Dharamsala, September 20 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Saturday became an Honorary Citizen of Budapest after receiving the honour from the city’s Mayor Gabor Demsky at a ceremony in the City Hall.
The Tibetan leader said he was honoured to receive the award and that the honour holds special significance since he was receiving it in the country of Hungarian scholar and pioneer of Tibetology Alexander Csoma de Kőrös who wrote the first Tibetan-English dictionary in 1824.
The citation of the award says, “The title of ‘Honorary Citizen of Budapest’ be conferred upon Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, for preserving cultural and spiritual traditions as the leader of the people of Tibet, and for his work for peace and non-violence.”
The City’s General Assembly unanimously voted on August 26 to confer the Award upon His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Among other things, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave teachings on “Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism” and “Avalokiteshvera – Buddha of Compassion Initiation”. His Holiness also gave a public talk on “Compassion: The Art of Happiness” on Saturday.
His Holiness will address the invited Members of the Parliament and other guests at the Upper House of the Hungarian Parliament today. The Tibetan leader will also address the faculty and students of Central European University later in the day.
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.
