Dalai Lama told cameraman he was fat and needed to go on a diet
21 May 2024, 17:32 | Updated: 21 May 2024, 17:42
The Dalai Lama told a cameraman that he was fat and needed to go on a diet, according to broadcaster Cathy Newman.
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The presenter revealed that the Tibetan Buddhism teacher made the comment after interviewing him on Channel 4 news in 2013.
While on the Walking The Dog podcast, she said: “I did meet the Dalai Lama… but at the end of the interview it was very funny because I had this cameraman called Graham – who sadly died not that many years afterwards, it was very sad – but he was a little bit rotund.
“And at the end of the interview, the Dalai Lama pointed at him and said, ‘you’re fat, you need to go on a diet’. [Graham] was open-mouthed in astonishment at this rudeness from the Dalai Lama – I thought it was hilarious – so he was giving us diet tips by the end.”
The 14th, and current, Dalai Lama, condemned Buddhist violence against Muslims during the interview.
He also shared that he would be happy for his successor to be a woman and that they should take a “more active role” in Buddhism.
Ms Newman, who has worked for Channel 4 News since 2006, suggested she would not be a very good Buddhist as she finds that meditation is a “waste of time”.
She said: “I think I’d be a useless Buddhist: I can’t get meditation at all. That’s such a waste of time. I watch telly, though, (so) I suppose that’s my equivalent of meditation.
“Let’s face it, we are on slightly different wavelengths, me and the Dalai Lama.”
