After one month of renovation and a week of flurried preparations, the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist Practice Center in Hungary grandly opened at the beautiful capital city of Budapest on September 16, 2018. The grand opening marks the great strides made in spreading Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhist teachings in the landlocked central Europe and the start of a new journey for future Dharma propagation. The Sunday morning celebration included a blessing ceremony and a free vegetarian feast event, which attracted over 200 Buddhist friends from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, the United States, and other 16 countries worldwide.

“The establishment of the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist Practice Center in Hungary is to provide people a place to practice Buddhism and learn Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhist teachings. It is a spiritual home for everyone to find out their inner strength and true self with the purification of minds through systematic Buddhist practices. Anybody and everyone is welcome here,” remarked by the leader of the Guan Yin Citta in Hungary. 

Based on Zen Buddhism and wisdom in life, Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door has been worldwide spreading with its practical method of practice and in-depth teachings of Buddhist philosophy by Master Jun Hong Lu in plain terms. So far, there are over a dozen of Guan Yin Citta Buddhist practice centers established across Europe, deeply engaged in Dharma propagation and local community development.  

The blessing ceremony was officially kicked off at 10:00am in the morning. With the chanting of Buddhist scriptures in chorus, the six figures of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Nanjing Bodhisattva, Tai Sui Bodhisattva, Guan Di Bodhisattva, Zhou Tsang Bodhisattva and Guan Ping Bodhisattva were fully blessed and worshipped by Buddhist friends and practitioners. 

After the blessing ceremony, the opening celebration continued with a free vegetarian feast and video sharing session. Being surrounded by fragrant flowers and scented breezes, the guests and Buddhist friends watched striking videos of Master Jun Hong Lu’s worldwide Dharma propagations and a Dharma talk specifically directed to the blessing ceremony.

Several Buddhist friends shared their real life experiences of overcoming adversity by practicing Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door. Not only did Guan Yin Citta help them go through life difficulties, but also provide them spiritual sustenance and protections from Buddha and Bodhisattvas. One of the Buddhist friends shared how he survived cancer and restored health by practicing “Four Golden Practices”, making vows, reciting Buddhist scriptures, performing life liberations, and learning Buddhism in Plain Terms. Another Buddhist practitioner with a Ph.D. degree working at Technical University of Denmark skyrockets his career with the practice of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door, and continuously awarded top scientific prizes for optical data transmission technology from European Commission and Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation. Before his engagement in Buddhist practice, nothing was ever perfect in his life. His talent was underappreciated and research bogged down. After following Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhist teachings, he wholly devoted himself into the Dharma propagation and accumulated merits and virtues which help him gradually clear the karmic debts and eliminate obstacles in his life. The third sharing was from a 10-year-old child, who overcame school bullying and bad relationships with teachers by chanting Buddhist scriptures.

After the heartfelt sharing, some volunteers performed a Buddhist song “Great Compassion Mantra” in chorus. The air was vibrating with the beautiful melody and the atmosphere was full of solemn. Last but not least, everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed every bite of the delicious free vegetarian meals. Many guests were impressed by the exquisite vegetarian dishes and can’t stop singing the praises. After the feast, everyone received delicate gifts, including bags of auspicious rice, blessed water, handmade moon cakes, and fruits.

Great thanks to all the dedicated volunteers who have worked very hard to ensure the success of the opening ceremony. With hope and love, wish the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist Practice Center in Hungary open a new section of a journey into a brighter future and deliver more sentient beings.