By Eric Gregory - Lexington Herald-Leader Staff Writer

July 23, 1996, Tuesday

TRAPPIST At the abbey where his Catholic monk friend once lived, the world's best-known Buddhist last night spread his message of religious harmony and peace.

His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama the spiritual and temporal head of Tibet's exile government encouraged people to study each other's religious beliefs.

That will promote a better understanding of cultures and foster mutual respect, he said. "We can all work together. We can save humanity."

The 60-year-old Dalai Lama is staying at the Nelson County monastery this week for an interfaith seminar. Then he's off to retreats in Bloomington, Ind., Chicago and California.

His first stop was Gethsemani, where Thomas Merton is buried. Merton, who gained world renown as an author, teacher and visionary while cloistered at the abbey, had struck an unique friendship with the Dalai Lama before Merton was accidentally electrocuted in 1968.

Merton "would have been delighted" had he been alive to see the Dalai Lama plant a blue spruce tree along with Abbot Timothy Kelly, said Patrick Hart, a Trappist monk who was Merton's personal secretary.

"This means a lot to us," Hart said. "It shows that we've grown a lot from the old days. We're open to other traditions, respect and learning from them as well.

"I think the Dalai Lama felt (Merton) always showed them a phase of Christianity they'd never seen before. The beauties. The depth."

The Trappists at Gethsemani are members of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, probably the most stringent group in Roman Catholicism.

They live in a rural cloister surrounded by thick walls almost completely cut off from the outside world and speak to one another infrequently, sometimes through sign language.

The differences in East and West were apparent at the tree-planting: the Buddhists, in colorful robes and closely shaved heads stood on one side; the silver-haired monks on the other in black and white garb.

Kelly and the Dalai Lama shared a shovel to pour black soil over the tree's roots. The Dalai Lama then watered it from a green can while fellow Buddhists chanted a prayer.

Kelly called the ceremonial tree-planting "a new life in our midst," one that signifies enduring respect and a deep sharing.

The Dalai Lama arrived about 6 p.m. draped in maroon and gold robes. He smiled and bowed to each person, his praying hands stretched in silent greeting.

He spoke to reporters in English, sometimes consulting with interpreters in his native Tibetan.

The former Nobel Peace Prize winner touched on several topics in a short news conference, mixing his comments with his hope for non-violent political change and religious harmony.

As for the Communist Chinese government that overran his nation, the Dalai Lama said he still wants to work out a peaceful compromise that would return Tibet to "genuine self-rule."

He formed an exile Tibetan government in India in 1960. "Time is running out"on the chance for Tibetan independence, he warned.

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Photo: The Dalai Lama smiled and bowed to each person, his praying hands stretched in silent greeting, upon his arrival at the monastery courtyard. Frank Anderson Herald-Leader