Now THERE is a leader!

OZY:

So the Tibetans do not need a Dalai Lama anymore?

DALAI LAMA:

No, I don’t think so. Twenty-six hundred years of Buddhist tradition cannot be maintained by one person. And sometimes I make a tough joke: 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. If a weak Dalai Lama comes along, then it will just disgrace the Dalai Lama. (The Dalai Lama laughs.)

OZY:

How old do you want to become?

DALAI LAMA:

The doctors say I could become 100 years old. But in my dreams I will die at the age of 113 years.

OZY:

You have written and said that you can affect your rebirth.

DALAI LAMA:

I hope and pray that I may return to this world as long as sentient beings’ suffering remains. I mean not in the same body, but with the same spirit and the same soul.

OZY:

It is said that whoever has achieved enlightenment will not return.

DALAI LAMA:

The first Dalai Lama became 80 years old. There his disciples said that he was ready for a place in heaven. He replied: “I have no desire for any of these heavenly places. I want to be reborn, where I can be of use.” This is my wish, too.

Read more: The Dalai Lama: On China + the Future of Tibet | C-Notes | OZY 
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