Community Stories

“Buddhism has made a huge impact on my life. If we want it to thrive, especially in America and the West, it needs more exposure and awareness,” says Josh Capitanio, a Buddhist scholar and monthly donor to 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. “By translating the scriptures into English, 84000 is doing the most important thing we can do to set up the future of Buddhism in the West.”

A consistent monthly donor to 84000 for over eight years, Donna Mitchell-Moniak has been a practitioner (first of the Native tradition and Patanjali’s sūtras, then Buddhism) most of her adult life. When she discovered 84000 as one of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s initiatives, she immediately recognized the value of connecting with the Buddha’s core wisdom teachings and helping to keep them alive.

Since 84000 launched our vast Reading Room more than thirteen years ago, the multi-layered database of Buddhist terms, places, people, and other information found in the collection of the Buddhist Kangyur and Tengyur published texts has continued to grow. It now contains more than four million nodes, or data points, across 350 translations—an average of 1,200 nodes per text.

84000’s primary mission is to translate the Buddhist canon for diverse audiences—monastics and scholars as well as practitioners and general readers—while taking great care to make those translations accurate, available, and accessible. At the same time, 84000 strives to create a seamless and user-friendly reading experience that enhances the reader’s understanding.

Film producer Nanette Nelms became a student of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in 2004, nearly a decade before he summoned her to produce Vara: A Blessing in 2013.

Film director Queena Li—creator of our tenth anniversary #SaveWisdomNow video—shares with 84000 how her interest in exploring the mind has inspired her creativity.

We sat down recently with Dr. Fumi Yao, the translator of The Chapter on Medicines, to learn more about how she came to specialize in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.

Building on our aspiration to revitalize interest in the foundations of the Buddhadharma, we took to the road (virtually, of course) to ask some of our friends from across the Himalayas which are their favorite 84000 Reading Room features, and why.

As we marked the anniversary of the Bir Conference 2009 that gave birth to our growing initiative, we sat down with Ivy Ang, who—appointed by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche to facilitate those historic six days—has since been with us every step of the way.

Last month, Deborah Dorjee—an instructor at Siddhartha’s Intent—kindly hosted a session during our twenty-four hour virtual sūtra recitation.

84000 Founding Chair Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche received a letter from a 94-year old Bhutanese that touches us deeply.

The best gifts we could receive on our birthday are stories of how our work has helped you! We're touched by Hasta Colman’s inspiring reflection on her own language-learning journey.

Professor Jens Braarvig talks to us about his translation of The Miraculous Play of Mañjuśrī.

DALeast describes street artistry, its connection to the Dharma, and the experience of illustrating Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s book on The Teaching of Vimalakīrti.

Rinpoche thanks supporters and urges everyone to spread the word: "Please talk about it. Please share our existence. Please share the information."

84000 is proud to have 3,118 donors as of September 2015. Click the link below to read more about one donor's story.

Watch our interview with Rinpoche on the meaning of 84000, why sutras are important, and which sutra has most impacted his life.

Our Reading Room now offer our readers the ability to study "The Long Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines" alongside both this commentary and the source text!

Watch the video interviews of people who took part in the Lumbini resounding on December 6, 2014.

Watch a video and read the detailed exchanges between senior scholars of the tradition and 84000’s editors and translators.

In a recent message to translators, Rinpoche paid tribute to our translators and emphasized on the importance of motivation.

Video interview of Julia Stenzel from Sakya Pandita Translation Group, on the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra and its translation process.

One of 84000’s most frequent questions is why a page costs US$250 USD to translate?

Catherine Dalton shares her experience working on an extensive account of the life and deeds of the Buddha, known as The Play in Full.

Learn about how the Buddha deals with the violation of moral ethics in this featured translation.

Every year during Chinese New Year, Lay Ching has been organizing a group of Malaysian Buddhists – consisting of friends, family and sangha members – to contribute funds to 84000.

Have questions about Buddhist canons and the history of their development? Learn more from John Canti and Peter Skilling.

Learn about the significance of Kangyur resounding, and how this traditional practice is now being continued in the West.

Interview with Ina Bieler of Garchen Buddhist Institute, who has been working on a Kangyur text known as The Sūtra on Purifying Karmic Obscurations.