Some of those who attended the lecture had paid as much as USD 1000.
As they came out, they were confronted by the demonstrators. Some among them started shouting at the protesters and waving currency notes to make the point that the demonstrators were paid Chinese agents, a charge which spokespersons of the protesters vehemently denied.
More and more supporters of the Tibetan spiritual leaders joined them and at one stage thousands were participating in a wordly duel.
Police on horseback and ground set up barricades to separate them and physically pushed back some of the supporters of the Dalai Lama as tried to advance towards the demonstrators to prevent a possible clash.
Asked during a question and answer session about the demonstration which had begun much before the Dalai Lama began his address, he described their faith as "just spirit worship."Conceding that he had followed the practice from 1951 until 1970s, the Dalai Lama said he had given it up after he realised that it was a mistake. By giving it up, he was able to explore other teachings of Buddhism.