Dalai Lama calls for end to (his) divine rule, touts democracy

This was in my newspaper today. I can't find an online version, so I'll just type a bit of it.

Dalai Lama calls for end to divine rule, touts democracy
Source: The Telegraph, Mumbai

The Dalai Lama said Sunday that the tradition of a monk leading Tibet's Buddhists by divine right should end with him.

He told fellow exiles in India that their next leader should be elected rather than chosen in a centuries-old ritual by monks and shrouded in mystery. A new Dalai lama is traditionally selected by monks seeking guidance at a sacred lake and travelling through Tibet with the relics of the dead Dalai Lama...

The Nobel peace prizewinner said: "The Dalai Lamas held temporal and spiritual leadership over the last 400-500 years. It may have been quite useful. But that period is over. Today, it is clear to the whole world that democracy is the best system. That is why it is important that Tibetans also move withthe larger world community."

[China said it will choose the next Dalai Lama anyway.]
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Kind of related and funny - there was a boy who was being prepared for the role of lama, but...

Boy chosen by Dalai Lama turns back on Buddhist order
Sunday 31 May 2009 23.11 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...el-hita-torres

As a toddler, he was put on a throne and worshipped by monks who treated him like a god. But the boy chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a spiritual leader has caused consternation – and some embarrassment – for Tibetan Buddhists by turning his back on the order that had such high hopes for him.

Instead of leading a monastic life, Osel Hita Torres now sports baggy trousers and long hair, and is more likely to quote Jimi Hendrix than Buddha...

He is now studying film in Madrid...