The Dalai Lama has been at the center of fire for days after a video went viral showing him kissing a boy on the lips before asking him to “suck” his tongue during an incident in the north. India. Although this is not the first time that the Tibetan spiritual leader has made headlines for controversial actions or comments for which Tibetans have had to apologize. Here are some other controversies that the Dalai Lama Rinpoche has had over the years.
The Dalai Lama has been criticized before. In a 2015 interview with the BBC, he noted that the future Dalai Lama could be a woman, but she had to be beautiful, otherwise she “wouldn’t be of much use.” Likewise, in another 2019 interview with the British network, he said that if he were to succeed a “female Dalai Lama, then she should be more attractive.”
He, too, apologized in a statement from his office some time after making those controversial comments. “His Holiness sincerely did not intend to offend anyone. He is deeply sorry that his comments offended anyone and expresses his sincerest apologies,” the statement read.
Through the same interview conducted by the BBC in 2019, the Dalai Lama made some controversial statements with former US President Donald Trump. At the time, the religious leader said the tycoon “lacked moral principles,” judged his “America First” stance and said he was “wrong.”