News 
March 18, 2009 - Bir, India
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Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche Gives Address
at Translating the Words of the Buddha Conference,
Deer Park Institute
→ Read Mid-Conference Update
Good morning everyone: Rinpoches, respected translators, great scholars,
and everyone gathered here this morning.
Over the last century, many key texts of the Buddhist literature of all
traditions, not only Tibetan, have been translated into many world
languages. Translators in the past have done amazing work with
limited resources and tools. Their dedication and passion for
translating the words of the dharma is a great beginning to share
the wisdom of enlightenment with this world. First of all, I’d like
to rejoice in their work, the work of the great translators and
their great teachers, and aspire to bring the remaining wisdom still
in the source languages to our target languages.
As followers of the Buddha, “Buddhists,” as we are called, we must have
come to understand and appreciate the words of the Buddha. They must
have resonated with our basic view of life and spirituality, and for
that reason we became his followers.
It would be quite ironic to
claim to be a Buddhist but have no idea what the Buddha taught. But
we know what our lama taught. The only way to genuinely follow the
footsteps of the Buddha depends on whether or not we have access to
his wisdom and his journey of awakening. That is why it is crucial
for western Buddhists to have access to the the words of the Buddha. The
fundamental gateway to understanding the wisdom of the enlightened one
is through the words of the Buddha, which have been translated for
many centuries in Asia. It’s not an exception in the west – you
translators will be the medium through which the words of the Buddha
will echo in the west.
The Buddhist canon exists in many languages, such as Pali, Chinese, and
Tibetan. They complement each other by making a full and complete
collection of his words. For example, some sutras in Pali don’t
exist in Chinese. Most tantras from the Tibetan canon don’t exist in
either the Pali or Chinese canons. All of these texts are the source
of the commentarial traditions, from which have sprung many
different lineages of Buddhism in world – Tibetan, Japanese,
Chinese, and so on. But what is common to all of us is this canon,
which as Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche said, is equivalent to
the Christian Bible. The Buddhist canon is our most precious treasury of
wisdom. This is true not only for Buddhists, but it is also a great
source of wisdom for the world. Hearing the wisdom of the Buddha
through translation will be a great contribution to world society,
now and in future.
In the west, there is a movement to create a western lineage of
Buddhism. In America we lobby for American Buddhism. This is an
excellent and inevitable evolution. This vision cannot be complete
without having the totality of the canon translated into western
languages. So having the Kangyur in western languages, starting with
English, is crucial to establishing a genuine lineage of western
Buddhism.
I often explain this with an analogy. The Buddhadharma is like genuine
water, which has no color or shape. It is pure and natural. This is
genuine wisdom. All the world’s different languages and cultures are
like the container for this water. Without the container, the water
cannot be preserved.
Without water, there’s not much use for the
container. The container may change from language to language and
from culture to culture, but the essence of the water is always the
same — something we share universally. That essence is the words of
wisdom, the words of the Buddha. The container is only a support to
allow us to receive and enjoy the contents, the authentic Buddhadharma. As translators, you are creating a new container for
the water of Buddhism to be translated to new culture.
The Pali Text Society in England has done an excellent job translating
Pali texts into English. Chinese Buddhist traditions are also
translating their canon into English. But the Tibetan Buddhist
tradition has not yet started the project of translating their
entire canon, even though sporadic translations of some sutras and
tantras have been made into English. However, under the vision
of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, we’re here to witness the
dawning of translating the Kangyur, the Tibetan Buddhist canon. At
this point my aim is to raise awareness and leave it to the Tibetan
scholars and translators to assess how to approach the translation
of the Kangyur. I’ve had some discussions also with Tulku Pema
Wangyal Rinpoche and he told me he has had this vision for 20 years
or longer himself. Talking with other great masters about it, there
seems to be a common passion or vision about translating the Kangyur.
But due to the magnitude of his project, nobody has even dared to
speak about it in a conference. So I’m happy to be the target of
your arrows — shoot away!
There is much wisdom in the sutras that is not found in the commentarial
traditions, like the Buddhist view of organizational science, and the
organization of sangha. For example, the Dharshachakra Sutra,
the Ten Wheel Sutra, discusses how a bodhisattva should rule
a country. In this sutra, some vital topics are discussed, such as
the view and function of military science – isn’t that important
today?
It’s a big question for all Buddhist practitioners. We have
questions about the military, commerce, and so on, and all these
topics are discussed in this sutra. The answers are right here in
this discourse. Whoever translates this will not only know the
answer, but will answer questions of all Buddhists who share similar
questions. In similar ways, there are numerous sutras and tantras
that will be of great interest to modern society.
Another category of sutras important for modern times is the vinaya
literature, which is commonly misunderstood as the “dos” and
“don’ts” of monasticism. I have neither a romantic relationship with
vinaya, nor am I personally passionate about it. But this pitaka is
important for understanding Buddhist views on sociology.
On one hand, we could say that the language of the sutras and tantras is
somewhat challenging and difficult. A lot of people think that the
sutras are very difficult to understand. But, on the other hand, the
sutras are simply discourses between the Buddha and his disciples,
or amongst his great disciples. So, in some ways, the sutras are
easier than shastras and Buddhist commentaries, which sometimes have
thirty levels of outline to discuss a simple statement of the
Buddha. When I studied madhyamaka, there were even forty levels in
some sections. I think there is a way to maintain the language or
feel of the original sutra in the style of a discourse. Keeping the
language universally accessible will be very beneficial.
It would also be beneficial for individual sutras not to be translated
by just one person, as each translator has his or her own
distinctive style. I’d like to propose that each sutra be translated
by a small group, as small as two, working together if at all
possible. Two translators working together is already quite a noble
achievement—you’ve reached at least the first bhumi in order to do
that! It is important to work together to ensure that the language
and feeling invoked by the text match the original intention. Each
translation could be the product of small groups working together
with a scholar or lineage teacher, or experts on the source text, as
was done in Tibet. I feel this would be the best way to attain the goal of
universal accessibility. It may be that the first generation of
translations will be more literal. Eventually, through editing and
refining, it will become more readable. In the final translation,
pidgin English would be eliminated.
In the old translation system in Tibet, translators of succeeding
generations would improve upon the work of the previous translators.
But in the west, there’s no such room because of copyright law and
intellectual property. So if you’re working on Kangyur or Tengyur, I think if there’s a
way to open the door to such a process in the future – not like Wikipedia
where anyone can change what they like – but a procedure to refine and
improve earlier translations, this would be quite important to contemplate.
I feel one group cannot make every translation perfect. Even great Tibetan
translators, those we think of as emanations of great beings, couldn’t do it
perfectly. There was a refining process by later translators, and even now
Sanskrit scholars find mistakes. The 17th Karmapa did research
and said that not all Tibetan Buddhist texts were translated from Sanskrit.
Right now, scholars judge translations of Tibetan texts based on Sanskrit
translations alone, but not on languages such as Prakrit.
We cannot fully
say that this is wrong or right, but there’s definitely room for improvement.
If there are ways for later translators to improve English translations,
this would be very important in terms of perfecting the translations of the Kangyur, Tengyur, and Tibetan commentarial texts. Copyright and intellectual
property are important. I’m not against them, but we must find a way to work
together.
Another challenge here is that certain terminology in sutras and tantras
is archaic, and much is very particular to certain topics. We need
good resources to aid translation, such as great scholars, lineage
teachers and good dictionaries. We also need to consider the
training and nurturing of future translators. Currently it is very
hard for a young westerner to learn Tibetan and find a good tutor
and resources. One the one hand, it is good for them to have
challenges to test their commitment and to allow them to glimpse
what previous translators had to go through. On the other hand, this
wastes a lot of time and resources. So we must create situations in
which we can help produce quality translators with the limited
resources we have today. There are many small translator training
programs, but there is a need for reflection on how we can improve
and have a fully equipped language school for Tibetan and western
students.
The last thing we want to do is make translations that are objects of
reverence but are not used. We must use our translations in study
and practice. It is utterly delightful to have had this opportunity
to dream of translating the words of the Buddha together with such
wonderful friends gathered in Bir today.
Thank you.
→ Read Mid-Conference Update
→ Read Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's Keynote Address
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