Welcome to the website of Dharma Gate Buddhist College Library! 

Are you keen on browsing the meaning of the word „tipitaka”and, at first sight, do you think it might be the name of a new social media platform? Well, I’m afraid not, but please do have a look in-house and  you will be certain to  find the answer you are looking for, no matter if the question is a very specialised one.

Our Library is absolutely unique because it helps to promote the academic study, the scientific research and the tutorial work of  the Dharma Gate Buddhist College. Not only that, it is an ecclesiastical institution as well because it collects and investigates classical Buddhist and other vital source texts  and it offers a welcoming  environment  for the various different  communities of  the Dharma Gate Buddhist Church. It is a specialized reference library and is both part of the Hungarian library network and  a centre forming one part of  Hungary’s  Orientalist collections. Our collection houses many antiquarian documents, as it is the guardian, the protector and the digitizer of valuable bequests.

Our main task is to make the sacred documents, the antique and up-to-date literature of Buddhism accessible for reading on a daily basis, regardless of formats. Taking into account  our readers’ needs we try to follow innovative professional trends and we apply state-of-the-art IT solutions.

There follows an introduction to  the different pages of our website in Hungarian:

Bemutatkozás /About Us menu is all about the history  of the Library, the  information it holds, its premises, its rules and the staff who run it.

Szolgáltatások /Services menu is about the usual kinds of library service (lending to individuals and public libraries, extending loans, making reservations, providing information, the right to borrow and to  freely browse through our open bookstacks and to make new purchase recommendations plus the use of databases, reprographics and games).  All these activities come under the Library’s Policy.

Gyüjtemények/Our collections menu is about  presenting the 21.000 documents that we currently  hold, such as printed books, magazines, theses, audiovisual materials and the bequests offered by Hetényi Ernő, Horváth Z. Zoltán, Bánfalvi András and Weninger Antal. Our particular strengths are the volumes of the Pali Canon in English, Vietnamese and Burmese, the publications of The Whitehead Foundation, mainly about Theravada Buddhism, books donated by Amaravati Buddhist Monastery and also publications of the Indian publisher Motilal Banarsidass. All of these are our generous supporters. We collect Buddhist authors and source-strings in original and world languages and so we would like to be in a position to offer resources in Thai, Cambodian, Lao, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Bhutanese, Malay, Nepalese, Singhalese and Mongolian for the use of researchers. We are proud of our full set of Hamvas Béla and the oeuvre of Kőrösi Csoma Sándor.  Our unique collection of more than 1000 photos of Buddhist Mission introduces famous and significant XX century theosophists, Hungarian actors, politicians and orientalists.

E-források/The Online catalogues menu is about subscribed databases, e-periodicals and e-books. We recommend links for active browsing. We have  prepared detailed descriptions of our catalogue with screen pictures and, at  the same space, you can find useful links to the different catalogues and free scientific works  of both Hungarian and foreign libraries.

Virtuális olvasóterem/Our e-library menu is particularly rich in volumes of the Dhammapada, so it is both an online and traditional display in which  you can read texts and get detailed information about  authors and publications.

Galéria/The Gallery menu features  audio and video recordings of recent events, exhibitions etc. which have  taken place in the library.

Anyone who is interested in our books, services and events is most welcome to make use of the Library. We are also looking for other libraries as possible partners with whom we could associate, set up joint projects and co-operate in applying to foundations and governments for possible future grants. All respected donors from whom we most  gratefully accept Buddhist documents published in world languages are also welcome,  provided they give advance notice.

Contact
Postal Address:
Dharma Gate Buddhist College Library
no.13 Börzsöny Str.
Budapest, 1098, Hungary

For general enquiries please email: library@tkbf.hu

November, 2019. /transl. by Agnes Adorjan/