Dharamshala: - The spiritual leader of the people of Tibet, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, on Thursday 15th September, told a Brazilian business forum that the use of force and violence is outdated and that the world must try to resolve differences and problems through dialogue. His Holiness also said that Brazilian industrialists and business leaders have a responsibility to reduce the huge gap between the rich and poor, a problem that is increasing everywhere.
After a delayed flight from Buenos Aires, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama arrived in Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil on Thursday. At the Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, His Holiness was received by Prof. Lia Diskin, Co-founder of the Palas Athena Association and host of the visit, Dr. Eduardo Jorget Martins Alves Sobrinho and Jose Gregory of the Soa Paulo City government, Mrs. Abhilash Joshi of the Indian Consulate General and members of the Dharma Centers in Brazil.
In his address to the Brazilian leaders, His Holiness said that 20th century had witnessed too much bloodshed and millions of people had lost their lives. Therefore, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate said, we cannot afford to repeat that history in the 21st century. This century, he said, must be a century of dialogue. He added that no matter how much we try, problems will still remain and will remain as a part of our life. However, he said, the important thing is that we must resolve these differences and problems through dialogue. "The use of force and violence is outdated," His Holiness added.
At the World Trade Center theater for His Holiness' address to business and industrial leaders of Brazil, his Holiness was greeted by Dr. Cristiane Bomeny, an industrialist and daughter of the family which owns the World Trade Center in Sao Paulo, Dr. Ozires Silva, a Brazilian pioneering industrialist, Mr. Fernando Levy, President of the Business Forum of Brazil, Mr. Affif Domingos, Vice Governor of the State of Sao Paulo as well as a number of Brazilian journalists and photographers.
That said, His Holiness' was fairly direct in his discourse and one of the main thrusts in his speech to the industrialists and business leaders was about the possibility of reducing the gap between the rich and the poor, the world over. "One of the sources of problems", he said, "is a huge gap between rich and poor everywhere. Therefore, the privileged people, particularly the business leaders, should shoulder more responsibility to help the poor by investing in the fields of education, health and other social sectors."
The Tibetan spiritual went on that "natural resources are not infinite and therefore efforts must be made to have more sustainable growth with adequate attention being made to the ecology." He also said that "industrial and business leaders must be visionary so that every effort they make will ultimately benefit society."
Despite the late departure, His Holiness spoke for nearly two hours at this important forum and also attended a questions session from the audience. The audience members, who flew to Sao Paulo from various parts of Brazil, paid a great deal of attention to his talk and listened to His Holiness' talk most enthusiastically.
Later after the conclusion of the event, His Holiness the Dalai Lama offered a scarf to Dr. Ozires Silva and Dr. Christiane Bomeny and thanked them for organizing the event.
