SAN JOSE – Thousands of Costa Ricans flocked to a university auditorium to hear Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who spoke on tolerance and ethics.
Students, professors and regular citizens lined up early in the morning to get into the auditorium at the state-run University of Costa Rica in San Jose.
The crowd was so large that hundreds who did not get in saw the presentation from television screens in an overflow area.
The Tibetan leader gave an hour-long presentation about carrying out concrete actions that would result in demilitarization, environmental protection and bridging the gap between the rich and the poor.
After the event, the Dalai Lama went to the Presidential House, where he lunched with President Abel Pacheco, who earlier described his guest as “one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the planet at a time in which we need plenty of spiritual guidance.”
The Dalai Lama was scheduled to visit the Costa Rican congress and participate in an inter-religious prayer service and meet with Roman Catholic bishops.
The Dalai Lama, 69, arrived from Puerto Rico and will stay in Costa Rica until Tuesday, when he travels to El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
The Tibetan religious leader, who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, is also scheduled to give a public presentation with former Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, the 1987 Nobel peace recipient.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 amid a failed uprising against Chinese rule. In recent years has been trying to engage Beijing in negotiations over a potential return.
