On the Other Side of the Intermediate State

On the Other Side of the Intermediate State: The Art of Tibor Hajas and the Tibetan Mysteries

On the Other Side of the Intermediate State is one of a series of exhibitions at the Hopp Museum exploring the influence os Asian cultures on Hungarian artists and intellectuals in the 19th and 20th centuries. This exhibition presents works by Tibor Hajas (1946–1980) poet and artist, focusing on the last period of his career, which was influenced by a book by Béla Hamvas entitled the Tibetan Mysteries and defined by aspects of Tibetan Buddhism.

The main figures in this exhibition, separated sometimes by thousands of kilometres and hundred of years, are connected by two Tibetan "mysteries": tummo – the practice of generating "inner heat", associated with the name of Milarepa, a Tibetan poet and yogi from the 11th and 12th centuries; and chö – the practice of "severing" one's attachment to one's own body and ego.