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Preface:MarekMejor
MarekAdamMejorwasbornon1October1950inWarsaw.Hefirstdiscovered
aninterestinIndologywhilestillinhighschool,whenhemetthePolishscholar
LeonCyboran(1928–1977),whowasanuncleofhisclassmate.Heusedtovisit
Dr.CyboranregularlyandlistentohistalksonIndia,Sanskrit,yoga,philosophy,
andothertopics.Lateron,heattendedsomeofDr.Cyboran,slecturesconducted
attheSectionofIndologyattheUniversityofWarsaw.
In1970,MarekMejortookupOrientalstudiesattheInstituteofOriental
StudiesoftheUniversityofWarsaw(specialisation:IndianPhilology).Initially,
hefocusedmainlyonclassicalIndianphilosophyandthestudyofSanskrit.Dur-
inghisstudies,hedevelopedadeeperinterestinBuddhistliterature.Asabook
enthusiast,heusedtospendlonghoursintheInstitute,slibraries,searchingfor
booksonvarioustopicsrelatedtohisstudies.InthelibraryoftheSectionof
MongolianStudies,hecameacrossthecollectionofbooksoncebelongingtoPro-
fessorWładysławKotwicz(1872–1944),aneminentPolishlinguistandOriental-
ist,specialistinMongolianlanguages.Amongthemanybooksinthecollection,
M.MejorfoundsomewritteninTibetan,whichfascinatedhim.Hethenstarted
learningTibetangrammarandthebasicsofMongolianwithProfessorStanisław
Godziński,PolishTibetologistandMongolist,whichcontinuedforseveralyears.
TheturningpointinMarekMejor,searlyacademiclifewasthetriptoLau-
sannein1974attheinvitationofProfessorConstantinRégamey(1907–1982),
aworld-renownedOrientalist,specialistinIndology,BuddhismandTibetolo-
gy.With10dollarsinhispocket,M.MejorhitchhikedtoSwitzerland,where
forthreemonthshestayedatProfessorRégamey,sapartment,listeningtohis
lecturesandtalks,whileatthesametimeworkingapart-timejobinorderto
beabletocoverminordailyexpenses.HewasutterlyimpressedbyProfessor
Régamey,stalentandknowledge,aswellasbythevividacademicenvironment
intheWest,whichatthattimewasinstarkcontrasttothestagnatedlifeand
grimrealityinPoland.