The Dharma Gate Buddhist College shall propagate the teachings of the universal Buddhist tradition. It shall not represent any particular school but shall provide opportunity for the study of the Buddhist teachings of all schools. It will realize that goal as applicable to the present age with its conditions and specifically in order to clarify a common spiritual background for all Buddhist traditions and help them to work together.
The "Dharma Gate" Buddhist College started in a rented apartment with nine volunteer lecturers and sixty students and now has two modest-size buildings, twenty-five full-time teachers (incl. nine PhD-s), eight part-time academic teachers and three hundred and forty students. Teaching staff consists of Dharma teachers, Buddhist scholars, philosophers and language teachers. Working principles are laid down in a Mission Statement.
Following a long process of curriculum development, a 4-year Buddhist training programme was accredited in 1999. On fulfilling a number of additional criteria set by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee, accreditation was finally reconfirmed in 2001. With the introduction of the new law of tertiary education in 2005, the Buddhist College joined the Bologna process and was one of the first Hungarian institutions of higher education to be re-accredited in the new tertiary educational system. In 2005 we founded the East-West Research Institute to enhance curriculum development, as well as to promote scientific research of the Buddhist tradition and a constructive dialogue between eastern and western discourses. We have developed extensive international connections in the academic and the Buddhist world. In 2006 a new 3-year BA programme was started, followed by a 2-year MA programme beginning September 2007. Training was thus extended from four to five years and in effect the "Buddhist College" developed into a university meeting European standards.
BA consists of a mandatory core curriculum and a chosen study track (called a specialization). These include the Theravāda, Zen and Tibetan traditions, Comparative Religion and Philosophy, Pali or Sanskrit language and Indian culture, Tibetan, Chinese or Japanese language and culture, or Martial Arts. The MA programme seeks to deepen and widen the scope of theoretical and practical skills acquired in the BA programme.
Teaching language is currently Hungarian. We are planning to develop programmes in English in international cooperation.
The Dharma Gate Budapest University is founding member of the International Association of Buddhist Universities (www.iabu.org)