Editor’s Note: Every year, during Losar or the Lunar New Year, a group of Malaysians would start their new year afresh by pooling resources together to make a group donation to 84000. Now, this “Malaysian Buddhist Group” has grown from __ people in 2011 to 48 people in 2013. Within a span of three years, they have contributed a total of 43 pages. This year, the coordinator wrote a message to the “Malaysian Buddhist Group” that eloquently expressed gratitude to the translators of the past and her joy at being able to participate in 84000's mission. She kindly agreed to share her message:
Dear Dharma friends, my good friends and relatives, The Chinese Lunar New Year is about to arrive. I feel very happy and honored to be able to support 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. The Buddhist texts that we can read today are due to the kindness of great masters like Hsuan-Tsang whom, about a thousand years ago, made an arduous journey across thousands of miles to India, to obtain and translate the Tripitaka. This led to the flourishing of the Buddhadharma in China. At around the same time, the Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo sent senior monks to India to translate the Tripitaka into Tibetan. From then on, Buddhism began to take root in Tibet. Today, even though the original Sanskrit texts are lost due to political reasons, and Buddhism has almost disappeared in India, yet it is flourishing in China and Tibet. This shows the important role that buddhist textual translations plays in the spread and transmission of the buddhadharma. Therefore, the immense task of translating the Tripitaka (Tibetan: Kangyur and Tengyur) needs to be continued. There is no time to wait. I hope that next year, there will be more people joining in this donation drive. I hereby wish to express my profound gratitude to all my Dharma friends, good friends and relatives for your unceasing support of Buddhadharma. May the authentic Dharma spread far and wide. I rejoice in the gift of Dharma by all of you. Your merits are boundless! Sadhu sadhu sadhu! Here I will do the dedication: By this merit may we attain omniscience,And overcome the evil enemies,May beings, buffeted by the waves of birth, old age, sickness and death,Be liberated from the ocean of existence. By this positive action may all beingsPerfect the accumulation of merit and wisdomAnd attain the two supreme kayasWhich arise from merit and wisdom! By the precious collection of virtue,May all beings never be separated from the sublime Dharma,Having completely perfected the purpose of self and others,Beautify the world by resounding the Dharma Drum. May the Teaching, source of all benefit and bliss, increaseAnd in all lifetimes may I engage in Dharma activity,May all kingdoms increase in auspiciousness,And may all beings achieve Buddhahood together. May bodhicitta, precious and sublime,Arise where it has not yet come to be,Where it has arisen, may it never failBut grow and flourish ever more and more!