Elizabeth Callahan – Tsadra Conferences

Translation Fidelity or Intervention—when should translators sanitize misogyny, explain it, reproduce it, or refuse to translate it?

Gwen Witt Dorring — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 09:10:02 +0000

Accuracy and Inspiration: Translating Mahamudra Texts

Marcus Perman — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 06:00:10 +0000

The craft of translation often involves the tension between the need for accuracy and the need to express inspirational text in appropriately inspirational language. In this session, Elizabeth Callahan shares her experience wrestling with these issues on her work with Dakpo Tashi Namgyal’s Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā (Phyag chen zla ba’i ‘od zer) and the Ninth Karmapa’s Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance (Ma rig mun sel). Professor Mathes discusses difficulties arising from translating quotations of Indian texts found in Tibetan works, such as Phyag rgya chen po gsal sgron and the Zla ba’i ‘od zer.

Translating Vajrayana Commentarial Materials

Marcus Perman — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 02:40:23 +0000

Presenters approach the delicate process of translating Vajrayana commentaries and consider the importance of the combination of study and practice to support this kind of work. Lama Chonam speaks about receiving teachings on these commentaries in order to understand the deep meaning of terms. Jake Dalton brings light to the historical context as a way to approach the differences that might appear between commentaries of the same root text, and Elizabeth Callahan talks about the importance of using multiple commentaries to approach root texts so that multiple meanings emerge in the translation.