The words of Buddha
timeless wisdom for the Temple library
The aim of this project is to lay out and print on rice paper the English translation of the immense heritage of texts that make up the Kangyur – the collection of Buddha’s teachings. The texts produced in petcha format, the traditional format of Tibetan sacred texts, will be housed in the NgalSo Sungrab Gyatsö Library – The House of Sacred Scriptures.
Why is it important
All Buddhist monasteries and temples house a copy of the Kangyur. These texts, recording the teachings of Buddha, form the basis of all Buddhist philosophy and are considered so important because they hold a treasury of energy that bestows blessings on both the environment and the beings living in it.
In this modern era pervaded by technology, reading on paper is a valuable opportunity to practise concentration without the constant and excessive stimuli of social media. These texts are valuable for reading, consultation, personal study and spiritual inspiration.
Supporting the realisation of this project brings us a great accumulation of merit because it makes the profound medicine of the Dharma available to all; a panacea that heals the 84,000 afflictions of the mind.
Project developments
The rice paper was already purchased in Nepal and a printer for the petcha format is already in use. A custom-made bookcase has been installed in the Library so the texts can be catalogued and stored properly.
The project still requires the purchase of materials and furnishings, such as ink and the traditional fabrics and brocades to wrap and protect the texts, as well as the maintenance of the printers and the work of a team of specialised people to layout, print, catalogue, and place the texts in the library.
Hot to support this project
By donating to this project, you are contributing to the dissemination of the precious words of Buddha, an invaluable patrimony for present and future generations. The order of the texts to be prepared was defined by Lama Michel Rinpoche.
The Kangyur includes the categories of:
བཀའ་འགྱུར།
The Kangyur and its translations into English
The word Kangyur (bka’ ’gyur) literally means “the word” (bka’) “translated” (’gyur).
The Kangyur is the principal collection of the Buddhist scriptures in Tibetan. It contains some 900 works in over 100 volumes, all translations into Tibetan of the Indian texts considered to record the words of the Buddha.
Different collections of sūtras, tantras, and other categories of texts existed in many monasteries, but the Kangyur itself, as a deliberately compiled and edited collection, only gradually took form and was never formally closed to the addition of newly translated texts.
Following a 2009 conference in India, a volunteer team of translators, Dharma teachers, academics, and technology experts began and continues to work on the English translation of the Kangyur and other collections of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. The result of this immense effort is available in its entirety on the website 84000.co. Thanks to the remarkable commitment of this team and the support of the Khyentse Foundation, we too can now make the “Words of the Buddha” accessible to everyone in English on paper.
You can offer:
1 the preparation and printing of a specific sutra by selecting it from the menu and paying the full amount that appears on the form
or
2 a donation of any amount to the project.
