A full video of our 4th Resounding Under the Bodhi Tree
Transcript: Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's speech
I’ll speak briefly about the translation of the Kangyur being done by 84000. Generally speaking, the work of translating from one language to another is probably one of the most difficult tasks. For instance, even when translating a novel that’s in one language into another language, it seems like things get changed a great deal.
If that’s the case then there’s no need for us to mention how very difficult it is to translate these writings that contain the words of the Victorious One [i.e. the Buddha]—so profound and vast—such as the Kangyur, which contain a lot of classical language. So even though on a conventional level we say that we are translating the Kangyur, we do not have the absolute confidence to promise that we are translating it perfectly.
These days, there is no one like the great translator Vairocana and the pandita Vimalamitra. On top of that, there is also no one influential and powerful like the [kings] Trisong Deutsen and Tri Ralpacan. We’ve arrived at a day and age when people do whatever they feel like doing. We also reached a point where even if we don’t translate the the Kangyur once and for all and try to put it off, we can no longer do so.
We—people who say we are followers of the Buddhadharma—are already translating what we need for our own purposes. Even people who are not followers of the Buddhadharma, who are just interested generally in the knowledge traditions and culture and the way people think in general, are translating bits and pieces of the precious Kangyur. Even though it’s the precious Kangyur, they’re just translating certain sections or chapters.
Just to give one example: these days there are also many translators who are non-Buddhist Westerners interested in the buddhadharma from a particular angle. The Western mode of thinking is, on the one hand, analysis through reason—many academics are like this. However, on the other hand, Western thought is so habituated to Christianity, Islam, and so forth that when they translate [the Kangyur], the words they use and their understanding are that of religious traditions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. There are people who are very interested in the Buddhadharma in this way.
To use one example: in terms of word choice, for example a term like “sdug bsngal” (Skt. duḥkha), they translate it into English as “suffering.” But the word “suffering” cannot convey perhaps even two percent of the range of meaning of “sdug bsngal” as explained in the Abhidharma and such texts.
Most importantly, as we just discussed yesterday in the Vimalakīrti Sūtra teaching, the Western brain is unable to fathom the view of non-duality (or: the view of non-duality does not sit well with the Western brain). Therefore, when translating all the terms that have the view of non-duality or whatever it may be, there’s this great difficulty of not being able to show the full and complete entirety of the view of non-duality.
However, like I just mentioned, even if we neglect this and put off translating the Kangyur, in a way there are still many people translating all sorts of things. So we cannot ignore this. And from another perspective, even now there are still, for example, Tibetan masters who are learned in the scriptures and who are accomplished practitioners. They still exist. If we begin when we still have khenpos and geshes who know a little something about the texts… We are beginning so that our translation of the Kangyur can gradually improve under their influence.
Earlier, when we first started translating the Kangyur, a lot of people thought there wouldn’t be a lot of readers of the Kangyur. We thought to ourselves, people just like to read works of fiction like biographies, stories, and fine literary works — would there be any readers of the Kangyur even if we translated it?
However, in the span of a few years, we have been very reassured by the fact that there are many readers who are interested in the Kangyur in more than 200 countries. Of them, even in war-torn countries such as Saudi Arabia and Syria, there are people who are reading the Kangyur online [in the 84000 Reading Room]. I think that this is certainly something we should feel very reassured by.
Every week, more than 2,500 readers or so come to read the Kangyur online [in the online Reading Room]. Although in a way these days on the internet there are many people who do all sorts of things, browsing here and there, looking at this and that, there are still more than 6,000 people who spend at least ten minutes specifically reading the Kangyur. I think we should feel very encouraged by these people. Also, there are more than 1,400 people who read for more than maybe half an hour.
We have translated a few sutras. Right now, on the internet, they can choose to read whatever they would like to read. Of these sutras, there are many readers who are especially interested in sūtras such as the King of Samādhis Sūtra, the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, the Rice Seedling Sūtra, and the Sūtra of Dependent Arising. I think we should feel extremely encouraged by them.
Currently, we have over 200 working translators. They are divided into two parts, the translators and the compilers or editors. About 47% of our translators, researchers, and editors are educated at academic universities. Over 50% of our researchers are followers of the Buddha. It is necessary to do it like this because with the coming of these modern times, if the translation of the Buddhadharma is done in an impartial way, the appreciation and respect for it increases.
For example, if the biography of a lama is being written, if it’s written by a disciple then it’s deemed to not be impartial. These days people believe that you’ll just say as many as many positive and flattering things as possible. Therefore, we have not just Buddhists but also non-Buddhists serving as compilers, editors, and translators. If they work together with each other, the Buddhists and non-Buddhists, to edit the translations, then the interest [in the translations] increases. To-date, our translation of the Kangyur been going according to the plan we set out. Not only that, it’s also been going well up till now.
In a way, I think this is the compassion and aspiration of Buddha Śākyamuni. He made so many aspirations. Through giving up everything—his sons, daughters, wife, wealth, elephants and horses—he prayed that the teachings would flourish for a long time by virtue of this. It’s perhaps because of these reasons that everything has been going well for us up until now. I think this is due to his kindness.
We also feel extremely appreciative of the translators because translation is such a boring job. You work and work and work the whole day and get maybe one verse done, and no one sees it.
We are also very grateful towards the sponsors for much the same reason. Most people support things that are visible: Building great stupas, constructing big temples, covering things in gold. Because translating the Kangyur is not something that is immediately visible, I really appreciate that they are supporting this project.
I’ve spoken for so long that our time for reciting the Kangyur might be all used up. I’m sorry.