Yalda Hakim of BBC World interviewing His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Rome, Italy on December 13, 2014. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

(TibetanReview.net, Dec18, 2014) – Raising the spectre of a successor who might disgrace himself or herself as well as the institution itself, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has suggested Dec 17 that perhaps it would be better if he is the last Dalai Lama, according toindependent.co.uk Dec 17.

“There is no guarantee that some stupid Dalai Lama won’t come next, who will disgrace himself or herself. That would be very sad. So, much better that a centuries-old tradition should cease at the time of a quite popular Dalai Lama,” he was quoted as saying in a BBC Newsnight interview.

Although emphasizing that it was “up to the Tibetan people” to decide what will happen after his death, the Dalai Lama has expressed hope that the tradition of choosing the new Tibetan spiritual leader “ends with a popular one”, reported ibtimes.co.uk Dec 17.

The longest serving Dalai Lama who in 2011 relinquished the institution’s 369-year-old role as the temporal leader of Tibet as well, has said no one may follow a stupid Buddhist leader.

The Dalai Lama, born on Jul 6, 1935, was enthroned as Tibet’s temporal and spiritual leader when he was not quite 16 due to the emergency situation arising from an imminent Chinese invasion of the country.

China has insisted, despite the primacy of the concerned Tibetan spiritual leader’s traditional and religious prerogative to determine where he will be reborn, that it had a historical right to appoint the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, adding that the successor should be from a territory under its rule.

Although the communist government of China is not just secular but also atheist, with the communist party members being banned from being religious, it insists that it has a “set religious procedure and historic custom” for the purpose.

Since a Dalai Lama chosen by China will be expected to follow the dictates of his minders, with the party leadership at the top, rather than following his own mind, the exile Tibetan spiritual leader’s latest remarks could be taken as a broadside against Beijing.

The Dalai Lama has, on a previous occasion, said, “Chinese officials are more concerned about the future Dalai Lama than me,” adding, “I have no concern.”