The Dalai Lama is expected to hold an audience at the Glastonbury festival next month (Action Press/REX Shutterstock)

THE Dalai Lama has declared he could return to earth as a “mischievous blonde woman” as the politically charged issue of his reincarnation looms large in the run-up to his 80th birthday in July.

Speaking before this year’s Glastonbury festival, where his appearance will contrast with shows from bands such as the Who, the world’s most famous Buddhist monk mused about his next life.

If he came back as a woman, he said in an interview at his residence in northern India, “then her face must be very attractive” or “nobody pay much attention”.

Alternatively, he said, he might not be reincarnated at all. “In case majority of Tibetan people feel this centuries-old institution no longer relevant, then automatically cease,” he said. “In that case