His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang came for a short visit to Zalaszanto, Hungary, to perform the groundbreaking for the construction of a new Drikung Kagyu temple.

The temple with adjacent visitor building will be erected close by to the famous large Peace Stupa, built by the Buddhist monk Bob Jon Sunim Tenzin Tharchin from Korea with the energy from his firm devotion to the Lotus Sutra and consecrated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1993.

Since quite a few years the Peace Stupa is taken care of by the Drikung Kagyu lineage. The two resident monks, Konchog Lhundrup and Konchog Jigmet, have been appointed by the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. Through their dedication and efforts and through the support from the Peace Stupa Foundation they have established a flourishing Drikung Kagyu center at the foothill of Zalaszanto. Now a temple shall be build to receive the many visitors and practitioners.

The place for the new temple is located in the dense forest surrounding the Stupa. His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, accompanied by Venerable Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen, who happened to be on a teaching tour in Europe, performed the groundbreaking and blessing ceremony of the land on July 15. Also present and participating in the ritual was Bob Jon Sunim, as well as Lama Tsering, Lama Kunsang, and Ani Khandro from Drikung Kagyu centers in Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden respectively. His Holiness gathered with monks and nuns surrounded by many Sangha members from Hungary and from other European countries on a small clearing in the woods. There the rituals were performed according to ancient astrological calculations, by creating a grid with flour on the ground to ascertain the position of the Sadag ( sa bdag), the earth-owning spirit. Once the orientation was determined by placing a large image of the Sadag on the ground, the exact spot of the ground breaking was ascertained. At this point a special Sadhana was recited in Tibetan while Bob Jon Sunim recited a text from the Lotus-Sutra. After that, His Holiness broke out a piece of earth with a pickax which subsequently was examined according to colors and texture for signs, which proved to be favorable.

After groundbreaking the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang ascended the throne in front of the great Stupa. Following a sweet rice offering the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang released birds and spoke to the many visitors who had come to this auspicious event about the meaning of Stupa. In the end the architect of the new temple explained to His Holiness the layout by means of pictures that were placed on the outside wall of the Stupa.

In the evening there was a gathering of the devotees in the gompa at the center. So many people were present that they did not all fit inside the gompa. His Holiness spoke to the Sangha and many took refuge.

The following day, His Holiness had several project meetings with officials and foundation members and with Bob Jon Sunim who is currently planning the construction of another large Peace Stupa in Austria. On July 17 His Holiness left for Germany where he went to perform yet another groundbreaking ceremony at a future Drikung Kagyu retreat center.