From August to early October 2024, dear Jamgon Rinpoche held teachings and gave proxies in Europe, visiting centres in Germany, Poland, France, Spain and Hungary belonging to the various Karma Kagyu lineages.
During his stay in Hungary, he spent a week at his own centre in Budapest, the Khyenkong Centre, where he spoke to the students about his wish to pass on the entire Karma Kagyu lineage in Hungary, so that the tradition could be consolidated here and benefit many beings.
For this to be possible, a place is needed that allows for a wide range of dharma activities, such as large-scale teachings, initiations, but also for shorter and longer retreats. Rinpoche said that he would like a place where, in the longer term, even the traditional three-year retreat could be organised, and where the translation of original Buddhist texts and the creation of a library could be possible.
This is the purpose of the KILA Foundation, or the KILA project itself.
But what is KILA? The name was given by our dear Jamgon Rinpoche, which stands for “Kongtrul’s illuminating liberation activity”. Rinpoche has also given this project such a relatively broad name because, although both the foundation and the centre will be in Hungary, the aim is to provide a place for all European students to connect with him and the original teachings of the Kagyu tradition.
In September 2024, when Rinpoche was here with us, he looked at several possible sites and finally found one that would be perfect for the centre in every way, because it has many good omens and qualities.
The specific location is about 50 minutes by car from Budapest and is situated on a 3 hectare fenced area (30 000 m²). The property has the great advantage of currently having 2 buildings, one of which is a 300 m² house in mint condition, which could be immediately used for a small sangha to start operating in the centre, hold programs, organize larger events. The other building is a hall of about 900 m². which, after renovation, would be suitable in the longer term for organising events for several thousand people, initiations, teachings (for which no separate space would have to be rented in the future), a small library and other necessary facilities such as toilets, a restaurant area could be built.
For any dharma activity, it is a great advantage to keep distractions at bay, which is the case here, because although it is located in an inland area, there is no other property within 2-3 km, only a paved road towards the village.
By Rinpoche giving us the opportunity to pave the way for such a project, we have been given an extraordinary opportunity to connect with him, with the tradition, and to create a place here near us (not thousands of kilometres away) that can benefit countless beings in the long term. We can now participate in the realization of a center that can then be a starting point for all those interested in the Dharma, where they can receive accurate, authentic teachings and instructions without distortion, which have been held unbroken for nearly 1 000 years by the masters of the Kagyu lineage in Tibet, and whose roots go back to the historical Buddha, that is, the lineage of blessings is unbroken.
I think I need not overstate what an opportunity this is for us all to accumulate merit and, in the longer term, wisdom, fulfilling the two accumulations, for the benefit of ourselves and others through the Kagyu tradition and the blessing and compassionate care of dear Rinpoche.