Face to Face with the Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, but the current longtime occupant (born Lhamo Thondup) has not always held the title. In 1923, New York Times Magazine ran a profile article on the then-current Dalai Lama, born Thupten Gyatso.
The article incorrectly speculated that the then-current Dalai Lama could prove to be the final person to hold that title.
Will a very old prophecy be in reality fulfilled, namely, that the thirteenth Dalai Lama will be the last, that after his death Tibet will be opened up to the "white barbarians" of the West, and the title Dalai Lama be but a memory of the past? Easy to put the question, but who can answer?
What actually happened: the 13th Dalai Lama died 10 years later, in 1923. His successor, the 14th and current Dalai Lama, was found in the farming village where he and his family lived, and officially proclaimed as the new Dalai Lama at only age 4.
So, no, the 13th Dalai Lama was not the last. The current and 14th one, though, could be.
In a 2014 interview, he said: "The institution of the Dalai Lama has served its purpose... 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."
Face to Face with the Dalai Lama
Published: Sunday, October 28, 1923