An invitation to introduce the Dalai Lama to a sold-out crowd Saturday at the Ottawa Civic Centre is right up Alanis Morissette's alley.

The 29-year-old singer/songwriter -- who in recent years has developed a strong tendency toward peace, enlightenment and what some might call spiritual-speak -- has been a big supporter of Tibet's rights since the mid-'90s, when she started performing in Tibetan freedom concerts.

These days Morissette, who spoke to the Sun yesterday over the phone from a radio station tour stop in Chicago, says there is much she identifies with Buddhism and the man who personifies it.

"I've seen him speak before in Los Angeles and he's such a sweet, present spirit who's very open-minded and very communicative and articulate," she says, "and yet there's a sort of sweet levity and humour to him that I think is so refreshing."

Though there are parts of the Buddhist philosophy Morissette has trouble relating to -- "There's a lot of evolution happening within the Buddhist religion that is inviting participation and inclusion of females," she explains tactfully -- the concept of living in the moment is one she strives for.

"Enjoying the process and yet at the same time being not invested in what winds up happening," she says. "And that's pretty much how I've lived my life over the last couple of years."

And if it's slightly trendy to reference the Dalai Lama -- 25,000 people and one Goldie Hawn turned up for his talk in Vancouver -- the overall move toward being more spiritual, not surprisingly, is just fine with Morissette.

"Any environment where people are collecting to ask the big questions I'm a huge supporter of, because these are defining times," she says.

These are also defining times for the former bubble-gum pop singer from Ottawa. In addition to her gig hosting the Juno Awards in Edmonton, her new album, So-Called Chaos, is due out May 18.

Morissette plans to perform as part of her three-song set the first single, Everything, a simply written yet addictive ode to her Vancouver-born actor boyfriend of two years, Ryan Reynolds.

"I love it," she says. "When I'm performing it, it's almost as though I can't focus too much on what I'm singing because I get choked up."

Reynolds and Morissette, who is mostly comfortable but partially sheepish in her new role as a romantic, spent Valentine's Day in Paris. But instead of making out at the top of the Eiffel Tower, the pair indulged their love of art at the Louvre, food at French eateries and being naked, well, hopefully in their hotel.

"We're art buffs and food buffs and in the buffs," says Morissette laughing. "Just totally experiencing the beauty of Paris. We also had just read (Dan Brown's) The Da Vinci Code so we were like these little Nancy Drew/Hardy Boy sleuths going through churches that were referenced in the book."

Morissette is no hockey buff these days, relying on others for news about how the Ottawa Senators and a game she used to be obsessed with are doing.

"I should be stoned for it," she laughs.

Morissette hears her biological clock and does want to have children -- her own and also adopted -- with Reynolds when the time is right.

"We have no immediate plans, but at some point I would love to marry Ryan," she says.

And tomorrow night, on Earth Day, Morissette's work with Keanu Reeves in narrating The Great Warming, a three-hour documentary series about climate change, will debut in Canada on The Discovery Channel.

Later this year she will be seen as a singer, performing the Cole Porter classic Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love in De-Lovely, a film about the Broadway legend starring Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd.

And in July and August, she will tour the U.S. and a Canadian city or two with the Barenaked Ladies. Morissette hopes one of those cities will be Ottawa, but concedes it might be too pricey to include her hometown on the roster this time around.

More immediately, on June 1, she plans to hit the tricky milestone of 30 without a hint of that anti-Buddhist type of worry about how it's all going to turn out.

"Ever since I was 14 I always fantasized about being 30. I always wanted to be 30. I wanted to be a woman," she says. "I feel like my emotionality is catching up with my chronology somehow. I'm excited about it.

"I think getting older rocks."