Dalai Lama says Chinese more concerned about successor than him

The Dalai Lama today said that the issue of his successor was not a "serious question" for him and that "it is more a concern of the Chinese".

"That is not a serious question for me. It looks like the Chinese government are seriously looking. I made it very clear in 1961 that whether the institution of Dalai Lama should continue or not should be debated," the 76-year-old Buddhist spiritual head, who described himself as a "son of India",  said.

The Dalai Lama said that in case majority of the people among the Buddhist feel that the institution (of Dalai Lama) is not relevant, then it will cease to exist.

"It is not much important for Tibetan Buddhist culture or people. It is quite silly to think that this should continue. It depends on the circumstances. But as far as Tibetan struggle is concerned, we have a politically elected leadership," he said at the HT Leadership Summit.

"It (the issue of succession) is more a concern of the Chinese than me," he said on the issue of succession.

Observing that the 20th century was "the century of violence", he said, the 21st century should be of dialogue.

"Any conflict cannot be solved by violence. The 20th century was the century of violence...according to some historians, over 200 million people were killed. This immense violence including nuclear weapons failed to bring any permanent peace to the world, so it was (a) waste."

He said that as far as spirituality is concerned, various branches of Buddhism have many young leaders who are inclined and can emerge as good spiritual leaders.

The Tibetan spiritual head said he was an "ancient messenger of India. Wherever I go, I talk about ahimsa or non-violence. This is the only country on planet where besides the home-grown religion, all religions co-exist. Occasionally there are some problems.

"I am a messenger of ancient India and son of India. A major portion of my life I have lived in India after escaping from Tibet. For the last 51 years, this body survived on Indian dals and rice," he quipped.

Asking Indians to realise their traditional values, he said, issues like cast and dowry must be addressed very seriously.

"Political problems like naxalism and Maoist movements also nee to be addressed. There is a lot of suffering in that area," he said, adding within the country, some traditions must change as they are outdated.

"There are problems in the country, you need to do some good work and not just nice words," he said.

"We consider Indians as our guru. Indians are guru and Tibetans are chela (followers). We are quite reliable chelas (followers)," he said.

The Dalai Lama said, "Our generation created that century of bloodshed, so it is now our responsibility to tell our children that violence cannot solve the problems".

He observed that a busy life and a competitive world were leading to greater mental stress level.

"In India or any other country, this stress level is more stronger in big cities like in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata... whereas in rural areas farmers, there may be physical difficulties more often but mentally much lesser stress life," he said.

"If you develop certain right kind of attitude... realistic attitude that doesn't matter what kind of surroundings, but one can keep peace of mind. So peace of mind is the basis of sound body and healthy mind, the Dalai Lama said.

"So much anger, so much fear so much attachment so much emotions...that part will not function smoothly...," he added.