Translation Progress
and Impact

Meaningful change is often incremental. We work on the research and translation of texts for years and spend hundreds of hours developing the technology to transform individual texts into a dynamic and interactive collection. Below are highlights of the recent progress we have made together with our partners in academia and across the living tradition.

In Figures

The Kangyur
Goal: 100% by 2035

We aim to complete the translation and publication of the Kangyur by 2035. The last time this body of texts was translated, in its entirety, into another language was as a result of an initiative that began in AD 900.

PUBLISHED: 27,382 pages (41%)
AWAITING PUBLICATION: 11,143 pages (16%)
TRANSLATION IN PROGRESS: 23,805 pages (35%)
Sigatse Mural Image with 8 buddhas.
In Figures

The Tengyur
Goal: 100% by 2110

Our focus is to first translate and publish the Kangyur, before we apply our resources to the Tengyur. However, in 2022, we published our first translation from the Tengyur—a detailed explanation of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras.

PUBLISHED: 587 pages (1%)
AWAITING PUBLICATION: 898, pages (1%)
TRANSLATION IN PROGRESS: 5,449 pages (4%)

In Words

Our work has been instrumental in developing institutional support for canonical Buddhist scholarship in the West, in reinvigorating access to spiritual heritage in the East, and in inspiring open and curious minds across the world.

Prof. Vesna A. Wallace

University of California, Santa Barbara

“84000 is creating a bridge between the past and present and is facilitating the transmission of Buddhist knowledge between different cultural regions and languages. [UCSB is] delighted to take part in this global initiative, to strengthen and expand the opportunities of our Buddhist Studies program by training and supervising the work of qualified translators into English, thereby enhancing the scholarly understanding of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist cultures that have expressed themselves in various Asian languages.”

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche

Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling

“Although the precious Dharma currently exists in Tibetan, Chinese, Sanskrit, Pali, and other Asian languages, it still remains largely inaccessible for anyone who does not have the fortune of studying and mastering these difficult tongues.”

Stewart Mushet

84000 reader, Malaysia

“Thank you for making this magnificent treasure available to us. We normally read or hear of only two or three sutras, but making the others available in a more widely read language, really opens our minds to the magnitude of the Buddha’s teachings and inspires us to practice them. Thank you once again for offering me such inspiration.”

Pallavi Deshmukh

84000 reader, India

“A few years ago, I never thought that I’d be browsing through Buddhist sutras, but now I can say that two of my favorite sūtras are The Rice Seedling and The Hundred Deeds. It’s simply amazing to have access to such a vast and profound wisdom legacy, and that too through such a convenient medium. I feel so grateful that this exists in my lifetime!”

Mindrolling Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche

“People must understand the tremendous value of having access to the original teachings. They are not something in volumes and volumes up there in the shrine that you supplicate and prostrate to and pay homage to. No, they are something that you can read, you can understand and you can contemplate. That’s really bringing the Buddha into a living moment, really being able to be in the presence of the Buddha himself. That I think is powerful and filled with blessings. Extraordinary undertakings, absolutely must be supported by everyone.”

Publishing Translations from the Tengyur

In 2022, we announced the publication of our very first translation from the Tengyur—a commentary on the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras entitled, The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines.

Learn more