Dharamsala, September 17 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Hungarian capital Budapest today at the invitation of the Tibetan Buddhist organisations and Hungarian Parliament’s Tibet Group. The Tibetan leader is visiting the country after ten years; he last visited the country in 2000.
The City of Budapest will confer on His Holiness the Dalai Lama the “Honorary Citizenship Award” at the City Hall on Saturday. The City’s General Assembly unanimously voted on August 26 to present the Award to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give teachings on “Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism” on September 18 and “Avalokiteshvera – Buddha of Compassion Initiation” on the morning of September 18. A public talk on “Compassion: The Art of Happiness” by the Tibetan leader is also scheduled on the afternoon of September 18.
Organizers say majority of the ticket buyers are non-Buddhists who are attending regardless of their religion or beliefs.
Live webcast of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s two days teachings and the public talk can be watched on www.esoguru.com. The webcast will be available in six languages (English, German, Russian, Romanian, Slovak and Hungarian).
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will address the invited Members of the Parliament and other guests at the Upper House of the Hungarian Parliament on September 20. The Tibetan leader will also address the faculty and students of Central European University on the same day.
Hungary’s connection with Tibet dates back to about 200 years with Hungarian scholar and pioneer of Tibetology Alexander Csoma de Kőrös bringing out the first Tibetan-English dictionary in 1824.
This is His Holiness’ seventh visit to the country with the first one being in 1982. His Holiness will leave for Passau, Germany on September 21.
