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Dalai Lama Successor: Girl or Boy?
IANS
Dharamsala, Nov 23, 2008
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Sunday kept everyone guessing about his successor, saying the issue was open on whether a new head was required, and added that it could be a young boy or a girl. "There are various ways of doing it (having a successor). The point is whether to continue with the institution of the Dalai Lama or not. After my death, Tibetan religious leaders can debate whether to have a Dalai Lama or not," the Tibetan leader, who has been living in exile in India for the last 49 years, told media persons at his Mcleodganj-based headquarters here Sunday.
"The successor can be a young boy or a girl. Girls show more compassion. Also, women are dominating things all over the world," he said.
"I may be the last Dalai Lama," he also added.
He has been under pressure from the exiled Tibetan community to choose a successor since he is getting older and has been hospitalized in recent months for various ailments. He was recently operated in a Delhi hospital for removal of gall bladder stones.
The Tibetan leadership here is worried that if the Dalai Lama dies without nominating or selecting a successor, the Chinese government might install its own choice as the next Dalai Lama as they did in the case of the Panchen Lama, the second highest ranking Buddhist leader in Tibetan hierarchy, in 1995.
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