Dalai Lama makes controversial comments on female successor, invites ridicule

“Jihad is a struggle or combat, your own destructive emotion not harming other”, said the Dalai Lama.

He then leaned forward to Myrie with a smile and added: “Then I told that reporter: “If it is a female, the face should be very attractive”, reports the Telegraph UK”.

In an interview this week with the BBC, the Dalai Lama reiterated a curious point he has made in the past: His successor, the 15th in the holy line of his Tibetan monastery, could be female.

This isn’t the first time His Holiness has made sexist comments about women in regards to a future Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama has hit out at David Cameron for refusing to meet him – accusing the Prime Minister of putting profit above morality.

“It’s true”, the Dalai Lama said.

“People in public life have monumental affect, whether or not it is the Dalai Lama or any senior politician or anyone”.

“I had hoped for so much more from him – in the end, yet another patriarch”, another said. Prior to now, the Dalai Lama has stated he doesn’t like backlashes of this type, saying some feminist activists are too emotional, in accordance to the Telegraph. When you make a press release, even whether it is stated half-jokingly and never in a really critical manner, it sadly has repercussions.

The Dalai Lama says he is open to the idea of a female successor as long as she’s “very, very attractive”.

Who the Dalai Lama meets is a sensitive issue for Beijing.

Vivienne Hayes, CEO of the Women’s Resource Centre, which campaigns widely on women’s inequality, said: “It’s disappointing that any woman’s ability to take on a leadership role should be determined by her appearance”.

“Could it be a woman?” the BBC reporter asked.

Because of the critical influence of His Holiness on Buddhism in the west and human rights around the world, a Tibetan (note: intersectional) feminist critique is imperative to clarify and contextualize his remarks.

“We live in a world where attractiveness does not matter, I don’t think it does, I don’t think it should”.