Buddhism in Hungary has existed since 1951 whenErnő Hetényi founded the Buddhist Mission in Germany, as a member of the Arya Maitreya Mandala Buddhist order (Mahayana school). However, the firstBuddhist community had been founded in the 1890s inMáramarossziget (today Sighetu Marmației, part ofRomania).József Hollósytook refuge and wroteBuddhista Kátét ("Buddhist Catechism") (1893) — the first Buddhistcatechism inHungarian. According to this, theDharma has been present in Hungary for more than a century. In 1933 theHungarian philologist and Orientalist — author of the firstTibetan-English dictionary and grammar bookSándor Kőrösi Csoma — was recognised as abodhisattva in Japan. In Hungary József Hollósy is regarded as the second bodhisattva.[1]
In Hungary Buddhism has several forms, all of them with their own independent schools of thought. The different organisations coexist fairly harmoniously, but active communication between them is rather feeble.[2]
Officially sevenstupas have been inaugurated in Hungary: two inBudapest, and one inBudakeszi,Bükkmogyorósd (Csernely),Zalaszántó,Tar, and Becskén. The Peace Stupa in Zalaszántó is the biggest Buddhist shrine in Europe with a 30-meter height and 24-meter width.[3]
The ancient religion of Hungarian tribes wasshamanism, but presumably some had come across Buddhism during their westward migration and some of them had probably adopted Buddhism as their religion.[5] Due to the religious tolerance of Buddhism it was possible to practice two or more traditions at the same time, as was the case forTibetan andMongolian tribes. In the 15th century a Geleotti, humanist philosopher, fleeing theinquisition, found refuge at the court ofMatthias Corvinus,king of Hungary. Galeotti called theBuddha an "Indian sage" and he thought that the capital of the country,Buda was named after him.
Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, in the hope of finding the ancient homeland of the Hungarians, wanted to travel toIndia viaAfghanistan, and further on toMongolia viaTibet. Eventually he reachedLadakh in Northern India. During this period atZanskar — Csoma was the first European to visit the valley — he was immersed in an intense sixteen-month study of the Tibetan language and the Indo-Tibetan Buddhism at the core of its literature, with a local lama, Sangs-rgyas-phun-tshogs. He was one of the first Europeans to master the Tibetan language and read two of the great encyclopaedias of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist literature, theKangyur (100 volumes) and thebsTan-'gyur (224 volumes), which contained translations of Buddhist books brought from India.[6]Kőrösi Csoma was given the title ofbodhisattva in Tokyo in 1933 at the Taishyo Buddhist University as Csoma Bosatsu.[7][8]
Buddhism appeared first in Hungary in the end of the 1890s, when József Hollósy, brother of painterSimon Hollósy, took refuge and wroteBuddhista Káté (1893).
László Mednyánszky was working on the sketches of theArrival of the Hungarians, painting ofÁrpád Feszty, inMáramarossziget. József Hollósy lead a Buddhist circle which became a great influence for Mednyánszky. As a result, he dedicated the rest of his life to Buddhism. Mednyánszky was the first Hungarian artist to represent Buddhism with his choice of colours and themes.[9]There was another Buddhist community in Budapest between 1931 and 1935. The main figures wereLászló Vágó wholesaler andTibor Boromisza painter. Their seals represented Buddha under aszékely gate (ornate door) surrounded by an epigraph: „Magyar Buddhisták” (Hungarian Buddhists).[10]
The first official Sangha in Hungary was founded in 1951-ben byErnő Hetényi who was ordained in Germany in 1938. The actual date of the foundation of the Hungarian Buddhist Mission is 18 February 1952.[13]Arya Maitreya Mandala German Buddhist order was founded byLama Anagarika Govinda, German traveller, philosopher, painter, and poet. This order belongs to Mahayana and its rites follow the Tibetan tradition. Ernő Hetényi was the third person who graduated from this order. In 1956 the Buddhist Mission was declared Eastern European centre to promote Buddhism in the neighbouring countries. The mission aimed at representing all Buddhist schools without partiality. The foundation ofKőrösi Csoma Sándor International Buddhology Institute in Berlin was aimed to achieve the same goal. During his eastern travels Hetényi visited monasteries inIndia,Mongolia,Buryatia, andLaos. He receivedempowerment from Tibetan and Mongolian lamas and in 1982 he was blessed bythe 14th Dalai Lama whom he met three times.
In 1990, due to several issues, the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Institute was closed, but later, two great historical figures of Hungarian Buddhism, Dobosy Antal and Takács László, reorganised and reopened it. After this Buddhist orders and schools were open throughout the country. The sudden liberty and the large number of institutions also involved some degree of drop in quality. New books appeared which were mainly translations from English. A large part of the works ofSándor Kőrösi Csoma remain untranslated to this day.
The14th Dalai Lama,Tenzin Gyatso has visited Hungary seven times.[22] First in 1982, then in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2000, and 2010.[23] His first visit was during his travel to Rome (to meetPope John Paul II) on 26 September 1982. He spent the night in the guest house of government of the Hungarian People's Republic. He was welcomed on behalf of the government byJózsef Marjai, chief prime minister of Hungary. At the airport waiting lounge he met the Mongolian ambassador, andErnő Hetényi, founder and leader of the Hungarian Buddhist Mission.[24] The Dalai Lama was invited by several Hungarian Buddhist institutions and he paid a visit to Hungary between 25 and 30 April 1990. During his stay he gaveChenrezig empowerment at theMarx Károly University of Economics (todayCorvinus University of Budapest), and he gave sermon inSt. Stephen's Basilica together withCardinalLászló Paskai and other representatives of the historically important churches.[25] Between 20 and 25 July 1992 he paid visit to Hungary for the invitation ofCsan Buddhist Church amongst others. His public speech inBudapest Sportcsarnok was attended by 4000 people, his teaching atCorvinus University of Budapest was also great success amongst the students. He also travelled toTar village to give his blessings to a newly built 13-meter-high stupa dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the death of Sándor Kőrösi Csoma.[26] One year later the Dalai Lama consecrated the 36-meter-high stupa inZalaszántó which became the highest such building in Europe. The Dalai Lama visited Hungary on 27 and 28 October 1996 and he met several politicians, religious leaders, scientists and artists. He signed the Proclamation of Planetary Mind.[27] He gave a public speech in the Congressional Centre of Builders. In October 2000 the Dalai Lama was invited byCentral European University and Tibetet Segítő Társaság. This time he metViktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary. First day he had a press conference and he introduced his new book in Libri Book Palace. The next two days he gave teaching and public speech in Budapest Sportcsarnok. On 14 October he metAsztrik Várszegi abbot ofPannonhalma Archabbey and he also gave a speech.[28] In 2010 he gave a teaching for more than ten thousand people in Budapest.Gábor Demszky mayor of Budapest gave himHonorary citizenship of the city.[29]
The first official broadcast ofBuddha FM radio, the first Buddhist on-line radio channel of Hungary, was at 6 am on 22 September 2014.[31][32] Founders of the radio are all the Hungarian Buddhist communities, members, students, and teachers of theDharma Gate Buddhist College.[33]
^"➜ Támogatás".ॐ Kontakt Vipassana Közösség & Buddhista Vipassana Alapítvány ॐ.Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved15 January 2023.
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