4:30 pm – Tsadra Conferences

Uttaratantraśāstra: A New French Translation from Tibetan According to ‘Jam mgon Kong sprul’s Commentary

Gwen Witt Dorring — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 06:32:14 +0000

Christian and Patrick have recently finished a new translation of ‘Jam mgon Kong sprul’s commentary on the Uttaratantrashastra into French, Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule, which will be available at the symposium. Christian and Patrick will share insights from their work on this new translation.
Christian and Patrick have recently finished a new translation of ‘Jam mgon Kong sprul’s commentary on the Uttaratantrashastra into French, Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule, which will be available at the symposium. Christian and Patrick will share insights from their work on this new translation.
Linguistically, our main challenge has been to keep a “classical” style with an “experiential” flavour and bridge the gap between flowery poetry and philosophical prose. As our choices indeed reflect our understanding of the treatise, this presentation will lead us to express our personal views of the contents.

The Luminous Basis for Buddhahood: ’Jig rten mgon po’s Pith Instructions for Merging the Nature of Mind with the Dharmakāya

Gwen Witt Dorring — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 06:22:09 +0000

This paper will present an overview and analysis of ’Jig rten mgon po’s (1143–1217) explanation of luminosity (prabhāsvaratā;’od gsal ba) from his Mahāmudrā perspective in terms of basis, path, and fruit. This is most clearly outlined in his ’Od gsal rnam lnga gcig tu bsre ba’i man ngag, a pith instruction on merging (bsre ba), a genre of Bka’ brgyud teachings generally associated with the nā ro chos drug tradition. While chos drug instructions on luminosity tend to focus on deep sleep tantric practices, this text outlines luminosity in terms of mind’s true nature, which is to be pointed out, recognized, and ultimately merged with the dharmakāya. ’Jig rten mgon po offers a five-fold typology of luminosity: the luminosity of the basis, the path, dream, the bar do, and the ultimate. In this text, he explicitly explains that the luminosity of the basis is the nature of mind, described in terms of buddha-nature, and is none other than the dharmakāya itself. ’Jig rten mgon po goes on to explain the process of “merging” this basis with the path luminosity by way of pointing out instructions, which subsequently merges with the dream and bar do states naturally through direct recognition. Finally, this (collective) recognition of the basis is to be merged with the ultimate luminosity, the dharmakāya. ’Jig rten mgon po thus offers a framework for how the different types of tantric and non-tantric luminosity as understood in the early Bka’ brgyud Mahāmudrā tradition can be merged by taking the nature of mind as both the basis for Buddhahood and ultimately inseparable from the fruit of the dharmakāya.

Translating Biographical and Historical Materials

Marcus Perman — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 02:57:03 +0000

This workshop addresses the motivation and practical considerations of translating historical and biographical works. Amelia Hall talks about her experience with the construction and translation of a namtar (Wyl. rnam thar, hagiography) and the idiosyncrasies of balancing the needs of the academy and the world of spiritual practitioners as it relates to such a genre. Kurtis Schaeffer walks us through the practical decisions he made while producing a translation of an eighteenth century text to keep his specific audience inspired and engaged. Dan Martin offers a perspective about dating texts in an historical context using available resources.

Translating Philosophical Materials A

Marcus Perman — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 02:52:53 +0000

Sarah McClintock and Thomas Doctor both engage with issues of the possibility or impossibility of translation and Dorji Wangchuck considers translation theory and practice and approaches to the ideas of translation and transmission. As all three of these speakers are well-known scholars of Tibetan Buddhism and philosophers, this session is a special opportunity to observe their thoughts and interactions, and learn from their ideas.

Translating Spiritual Instructions

Marcus Perman — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 02:44:54 +0000

This workshop highlights the complex and nuanced process of translation and interpretation of key terms for spiritual instructions. Sangye Khandro presents examples of upadeśa, or spiritual instructions, so that the audience may reflect upon the importance of the translator’s expert status and the necessity of working closely with lineage masters to accomplish translation work. Peter Alan Roberts shares advice he wishes he could have shared with his younger self relating to the translation of oral instructions, and Sarah Harding speaks on the differences of translation choice between gdams ngag, man ngag, and zhal gdams, and challenges the publishing of such instructions for a wide readership.

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.

Translating Canonical Materials: Sutra

Marcus Perman — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 18:12:30 +0000

Leading members of the 84000 Project John Canti, Andreas Doctor, and Tom Tillemans speak about the scope of the project and issues that arise when translating canonical materials: multiple source texts, working from translations to make an English version, the difficulty of interpreting the intended literary style of the source materials, and the importance of the 84000 Project to the transmission of the dharma to the West.

Translating Canonical Materials: Tantra

Marcus Perman — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 13:49:46 +0000

This session begins with Tom Yarnall giving a brief overview of the extent of the canonical literature in the Tibetan tradition which leads into Christian Wedemeyer’s consideration of the audience of the translations of such esoteric materials. He then discusses issues of secrecy, transgressive language, rendering mantras, and refining of terminology. David Gray tries to untie particular knots that he has encountered when translating collaboratively for the 84000 Project and discusses specific textual criticism related to this work. Tom Yarnall then speaks on the need to acknowledge the intertextuality and overlapping constructs of these canonical materials.

Translating Poetic and Inspirational Materials

Marcus Perman — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 18:03:47 +0000

Poetic and inspirational materials exist as a place where culture emerges creating a challenge for the translator to capture both the meaning and the psychological effect of the literature in the target language. Andrew Quintman begins this workshop with a theoretical discussion of how the characteristics and structure of a traditional song of devotion give clues about indigenous conceptions of poetry in the Tibetan tradition. Holly Gayley works through various grammatical structures and literary conventions, like metaphor and parallelism, to illustrate the scope of possibility in conveying meaning. Finally, Wulstan Fletcher guides the group through the challenge of capturing the meaning of the translation while also eliciting inspiration between the poet and the reader.

Translating Philosophical Materials B

Marcus Perman — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 17:58:01 +0000

This session offers advice for translators working with philosophical materials. John Dunne presents a specific problem of finding that your good translation has gone bad. Douglas Duckworth speaks about collaborative translation and its rewards while offering advice about the process as it relates specifically to philosophical texts, and Klaus-Dieter Mathes discusses specific phrases and their meaning as they support one’s comprehension of philosophical concepts.