The 6th of April 2009, Mr Jozef Skolc opened the exhibitionabout the Buddhist Congregation Dharmaling, at the City Museum of Ljubljana (photos of the exhibition in our galleries)
This exhibition is not about Buddhism 'per se', but about the activities of the Buddhist Congregation Dharmaling in Ljubljana and in Slovenia. There is also a booklet about the Congregation which was printed for the occcasion (which can be downloaded from here).

The speech by Mr Jožef Školč, State Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, at the opening of the exhibition “Buddhist Congregation Dharmaling at the City Museum of Ljubljana”, 6 April 2009

Slovenia is definitely a country and a state of many contradictions and paradoxes. We Slovenes want others to accept and even praise us as a society with a perfectly formed system of rules that allows everybody to live out their differences fully, because we believe that these very differences enrich us as a community. But we know very little about these precious differences and special features; mostly we ignore them and sometimes unfortunately even reject them.
When we speak of faith, beliefs, religion, churches and other religious communities, we mostly content ourselves with, but also argue about, the constitutional provisions regarding religious communities and their separation from the State. From this point onwards, every individual solution becomes uncertain and is most often a result of dominant cultural patterns, prejudice, Ignorance and games of political power. This is definitely not the best place to discuss all these issues that stir up the laity, experts and other interested parties, but it is an opportunity to recall them and remind ourselves of them.

The fact is that there are many active religious communities in Slovenia; over forty of them are registered, but many others operate in some alternative way.
It is also true that we do not know much about most of these communities, their teachings and practices. Those who have wider horizons might know a little bit about three or four churches and communities, as well as some random details about other faiths and religions in general. Therefore everybody, including the majority ecumenical God of our part of the world, should welcome the project “Museums Connect”, which attempts to eradicate this scandalous lack of knowledge of religions that have left a profound mark on human civilisation. Although few in number, Buddhists have been increasingly present in Slovenia only in recent years; nevertheless, they have already developed many activities. They even signed an agreement with the state.

This exhibition offers an insight into the life of Buddhists and the practical implementation of their principles within a free society. At the City Museum of Ljubljana, you will be able to stroll from the presentation of “religious life and meditation”, past “medicine and health”, to the topical issues of “gender equality, society and politics”.
Here, it must be noted that Buddhists were an important generator of public and parliamentary debate when the current Religious Freedom Act was being adopted. Through open and democratic argumentation, they reveal many truths about our attitudes towards other people, health, nature and our future. As they say in their presentation documents, they wish to persuade people with their example and responsibility, not with their number, power or force.

So, let us take this opportunity to get to know this 2,600-year-old tradition on the one hand, and the Congregation that is active among us here and now on the other. With a little bit of good will we will do away with the unfortunate and ridiculous divisions between indigenous and imported religions. We will realise that this is one of those universal religions that have stood the test of time and progress, as well as different state systems and ideologies. And that, like every faith, it first of all endeavours to serve people on their complicated and uncertain journey through life.