Lajos Komár

Lecturer at Dharma Gate Buddhist College
(History of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Textual Analysis)

I am the grandson of Jenő Rejtő, a rain worshiper and sneaker-wearing proletarian. I was born in 1967, as a very small infant. The light of day saw me in the picturesque beauty of Ferencváros, a place that has changed little since.

From Budapest to Budapest

This is how I reached my sixteenth year in early youth. After my father grew tired of the asphalt-ridden life of the Pest tough guys, he decided to start a new life and we emigrated to Érd. A small settlement, but it stretches out in all directions, and its climate is quite remarkable. The town is the homeland of romance, which is why its coat of arms features a green tree and a dragon. That would have been the smaller issue. But my mother—being a Pest girl—harvested the cherries in such a way that she cut off the tree branch. That’s how I became a warehouse worker. When my father grew weary of planting saplings, he decided to start a new life and we emigrated to Vonyarcvashegy. Vonyarc is the fishing village, Vashegy is the wine region, but they couldn’t go on and married. As the town’s coat of arms shows, the locals preach so much about grapes that they attend church and sometimes fish in boats. My mother harvested again, while I mixed mortar, which is my own creation. After my father retired, he decided to start a new life, and I emigrated to New York. The city’s residents are of various ages and do not engage in agriculture or animal husbandry. That’s how I ended up in London. The city was urgently in need of reorganization at the time, and so it became the second most populated Hungarian-inhabited settlement. I realized that I could only learn English in the right linguistic environment, so I moved to Budapest. My philosophy of life was inspired by the National Cockroach, Great Feró’s Three Rules: (1) Don’t drink! (2) Work a lot and work well! (3) Be enlightened!

From Teaching to Teaching

Influenced by the everlasting traces of Ernő Rubik, I decided to teach others how to solve the Cube, and at twelve, I became a teacher. In Vietnam, I asked a monk for his robe, and he gently threatened me, so I quickly ate 19 bananas. I was already doing yoga when I suddenly needed Tibetan. In Thailand, I became committed to Theravāda Buddhism, so the Dharma Gate Buddhist College invited me to teach Mahāyāna Sutras. My teaching creed: it is no longer fashionable to completely erase the past, rather, let’s learn from it! By the way, as a hobby, I would steal anyone’s soul just for taking a good photo.

The Goat, the Cabbage, and Hope

I belong to the generation that was strongly raised with the optimal connection between the goat and the cabbage. I consider myself a communicative person: I do not speak English or German, but I am always willing to take a crash course. No matter where I am, I can be at Kálvin Square in 30 minutes from home. I bid you farewell with the hope that we will meet almost every day soon.