Working with the Medium of the English Language
A craft person’s medium is one of the most essential aspects of their work. Although translators spend much of their time learning the Tibetan language, the target language is just as important when looking at the final product of a meaningful translation that reaches modern readers. Spend a session with master translators Thupten Jinpa and Wulstan Fletcher exploring the essential medium of communication in the modern world.
Event: TT Conference 2017 – Translator's Craft Session
Date: June 2, 2017 – 4:45 pm
Speakers: Thupten Jinpa, Wulstan Fletcher
Topics: English Language, Translation
Wulstan Fletcher
Padmakara Translation Group; Tsadra Foundation Fellow
Wulstan Fletcher studied modern languages and theology in Oxford and Rome. He completed a three year meditation retreat in Chanteloube, France 1986-1989 and is a member of the Padmakara Translation Group. He has been a Tsadra Fellow since 2001. Wulstan has completed several Tibetan-English translation projects in collaboration with Helena Blankleder, including The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham’s Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva (2017), Treasury of Precious Qualities (Book 1, 2010; Book 2, 2013), The Root Stanzas of the Middle Way (2008), The Way of the Bodhisattva (revised 2006), The Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech (2007), White Lotus (2007), Introduction to the Middle Way (2005), The Adornment of the Middle Way (2005), Food of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on Abstaining from Meat (2004), and Counsels from My Heart (2003). Wulstan is currently working on Longchenpa’s sems nyid ngal gso and Mipham’s brgal lan nyin byed snang ba.
Thupten Jinpa
Institute of Tibetan Classics
Thupten Jinpa, PhD, received his early education as a monk and obtained the Geshe Lharam degree from Ganden Monastic University in South India. He holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from Cambridge University. Jinpa is an adjunct professor at McGill University. He is associated with the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, and is the main author of its Compassion Cultivation Training program. He is the board chair of the Mind and Life Institute, the founder and president of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, and the general editor for The Library of Tibetan Classics. Since 1985 he has been the principal English translator to H.H. the Dalai Lama. Jinpa’s published works include translations of numerous books by the Dalai Lama, Songs of Spiritual Experience, Mind Training:The Great Collection, and The Book of Kadam. Most recently he co-translated Grains of Gold by Gendun Chöpel. His books include a first ever introduction to Buddhism in vernacular Tibetan and a comprehensive modern Tibetan grammar (in Tibetan), as well as A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to be Compassionate Can Transform our Lives, and (with Donald S. Lopez Jr.) Dispelling the Darkness: A Jesuit’s Quest for the Soul of Tibet.
