MA Programme

The Dharma Gate Buddhist College, which opened in Budapest in 1991, is a state-recognised denominational tertiary education institution in Hungary. It is funded by the Dharma Gate Buddhist Church, which aims to give access to the Buddhist tradition within Hungary.  The College offers MA programmes in Buddhist Studies and related specialisations and students graduate as Buddhist Religious Teachers.

The last accreditation cycle of the College concluded with Accreditation Decision No. 2014/8/IX/6 issued by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee. The launch of the BA programmes on Buddhist Studies were accredited by Decisions No. 2006/1/IX/3/7 respectively.

The objective of the MA programme is to build on, extend and deepen the knowledge and skills acquired in the BA programme in Buddhist Studies, focussing particularly on developing:
– a deep and comprehensive understanding of the major philosophical schools of Buddhism;
– a higher-level understanding of general Buddhist practices in terms of conduct and meditation for laypeople;
– the ability to study the scriptures and related commentaries of Buddhism using, among others, specialised literature in a foreign-language (English);
– the ability to survey and process information acquired from secondary technical literature on the scriptures and related commentaries of Buddhism using, among others, foreign-language (English) specialised literature;
– an understanding of the process of the spread and establishment of Buddhism in the West;
– the examination of possible relations between Buddhism and modern social and natural sciences;
– a comparative analysis of Buddhism and other religions;
– the ability to present and impart traditional Buddhist teachings on a high level.

The Master degree requires gaining 120 credits. The length of the programme is 4 semesters.