BEIJING — As the world's most famous Buddhist, the Dalai Lama is a monk juggling two jobs. One is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and the other is the political head of his government in exile.

He was chosen to serve these dual callings through an arcane process based on signs that he was reincarnated from a long line of Dalai Lamas who were all considered embodiments of the Buddha of Compassion, the holder of the White Lotus.

So when the 14th Dalai Lama threatened last week to resign in response to the turmoil in his homeland, he seemed to throw into question the ancient process that gave him power.

Whether he can quit and what that would mean remain unclear.

The only known case of a Dalai Lama who didn't want to be one was the 6th incarnation, a man who supposedly preferred romantic poetry and courtesans over scriptures and chastity.

Staff members of the current Dalai Lama were quick to explain that the 72-year-old monk had no plans to abandon his people at a time of crisis. The revered god king was merely expressing his commitment to peace and saying that if his people continued to commit violence he would have no choice but to relinquish his secular duties.

"He would resign as the political leader and head of state, but not as the Dalai Lama. He will always be the Dalai Lama," said Tenzin Taklha, a top aide.

That would suggest breaking from the centuries-old tradition of church and state as one and, more important, would open the possibility that a living Dalai Lama could choose his own successor.

"These institutions are made by people; the rules can change from time to time," said Lee Feigon, author of the book "Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows." "If he were to resign in frustration, it will create worldwide sympathy for him. If he could choose his own successor, he would be around to help train him and give him legitimacy. Even the threat of doing it should give the Chinese government pause."

The communist government, which is officially atheist, has the final say in the appointments of high lamas and their reincarnations — a source of Tibetans' simmering resentment over Chinese rule.

A 6-year-old boy chosen by the Dalai Lama to be the second-highest priest in Tibetan Buddhism vanished in 1995, and another child handpicked by Beijing was appointed in his place.

Beijing could install its own puppet after the death of the Dalai Lama, whom it blames for masterminding Tibet's largest and most sustained anti-China protests in decades and for promoting "splittism," despite the exiled leader's repeated assertions that he prefers greater Tibetan autonomy, not independence.

If the Dalai Lama could designate his own successor, however, it would be difficult for a competing Chinese candidate to win much legitimacy, observers say.

"The whole world knows the Chinese communist government doesn't believe in religion. How can these atheists be expected to select a Tibetan lama?" said Tsering Tashi, the London representative of the Tibetan government in exile.

The current Dalai Lama was chosen at age 2 by a team of high lamas because he correctly identified items that belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama. Since fleeing to India in 1959 after a failed Tibetan uprising, he has embraced Western democratic values and built the government in exile, with an elected parliament and prime minister.

The Nobel laureate, who seems open to new ideas, has even suggested injecting an element of democracy into the tradition of reincarnation.

"The Dalai Lama has said before, 'If the people decide there will be a reincarnation of me in the form of the 15th Dalai Lama, then there will be a 15th Dalai Lama. If the majority does not want a reincarnation of me then there will not be a 15th Dalai Lama,' " said Tendon Dahortsang of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe. "I can't imagine the people won't wish for a 15th Dalai Lama."