Dalai Lama Says Female Successor Would Have To Be Attractive
The Dalai Lama, widely considered one of the most spiritually enlightened people in the world, has said that if his successor were female, she would have to be attractive. This statement was made during a recent interview with the BBC, but as The Independent reports, it’s a reiteration of a view that he expressed in 2015. During that interview, he said that a female Dalai Lama should be good-looking or she wouldn’t be of “much use.”
“If female Dalai Lama comes, then she should be more attractive,” he said to BBC South Asia correspondent, Rajini Vaidyanathan.
He later added that if a woman became Dalai she should be attractive and spiritually enlightened.
As The Inquisitr reported, these weren’t the only controversial statements that the Dalai Lama made during the interview. He also said that European governments should send back immigrants from the Middle East and Africa after they’ve been educated or equipped with the skills that they need. He said that if they were allowed to stay, Europe would become Muslim or African and that idea didn’t seem to sit well with him.
“The whole Europe (will) eventually become Muslim country? Impossible. Or African country? Also impossible,” he said, before stating that it would be better to “keep Europe for Europeans.”
Although it sounds like his opinions on immigration align with Donald Trump’s, the Dalai Lama had some scathing words for the U.S. President. He told the BBC that he believes Trump lacks “moral principle,” and said that he was saddened by the way immigrant children were being treated at the Mexican border, The Independent notes. This is a clear contrast to the ambivalence he expressed about the president’s rhetoric when Trump was elected.
“Sometimes I feel during the election, the candidate has more freedom to express,” he said in 2016.
At this point, it’s not at all certain who the Dalai Lama’s successor will be. CNN notes that the current holder of the title has said that the Tibetan people will have to decide whether they want to continue the tradition beyond his death. He has been in a self-imposed exile since 1959 after Chinese troops invaded his homeland and is currently 83 years old.
HHDL cuts the cake during celebrations of his 83rd birthday at Shiwatsel Teaching Ground in Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India on July 6, 2018. Photo by Tenzin Choejor pic.twitter.com/IZuPhDqAX9
— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) July 6, 2018
The Buddhists of Tibet believe that he is a reincarnation of the Buddha and of the men who have previously held the position. He has become a revered symbol of peace and tolerance the world over, a reputation that seems a little tarnished now thanks to his recent statements.
