Deep in the heart of Tibet, in the region with around 7 million people, Dalai Lama is the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Since the 17th century, Dalai Lama has always been a symbol of unification of the state of Tibet, and a representation of Buddhist values and traditions.
And the 14th Dalai Lama, who is also known to the Tibetan people as Gyalwa Rinpoche, is the highest spiritual leader and head of the country of Tibet since 1940. He's considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
In short, Dalai Lama the 14th is believed to be the reincarnation of his 13 predecessors.
Born on 6 July 1935 to a farming and horse trading family, Dalai Lama the 14th is known for being a tactile person, meaning that he likes to connect with others through the sense of touch.
Many people who met him have at least experienced holding his hands. And if not, Dalai Lama is also into chin tugging, and may at times press his forehead against another's.
But what's a concern, is when he's doing those things against the consent of the person he is will, or worse, if he's doing those physical interactions with a minor.
On April 10th, a video went viral on the internet, showing Dalai Lama kissing a young boy on the lips and prompting him to "suck my tongue" during a public event in celebration of 100 young students who had just graduated from the Indian M3M Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Indian real estate company M3M Group, based in Dharamshala, where the Dalai Lama lives in permanent exile.
The disturbing video shows how the child was told to approach Dalai Lama to give him a hug.
But when the boy reached the platform to embrace him, the man motions to his cheek.
"First here," he can be heard saying.
It was only after that, that things got disturbing.
The Dalai Lama instructed the child to kiss him on the mouth by gesturing toward his lips, and after that, he guided the boy’s face to do so with his hand. "Then I think finally here also," he said.
And finally, he pulled the boy’s chin and kisses him on the lips, before telling the boy to "suck my tongue." He said his a few seconds after poking his tongue out.
While nobody was really bothered at the time, the internet was furious when they saw this.
To many of those internet and social media users, that is clearly a sexual assault of a child in front of a captive audience.
In response to the viral video, Dalai Lama's official website made a statement to apologize about the incident, saying that:
"His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident."
— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) April 10, 2023
For more than often, Dalai Lama is known for being a tactile person. What this means, he likes to connect with others with the sense of touch.
He’s fond of holding hands and feel others' faces, like Lady Gaga, Sharon Stone, Jeremy Renner, Selena Gomez, Eva Longoria.
Dalai Lama has also met Nicole Scherzinger, Eva Longoria, Ann Curry, Naomi Watts, Gerard Butler, Richard Gere, Shah Rukh Khan, and many more.
His Holiness has also met government leaders from around the world, including: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Emmanuel Macron, King Charles III, and lots more.
To many of those people, Dalai Lama had interacted with them, with at least holding their hands.
This isn't the first time His Holiness has been blamed for his behavior on his poorly-translated attempts at preaching or humor, but this incident with the boy, is considered the worst.
The most recent controversy before this, was when he said that if ever a female Dalai Lama should succeed him, she "should be more attractive."
