Dalai Lama makes controversial comments on female successor, invites ridicule

In controversial comments, the Dalai Lama has said that while a female Dalai Lama is a possibility, 'her face has to be attractive, otherwise there's no use'.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, who calls himself a feminist, stunned a BBC interviewer by saying that were a woman to eventually take over his position, she would be unsuitable if she were ugly.

"That female must be attractive, otherwise it is not much use," he said.

The 14th Dalai Lama made these remarks during a 9-day visit to London. The Dalai Lama is in the West to 'promote the concepts of compassion and considerate behaviour', said the Telegraph UK.

First, veteran journalist Clive Myrie asked him whether it was possible that a woman could become the next Dalai Lama. He replied in the affirmative, saying that he had already raised the possibility during an interview with a French woman reporter a few days ago. He claimed that he had said at the time that, 'a woman Dalai Lama would be a good thing in our troubled world, as she would have "biologically more potential to show affection and compassion"'.

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.

Myrie, shocked, asked the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism if he was being serious, to which he replied in the affirmative.

The 80-year-old Dalai Lama, real name Tenzin Gyatso, has advocated for the independence of Tibet and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980. At the age of 90, the Lama is supposed to choose along with other Buddhist leaders whether a successor or a 'reincarnation' will become the 15th Dalai Lama.