Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama greets the audience as he arrives to attend a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of exiled Tibetans settlement in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012.  (AP/Altaf Qadri)

Tibetan Buddhism’s supreme leader, the Dalai Lama, has that he believes a female Dalai Lama was entirely possible, although all previous holders of the title have been male.

“If the circumstances are such that a female Dalai Lama is more useful, then automatically a female Dalai Lama will come,” he said in a press conference in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, adding that the world is currently undergoing a “moral crisis” which will require more compassionate leaders.

“In that respect, biologically, females have more potential,” the Dalai Lama said. “Females have more sensitivity about others’ well-being.”

He reflected on his own family to make his point, noting that “in my own case, my father, very short temper. On a few occasions I also got some beatings. But my mother was so wonderfully compassionate.”

The comments came amid controversy in Australia over a botched joke regarding Prime Minister Julia Gillard, where opposition leaders released a fake menu at a fundraiser that used obscene references to the female anatomy. 

This isn’t the first time the Buddhist leader has expressed his support for the notion of a female Dalai Lama. In 2007, he made very similar comments in a Telegraph piece, noting: “If a woman reveals herself as more useful the Lama could very well be reincarnated in this form.”

This article originally was published at Global Post.