Assistant Professor at the Dharma Gate Buddhist College
(buddhist basic teachings, religious history, religious studies, meditation theory, buddhist philosophy)
Although I have been using both of my first names since childhood, a few years ago, through my publicist writings and public appearances, I became FAM.
I was an Egyptologist, cultural anthropologist, collected rock engravings and ancient inscriptions in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, was a member of the Hungarian Anthropological Society and the Hungarian Society for the Study of Religions, participated in a few workshops, worked on several hopeless plans, and was part of one or two genuine research projects. I wrote books, essays, scholarly articles, book reviews, cultural and publicist pieces, advertising analyses, film scripts, plays, and even lyrics for the band Belga. I worked in radio, television, lectured, debated, did public education, sometimes well, sometimes poorly. I was a soldier for a year and a half during socialism, I was a monitored agitator at the same time, I was a reformer, then disillusioned. I worked as an archive assistant, library helper, scholarship holder, and even as a social worker when I didn’t have a permanent job. As Martin Ethelwolf (the mirror translation of my name), I am a protagonist of two editions of a pulp novel.
I am one of the 108 founders of Dharma Gate, but I was already there in the early days of the Buddhist Mission. I started teaching here in the 90s, I have been here continuously since 2004, and I teach all sorts of interesting things.
I am not at all proud of this list, my only success in this life is my daughter.
Previous Teaching Activities:
ELTE BTK (ELTE Faculty of Humanities), Egyptology (as a PhD scholarship holder):
• Egyptian Religion and Magic
1996–98, and from 2004, at Dharma Gate Buddhist College:
• Fundamental Buddhist Teachings
• History of Religion
• Introduction to the History of Religion
• History of Religion 1. (Ancient Religions)
• Introduction to Religious Studies
• Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
• Buddhist Philosophy 5. (Yogācāra)
• The Theory of Buddhist Meditation
• Mythology Theory
• Buddhism and Consciousness Studies
Presentation of Previous Professional Practice and Achievements:
1990–92: Research on the judicial records of martyrs executed after 1956, commissioned by the Történelmi Igazságtétel Bizottság )Historical Truth and Justice Committee).
1994–95: Demonstrator at ELTE BTK (the ELTE Faculty of Humanities), Department of Egyptology
1995: Egyptian scholarship, participation in the Theban Hungarian expedition’s excavation.
1995–96: Republic Scholarship holder.
1996: ELTE Scientific Scholarship, First Degree.
1997–2000: PhD scholarship.
From 1998, permanent member of the Hungarian expedition researching the Eastern Desert at ELTE. Epigraphic work, documenting and processing archaic and recent petroglyphs and rock inscriptions.
2002–2003: Historical research in the materials of the Történeti Hivatal (Historical Office). Topic: Ellenzéki tevékenység a késő-kádári korszakban Gödöllőn és környékén (Opposition activities in the late Kádár era in Gödöllő and its surroundings). (Supporter: Budapest Fővárosi Levéltár (Budapest City Archives))
2004: Research as a member of the Hungarian section of the international CULTPAT research workshop WP6 Political Memory, examining changes in European nations’ identities in response to EU accession and globalization. (Together with Gábor Kapitány, Ágnes Kapitány, and János Bali.) Research topic: kollektív emlékezet a budapesti múzeumok nemzeti-politikai szimbolikájában (Collective memory in the national-political symbolism of Budapest museums.)
From 2004, ongoing research at the MTA Kultúrakutató Intézet Szimbólumkutató Csoport (MTA Institute for Culture Research, Symbol Research Group.)
2003–2005: Press research commissioned by KSH (the Central Statistical Office) and Teleki Intézet (the Teleki Institute) (Xenos). Topic: Az idegen és az idegenség fogalma a magyar sajtóban 1945 és 2000 között (The concept of the foreign and foreignness in the Hungarian press between 1945 and 2000.) Research leader: Dr. Éva Kovács.
From 2004: Theoretical research at Dharma Gate Buddhist College (East-West Research Institute). Topic: A buddhista bölcselet a modern elmefilozófia tükrében (Buddhist philosophy in the light of modern philosophy of mind.)
Previous Scientific / Professional Public Activities and International Relations:
Since 1995, member of the Hungarian Association for the Academic Study of Religion.
Since 1997, member of the Hungarian Anthropological Society.
2005: Founding member of the East-West Research Institute at Dharma Gate Buddhist College.
Publication List:
Available at the Hungarian Scientific Works Database.
