Panchen Lama, businessmen weigh Buddhism´s impact on business

During the three-and-a-half-hour forum, the Panchen Lama carefully listened to the businessmen who shared their stories and ideas about learning Buddhism and applying Buddhist thoughts in their business.

When other Buddhist masters elaborated on Buddhist philosophy or when lecturers discussed puzzles in their lives, he took notes.

"Although quite young, he looked very elegant and dignified," said Yan Wangjia, who runs an information technology firm in Wuxi. Yan met the Panchen Lama in person for the first time.

"His presence is an encouragement to us. This showed that he was interested in our lives and problems and also had expectations of us," he added.

The Panchen Lama gave a speech in English on Saturday in the opening ceremony of the second World Buddhist Forum here.

"The forum is a very good platform, through which he could communicate with people from other Buddhist schools and other circles," Zhan Ru said.

The Living Buddha left Zhan Ru with the impression that he was always willing to learn. "He was very much focused on the forum. After the forum closed for lunch, he held my hand and told me that he had learned a lot and hoped to have other chances like this in the future," he said. "In him, I see the hope of Tibetan Buddhism and future of Buddhism in China."

The Panchen Lama will play an important role in building a harmonious society in China, he added.