Dalai Lama Sees No Need For Successor | "Let Us Finish With A Popular Dalai Lama"

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Perhaps none has held the position with as much popularity and esteem as the current Dalai Lama does, which is another reason he noted for discontinuing the tradition.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Huffington Post
By Antonia Blumberg | September 9, 2014

The Dalai Lama told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in a recent interview that he sees no need for a successor to follow him. The Tibetan leader told the paper:

"We had a Dalai Lama for almost five centuries. The 14th Dalai Lama now is very popular. Let us then finish with a popular Dalai Lama."

The institution of the Dalai Lama as the head monk in Tibetan Buddhism is fairly recent in the scope of the religion, as the current Dalai Lama is only the 14th in history with the first Dalai Lama born in 1391.

Perhaps none has held the position with as much popularity and esteem as the current Dalai Lama does, which is another reason he noted for discontinuing the tradition.

“If a weak Dalai Lama comes along, then it will just disgrace the Dalai Lama," he said.

In addition to his position as the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama plays a major role as the political voice of the Tibetan people, who have suffered decades of conflict with the Chinese government. Ganden Thurman, Executive Director of Tibet House US, told The Huffington Post that by denying the need for a successor, the Dalai Lama may also be charting a course for a more democratic Tibet moving forward.

"His Holiness is looking for the resolution to the China issue and for [the Tibetan people's] own governance," Thurman said. "Both of those issues are looking for what's best for the Tibetan people."

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