It's simply a joke, a funny saying, poking fun at the custom of Tibetans to stick out their tongues when greeting each other, it's not meant to be taken literally, this whole scandal is simply huge misunderstanding.
shareNah, bro that shit was just plain weird he was holding and looking intensily into the kid eyes for like 30 seconds before asking to suck him. That's homo stuff right there, if some day I have the Lama in front of me Im going to make him an atomic wedgie Danm pervert
shareI'll take "Things the OP just pulled out of his ass" for $500, Alex.
shareIt's not even a misunderstanding, he was clearly joking, everyone laughed, except internet Karens.
shareRight.
It was a misunderstanding and that's why when the boy leaned in to suck his tongue the Dalai Lama didn't pull away . . .
You might want to actually watch the video.
shareSticking out tongues is a documented custom. I haven't read where sucking tongues is a custom. Perhaps you can provide a credible source and will provide a link.
shareIt's when a Tibetan grandpa gives candy to his grandkids, and he sucks them first to make them soft, and when he's out of candy but the kids still want some, he might say jokingly because his mouth is all sweet now: "you can now suck my tongue instead", it's all explained in this article:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg5854/tibetans-explain-what-suck-my-tongue-means-dalai-lama-viral-video
I asked for a credible source, which Vice is not. The article paraphrases (not quotes) unknown sources.
If this is such a well know custom why don't actual new sources like CNN, MSNBC, CBS, etc. report this custom?
Vice is just quoting what other Tibetans say, The Tibet Rights Collective has a tweet about this:
https://twitter.com/TibetCollective/status/1646516453015953413?s=20
I don't know about other news sites, for them the problem is probably just not important anymore, I mean for how long are you gonna beat a dead horse, it was just a simple cultural misunderstanding.