His Holiness was received by Representative Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa and Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky upon his arrival at Ferihegy Airport in Budapest on 17 September.
Tickets were sold out for the two days event a month before His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit. 22,400 tickets – each day 11,200 tickets were sold. Everyday the ticket office have been receiving request for tickets. They estimate that at least 5,000 additional tickets could have been sold.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give teachings on Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism on 18 September and Avalokiteshvera- Buddha of Compassion Initiation on 19 September morning. In the afternoon there will be a public talk on Compassion: The Art of Happiness.
People from 32 countries have purchased tickets for the two days event. Large numbers of people are arriving from Russia, Romanian and Transylvania.According to the Visit Organizers, just 10% of the ticket buyers are Buddhists and 90% of the attendees are coming to hear His Holiness the Dalai Lama 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).The Visit’s Organising Committee hopes that the live webcast will enable a greater number of people across the world to join on this auspicious occasion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings. Already 12,000 people from 73 countries have registered.
The City of Budapest on 18 September evening will present the Honorary Citizenship Award to His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the City Hall. The City’s General Assembly unanimously voted on 26 August to present the Award to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
On 20 September morning His Holiness the Dalai Lama will visit the Parliament at the invitation of the Hungary Parliament’s Tibet Group and the LMP party. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will address invited Members of the Parliament and other guest at the Upper House of the Parliament.
As during His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 2000 visit, he will address the members of the faculty and students of Central European University on 20 September afternoon.
The special relationship between Hungary and Tibet started about 200 years. In 1824, Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, a Hungarian scholar and a pioneer of Tibetology authored and published the first Tibetan-English dictionary. He studied Tibetan while living at Zangla Monastery in Zanskar. Later he compiled a Tibetan Grammar book.
This is His Holiness’ seventh visit to Hungary. The first one was in 1982. His Holiness the Dalia Lama will leave on 21 September morning and travel to Passau, Germany.