,'' said Charles Hallisey, John L. Loeb associate professor of the committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University.

FIU is kept busy

Orchestrating the Dalai Lama's visit to Miami has been practically a full-time job for more than a dozen departments at FIU, including the press office, the Religious Studies Department, the Office of Community Relations and Campus Safety. This will be his first full visit to a South Florida campus.

During his 34-hour stay here, the Dalai Lama will dedicate FIU's Peace Monument, which is receiving a face lift and will be back in place for his visit. In a ceremony at 2:15 p.m. Friday, the 63-year-old spiritual leader will be presented with an honorary doctorate of humanities.

In private sessions, he will talk with Gov. Jeb Bush and members of the South Florida Buddhist community.

The Dalai Lama's talk will be carried on closed-circuit television on campus and broadcast on the Internet.

His arrival in South Florida, after a visit to South America last week, will coincide with the Chinese premier's trip to the United States. Premier Zhu Rongji will stop at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday, and is expected to be greeted by students protesting for a free Tibet.

One week before his arrival at FIU, the campus was abuzz with excitement.

``Just about every book in the library about the Dalai Lama is gone,'' said Aileen Izquierdo, an FIU spokeswoman.

Stocking up on books

Anticipating the rush, the campus bookstore has ordered 1,000 copies of the bestseller The Art of Happiness, which the Tibetan leader co-wrote with Howard C. Cutler.

The Dalai Lama's story strikes a chord with many worldwide at a time when ``ethnic cleansing'' in Kosovo dominates the news. Locally, the Tibetans' forced exile to escape the atrocities of an intolerant regime resonates in a diverse community.

Chosen to be the 14th Dalai Lama at 2, His Holiness assumed full powers at 15, when Mao Zedong's communist forces invaded Tibet, claiming to be on a mission to ``free'' it from the ``poison of imperialism and religion.''

When the People's Liberation Army first moved in on the Tibetans and set up encampments, it met little resistance. The Dalai Lama tried to negotiate a peaceful end to the invasion.

But soon he faced a philosophical battle within his nation that continues: Even as he preached nonviolence and compassion for the enemy to his followers, a resentment of the Chinese intrusion sparked a fire in some Tibetans that led to a rebellion.

The ill-fated revolt that followed in 1959 was brutally quashed by the Chinese. The Dalai Lama left his 1,000-room palace and fled across the Himalayas on horseback.

Under the weight of the occupying forces, Tibetan families were tortured, jailed and murdered. Monasteries and ornate shrines to Buddha were pillaged and destroyed.

``I only escaped from Tibet because I feared my people would resort to desperate violence if the Chinese took me as their prisoner,'' the Dalai Lama said in a 1997 interview.

``Since we became Buddhists, we have lived in peace with them. We did not invade them. We did not want them to invade us. We have only asked China to leave us in peace, to let us have our natural freedom. We have always maintained that our policy is nonviolence, no matter what they do.''

Nobel prize winner

In 1989, 30 years after he went into exile, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Human rights experts estimate that more than one million people died as a result of the Chinese invasion. About 80,000 refugees have fled the nation, and 6,000 Buddhist monasteries have crumbled.

Even today, ``Tibet is painful to experience,'' says Dr. Carlos Warter of Ocean Ridge near Delray Beach, a friend of the Dalai Lama, an author and a leader of the World Health Foundation for the Development & Peace.

``There is control at every corner, control over religion and forced abortion,'' said Warter, who visited His Holiness recently and traveled to Tibet last year on a fact-finding mission. ``The people have been brainwashed in a way of looking at life that is not the Tibet tradition. There is total prohibition of even mentioning the Dalai Lama's name.''

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama, who rises at 3:30 a.m. daily for one to two hours of prayer, travels the world appealing for an end to the unrest in his homeland.

China has said it is ready to discuss his return to Tibet if he agrees not to advocate independence -- an overture that angered some Tibetan exiles, who accuse the Dalai Lama of making too many concessions to the Chinese.

But the spiritual leader stands firm on his intent to perpetuate Buddhism in his homeland. He believes Tibetans should preserve their distinct culture and way of life.

Advocate of autonomy

In a statement released last November after meeting President Clinton, the Dalai Lama said: ``I am not seeking independence for Tibet, nor do my actions seek its separation from the People's Republic of China. I'm for autonomy for the Tibetan people.

``I do not seek any privileges or position for myself; on the contrary, I have made it categorically clear many times that I do not wish to hold any official position once we have found a solution to the Tibetan issue.''

Since the 1980s, the Dalai Lama has made efforts to encourage alternative leaders. Historically, in purely religious terms, other high lamas are as important as the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism. But no others engage in the political arena, and that sets him distinctly apart.

In 1995, the Dalai Lama proclaimed 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the next Panchen Lama, another leader of the Tibetans.

Chinese soldiers moved quickly. They arrested the boy and picked another child as Panchen Lama. He is being educated under Beijing's tutelage.

Nyima has not been heard from since.

Anticipation by students

Students for a Free Tibet will remind those who come Friday of the conditions in the Dalai Lama's homeland. Members are setting up a table to take donations for a charity to help exiles and will sell pictures, posters and T-shirts. The group hopes to meet with him privately afterward.

``He will come in and give everyone a blessing,'' said Kathryn Garcia, the group's president and founder, who is eager to meet His Holiness. ``I'm going to get a haircut.''

Some in South Florida's Buddhist community hope that seeing the Dalai Lama will help them in their meditation and quest for inner peace.

Carmen Alfonso of Hialeah was standing in line by 6:30 a.m. the day of the ticket giveaway to make sure she could attend. Alfonso is studying Buddhism under the direction of Ani Karma Chotso, an ordained Buddhist nun who runs a Tibetan Buddhist center in a small bungalow in Hollywood.

On the day of the Dalai Lama's talk, she will wear a chuba, a floor-length red cotton wrap-around dress. ``This will be the first time I wear it in public,'' she said. ``I keep it for special occasions.''

Most of Karma Chotso's other students will also be in the audience, and the nun, released in December 1996 from the monastery where she lived for 12 years to teach Buddhist philosophy and practice to South Floridians, is preparing them for a memorable experience.

``He's an extraordinary being,'' said Karma Chotso. ``When you are with him in a room, you are finally with someone who cares more about you than you do about yourself.''