Translating Abhidharma Materials
Is Abhidharma just a collection of dry, boring lists? Presenters in this workshop comment on the need for Abhidharma literature as the basis of both morality and advanced meditation practice when bringing Tibetan Buddhism to a Western setting. Art Engle presents the need for a viable English translation from original source texts of the Abhidharmakośakārikā and Abhidharmasamuccaya. Ian Coghlan discusses terms, grammar, and syntax related to meditative states and the subtlety involved in creating satisfactory, standard English terms for this material. Gyurme Dorje presents short passages from Abhidharmakośa and traces the illusion of terminology and taxonomy through Tibetan traditions.
Event: TT Conference 2014 – Workshop
Date: October 4, 2014 – 4:30 pm
Speakers: Art Engle, Gyurme Dorje, Ian Coghlan
Topics: Abhidharma Materials, Translation
Art Engle
Tsadra Foundation Fellow
Artemus B. Engle began studying the Tibetan language in Howell, New Jersey in early 1971 at Labsum Shedrup Ling, the precursor of the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center. In 1972 he became a student of Sera Mey Khensur Lobsang Tharchin Rinpoche, a relationship that spanned more than thirty years. In 1975 he enrolled in the Buddhist Studies program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and received a PhD in 1983. Since the mid 1980s he taught Tibetan language and Buddhist doctrine at the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center in Howell, New Jersey. In 2005 he became a Tsadra Foundation Translation Fellow and has worked primarily on the Pañcaskandhaprakarana and the Bodhisattvabhūmi.
Ian Coghlan
Institute of Tibetan Classics; Monash Sophis
Dr. Ian Coghlan is an adjunct research fellow at the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies (SOPHIS), Monash University, Melbourne, and a translator for the Institute of Tibetan Classics. He holds a PhD in Asian Studies from La Trobe University, focussing on Buddhist metaphysics, ethics, and hermeneutics. He trained as a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for twenty years and completed his studies at Jé College, Sera Monastic University in 1995. He has translated and edited a number of Tibetan works including Ornament of Abhidharma, Principles of Buddhist Tantra, Stairway to the State of Union, and Hundreds of Deities of Tushita. He currently resides in Churchill, Victoria with his partner, Voula, and dog, Pilar.
Gyurme Dorje
Tsadra Foundation Fellow; 84000
Gyurme Dorje holds a PhD in Tibetan Literature (SOAS) and an MA in Sanskrit with Oriental Studies (Edin). Since 1970 he has been writing, editing, translating, and contributing to numerous books on diverse aspects of Tibetan culture, including Buddhist philosophy, history, geography, medicine, art, divination, and travel.
