JStenzel-SPTG presentation-with Korean.pdf

8/9/2019 JStenzel-SPTG presentation-with Korean.pdf

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1 | J u l i a S t e n z e l , T h e S a k y a P a n d i t a T r a n s l a t i o n G r o u p

Presentation of the Sakya Paṇḍita Translation Groupof the International Buddhist Academy, Kathmandu, Nepal

and their Translation of the Mahāyāna Ākāśagarbha Sūtra

This paper was presented at the International Conference ―Translation of Buddhist Scriptur esfrom around the World,‖ organized by the Research Center for the Tibetan Buddhist Canon,Dongguk University, Gyeongju, South Korea, November 28-29, 2014. I wish to express my

gratitude to Dr. Khenpo Ngawang Jorden, director of the International Buddhist Academy,

Kathmandu, for his thoughtful guidance of our translation work, as well as to my translation

colleagues, Ven. Ngawang Tenzin, Ven. Jampa Tenzin, and especially Christian Bernert whose

comments to this paper were of great help. I would like to thank Mr. Dai Sung Han fortranslating the paper into Korean.

Introduction

In February 2014, coinciding with the Tibetan New Year, the ―84000-Translating the Words ofthe Buddha‖ published online the Mahāyāna Ākāśagarbha Sūtra (’phags pa nam mkha’i snying

po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo) as part of their ongoing translation project of translatingthe entire Tibetan Canon within one hundred years. The Sakya Pandita Translation Group whoaccomplished this translation has worked with the 84000 from the initial stages of its online

publications, providing the first pilot translations for the website. The purpose of my presentation

is to provide some background information on the translation work of the Sakya Pa ṇḍitaTranslation Group within the larger context of the 84000, drawing on our most recent experience

with the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra. In the first part of my presentation, I wish to give the necessary background information to our translation work, and to discuss the main features of the editorial

policy of the 84000 which served as our guideline. The second part will focus on specific details

of our translation process. I will discuss some of the challenges that we faced in translating the

Ākāśagarbha Sūtra, and explain the various solutions we found.


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I. “84000 – Translating the Words of the Buddha”

History

A translation conference at Deer Park Institute in Bir, India, in 2009, was the first step of an

initiative that culminated in the founding of the ―84000 – Translating the Words of the Buddha.‖At this conference, more than fifty senior translators of Tibetan scriptures, headed by the Tibetan

teacher Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, discussed the importance of translating the Tibetan

Buddhist Canons. They recognized the importance of international cooperation. Translating

Tibetan scriptures had been largely left up to individual translators and translation groups, who

often had to struggle to find the financial and material support for their work. The conference in

Bir resulted first of all in founding the ―Buddhist Literary Heritage Project‖ which was later, in2011, renamed ―84000 – Translating the Words of the Buddha.‖ The project was thus initiated by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and funded by the Khyentse Foundation.

1The foundation is a

registered global non-profit initiative that ―aims to translate all of the Buddha‘s words into

modern languages, and to make them available to everyone, free of charge.‖ The participants of the Bir conference also resolved to invite the participation of the masters and

holders of all lineages. Today, the list of 153 translators and 23 translator teams that have

participated so far in the 84000 project2 demonstrate that all major schools of Tibetan Buddhism

(Nyingma, Kagyü, Sakya, Gelug) are represented, thus making it a non-sectarian, unified

enterprise.

In their published vision statement, the 84000 explains its motives:3

It is said that the Buddha taught more than 84,000 methods to attain true peace and

freedom from suffering. Of these teachings, only 5% have been translated into modernlanguages. Due to the rapid decline in knowledge of classical languages and in the

number of qualified scholars, we are in danger of losing this cultural heritage andspiritual legacy.

Therefore, the 84000‘s declared goal is to translate the entire treasury of Tibetan Buddhistliterature within one hundred years. The interim goals of five, ten, and twenty-five years

determine the order in which this goal is to be accomplished. For now, the 84000 focuses on

translating the more important texts of the Kangyur (bka’ ’gyur ), and, to a lesser degree, of theTengyur (bstan ’ gyur ).

1http://84000.co/about/origin/2―Translators,‖ accessed Oct 30, 2014. http://84000.co/about/translators/.3―Vision,‖ accessed Oct 30, 2014. http://84000.co/about/vision/.


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The long and short-term goals are specified in the following chart:

100 years To provide universal access to the Buddhist literary heritage

translated into modern languages.

25 years To make all of the Kangyur and related volumes of the

Tengyur available in English, and provide widespread

accessibility in multiple platforms.

10 years To make a significant portion of the Kangyur and

complementary Tengyur texts available in English, and easily

accessible in multiple platforms.

5 years To make a representative sample of the Kangyur and

Tengyur available in English, and establish the infrastructure

and resources necessary to accomplish the long-term vision.

To realize its vision of translating the entire Tibetan Buddhist literary heritage, the 84000 works

simultaneously in five domains. These are:

1. Translation grants: The 84000 organizes the translations of important texts - mostly

sūtras so far - in the form of grant applications.2. Publication: The editorial board of the 84000 accompanies and supervises the editing

process of the translated texts until their online publication on the website of the 84000.

3. Fundraising: The 84000 undertakes the necessary efforts to raise the funds for the

ongoing and future translation projects.4. Translation Tools: The 84000 has started to provide information that is relevant to

pursuing its long-term goal by providing links to existing translation programs, to

translation tools, and other relevant information.

5. Dharma Events: The 84000 organizes dharma events in which the translated sūtras areused for dharma practice, such as the ―Resounding of the Buddha‘s Word‖ in Bodhgaya (2012, 2014) or New York (2012, 2013). Apart from the meritorious aspect of such

practices, these events certainly serve the purpose of publicizing the importance of

sponsoring the translation projects.


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Some Facts: Works Published and in Progress

Translations in Progress and Published Online4

Pages Commissioned for Translation

Pages Published

4http://84000.co/about/progress/. Accessed Oct 10, 2014.

http://84000.co/about/progress/http://84000.co/about/progress/http://84000.co/about/progress/


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Translators Supported

Translators

Translators’ Affiliations

Impact of the 84000’sWork The table below provides an overview of how often the translations provided by the 84000 have

been viewed.5

Reading Room Hits:

4.4 million hits

Text Downloads: 110,898 times

5―Impact,‖ accessed Oct 30, 2014. http://84000.co/about/impact/ Information updated on: January 1, 2014.

http://84000.co/about/progress/?share=facebook&nb=1


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khang ) of the China Tibetology Research Center (krung go’i bod rig pa zhi ’jug ste gnas).6 Translators use the Pedurma Kangyur to trace variations of the different editions. Only changes

that affect the meaning significantly should be marked in footnotes.

Research

In addition to translating sūtras, translators are required to do a certain amount of research and tocompose brief introductions, notes, bibliographies, glossaries and other reference material. These

are published along with the translations. All publications are online, free of charge.

Standards and Standardization

In their editorial policy, the 84000 has formulated the guiding principles for the translation work.

Generally speaking, the translations should possess the following qualities: ―Accuracy ofmeaning, clarity, consensuality, consistency and flexibility.‖7 What these principles entail, theeditorial committee of the 84000 explains in the Guidelines for Translators. In the second part of

my presentation, I will elaborate on some of these details. Generally speaking, one can say that

all rules aim at producing a text of easy readability. As translators, we should think to ― be kind toour readers.‖8

Setting standards naturally leads to the question of standardization, i.e. to the idea that all

translators use the same vocabulary for recurrent technical terms. The editorial board of the

84000 has expressed the wish to develop such translation standardization, similar to the

Mahāvyutpatti project in Tibet. Standardization, however, is not possible at the moment, and it isnot clear to which degree it will be in the future. The guidelines of the 84000 give rules as to the

spelling, capitalization, use of italics and punctuation, but leave the vocabulary to the discretion

of the translators. They demand however, that each translation team develops a glossary

alongside their translation. This is done in an excel sheet in which the Tibetan, Sanskrit, andEnglish terms are listed, as well as a short English definition. In the final publication, the English

word is hyperlinked so that the reader can easily access the glossary entries.

The challenge of, and resistance to, standardization are problems that are better understood when

we compare the historical contexts of the translation endeavours now with the translations of

Sanskrit Buddhist literature into Tibetan. Therefore I would like to deviate for a short moment

into the history of the translation of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon. In the second part of my

presentation, I will then return to a few concrete examples of the editorial guidelines of the

84000.

6 Dpe sdur ma, Krung go'i bod rig pa'i dpe skrun khang /, pe cin/. 2006-2009. par gzhi dang po, 109 volumes,

accessed Oct 10, 2014. http://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=W1PD96682. 7―84000 Editor ial Policy v8.0,‖ IV A, 7, accessed Oct 30, 2014, http://84000.co/resources/grants/.8This expression is borrowed from Dr David Bellos, Translation and Transmission Conference, Oct 2014.


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Translations of the Buddhist Canons into Tibetan

The Tibetan Buddhist Canon is a translation of mainly the Sanskrit Canon, of which many texts

have been destroyed or lost over the centuries. Other translations were done from texts in

Chinese, Khotanese, Socdian, or other languages of that time, when these were believed to have

had a Sanskrit original that got lost.

Whereas the Pāli Canon could be preserved, or rather reconstructed, in its entirety thanks to theefforts of generation after generation copying individual manuscripts in neighbouring countries,

such as Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand -this is, unfortunately, not the case for the Sanskrit

teachings. Many Sanskrit texts have only survived in Tibetan or Chinese translation.

As for the translations to Tibetan, there were two clearly distinguishable phases of Sanskrit-

Tibetan translation, corresponding to the periods of uptake in Buddhism known to Tibetan

historians as the ―early propagation‖ ( snga dar ) and ―later propagation‖ ( phyi dar ).The first, a―top-down‖ movement, lasted from the 7th to the mid-9th century and was an initiative based on

royal initiative and support. In the 7thcentury CE, the newly united kingdom of Tibet was stillrelatively young when its ruler, Songtsen Gampo (srong btsan sgam po, 569 – 649?/605 – 649?),decided to sponsor Buddhism and with it the translation of important texts from India. Two and a

half centuries of prosperity were followed by a time of political collapse and religious crisis. The

second, ―new translation period‖ ( gsar ‘gyur ) - also called the ―later dissemination of theteachings‖ ( phyi dar ) - between the 11th and 14th centuries was a fragmented movement thatsprung from the grassroots, fuelled by teachers and adepts. It was a period of great individual

achievements, though less consistent in following uniform standards. Such individuals were, for

example, Bari Lotsawa,9 Drogmi Lotsawa,

10and Rinchen Zangpo

11 - three translators that are

revered in the Sakya School, with which the Sakya Paṇḍita Translation Group is affiliated.

After the 14th

century, Buddhism had mostly disappeared from the Indian subcontinent, and no

further Sanskrit texts were translated into Tibetan. In total, 5250 texts 230,000 folio sides were

translated from Sanskrit to Tibetan. Over 870 translators and scholars were involved and their

translations have been praised by modern historians as a masterpiece of teamwork, terminology

and consistency.12

Characteristic Features of the Translation into Tibetan

Translating from Sanskrit into Tibetan had a unique feature because the Tibetans created a

Tibetan linguistic system that was modelled upon Sanskrit, even though the two languages share

no direct linguistic relation, Tibetan belonging to the Tibeto-Burmese language group. However,Sanskrit was chosen as a benchmark in order to be able to translate Buddhist scriptures into

9 Ba ri lo tsA, also called Rinchen Drak (rin chen grags) (1040-1111).10 Brog mi shakya ye shes (994-1078).11 Rin chen bzang po (958-1055).12 http://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/canons/about/wiki/tibetan%20canons%20introduction.html. See also

Roberta Paine, ―The Translator in Tibetan History: Identity and Influence.‖ Forum 8.2 (2010): 133-161.


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Tibetan.13

Not only did grammarians attempt to conceptualize Tibetan through the lens of

Sanskrit noun cases, syntax, and verbal conjugation (albeit simplified), moreover, by royal

commission the vocabulary and style of translations were highly regularized. Standardization

became maybe the most important feature of translation; and the fabricated similarity of Tibetan

to Sanskrit facilitated translation, and made it possible to produce texts of high precision.14

Lotsawa-Paṇḍita

As we know from colophons, the translations were mostly carried out by a collaboration of

Indian scholars and Tibetan translators, a model that received the name lotsawa-paṇḍ ita. TheSanskrit title paṇḍ ita designated mastery of the five sciences: grammar, logic, medicine, artisticcrafts, and philosophy. The title lotsawa was an honorific term for the native Tibetans involved

in the translations of Sanskrit texts into Tibetan. Some of them had travelled to India or a

Himalayan borderland, had accompanied Indian paṇḍ itas back to Tibet, had invested health andwealth, effort and sacrifice, to make translations happen. Since the collaborative effort of people

with two different skill sets has proven highly successful, many translators today, including my

own translation group, try to emulate the lotsawa-paṇḍ ita model when translating Tibetanscriptures into English.

Translation Tools - The Mahāvyutpatti and Madhyavyutpatti

The Tibetan translations of Sanskrit sūtras show a high degree of conformity in vocabulary. Thisis the result of an invested effort of standardizing terminology. It is documented in the

Mahāvyutpatti, the Madhyavyutpatti, and similar texts. The Mahāvyutpatti (bye brag tu rtogs pachen po) or ―The Great Volume of Precise Understanding or Essential Etymology‖ is a Sanskrit-Tibetan lexicographical reference work with nearly 10,000 entries, which is still used by scholars

today. The related Madhyavyutpatti ( sgra sbyor bam po gynis pa) provides a detailed account of

translation technique. These two volumes were created c. 814 at the order of King Tride

Songtsen (khri lde srong btsan, r. 799-815), i.e. during the first translation period in Tibet, with

the intention to standardize the translation of Buddhist texts into Tibetan. These texts settled

issues of orthography, grammar, and translation rules, and thus played a central role in achieving

a largely consistent standardized language for translating Buddhist scripture. Students of Tibetan

language still refer to this compendium today.15

In an address to the recent Tsadra Foundation

conference on ―Translation and Transmission‖ in October 2014, the scholar Peter Skillings

13 It is believed that the Tibetan script and texts on grammar date to the 7 th century. Under the rule of king Songtsen

Gampo ( srong btsan sgam po) the scholar and grammarian Tonmi Sambhota ( thon mi sam bho ta) is credited by the

tradition to have created a script and composed the Root Verses on Grammar, the so-called sum cu pa, and the

Guide to the Signs (rtags kyi ‘jug pa)14 For a detailed account, see Stephan Beyer, The Classical Tibetan Language, (New York: State University of New

York, 1992/ Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1993).15 David Weldon, ―Guardians of the Sacred Word,‖ accessed Oct 10, 2014.http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/covers/intro. html.


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advised translators to study the Mahāvyutpatti attentively. He even suggests that these texts betaught in university seminars.

16

Apart from the royal supervision of the early translations in Tibet, another factor facilitated the

creation of a standardized language: Tibet, unlike China, did not have a well-developed

philosophical tradition prior to the arrival of Buddhism. Therefore, translators coined technicalterms that were assigned to Sanskrit expressions with little danger of being misunderstood in the

light of some other context. Thus the Tibetan translations, though literal and somewhat dense

and unnatural are considered relatively reliable in representing the Sanskrit originals. They have

proven to be an invaluable source for the reconstruction of lost Sanskrit texts.17

Language reforms

During the two translation phases, three major language reforms ( skad gsar bcad ) took place.

During these reforms numerous words were labeled ―old signs‖ (brda rnying ) and were replacedwith new terms. These revisions were instrumental in establishing standardized spelling,

vocabulary, and grammar. The last reform dates to the 10th

century CE. The literary language has been more or less frozen since this time.

18 During each of these revisions, older, existing

translations were updated to reflect the new standards.

Translation from Tibetan to English

Jumping forward in time now for about half a millennium, the situation for translators looks very

different. The first thing to note is that the translation of Tibetan Buddhist Texts into English (or

other European languages) does not have a very long history. At the Tsadra conference in

Keystone, Colorado, Tsadra founder Eric Colombel, shared his experience as a young student in

Paris, France, where the only books in French available numbered two, and were very difficult to

understand. However, the interest in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism in the Western world progressedvery quickly from being the reserve of a few Indologists and Tibetologists in the 19

thcentury to

an accepted mainstream phenomenon 150 years later. Older translations of texts often exhibited

some influence from the particular groups that were cultivating contact with Buddhist cultures,

be it colonialists, Christian missionaries, or followers of Jungian psychology.19

At present, with the social and political situation in Tibet and in Tibetan exile communities,

leading Tibetan masters have recognised the very real risk that in one or two generations‘ timethere will simply be too few people with sufficient understanding of the language or contents.

16 Peter Skillings, ―Dr. Peter Skilling‘s address to the conference,‖ http://translationandtransmission.org/videos.html.17 Roberta Raine, ―Translating the Tibetan Buddhist Canon: Past Strategies, Future Prospects,‖ Forum 9.2 (2011):157-186.18Jamgon Kongtrul ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas), Treasury of Knowledge, Buddhism's Journey to

Tibet , (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publication, 2010), 220.19 Roberta Paine mentions H. Kern‘s translation as an example for Christian influence in translation (in ―TheTranslator in Tibetan History: Identity and Influence.‖ Forum 8.2 (2010): 133-161). Jungian influence can be foundfor example in Evans-Wentz, W. Y., Tibetan Book of the Dead: or, The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo

Plane, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927. It contains a "Psychological commentary" by Carl Jung.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Y._Evans-Wentzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Junghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Junghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Y._Evans-Wentz


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The growing awareness of this risk has not only led to the founding of the 84000, but to a few

similar events that are concerned with the preservation of the Tibetan Buddhist literary legacy:

2008 Light of Berotsana, Colorado, USA: http://www.berotsana.org/conference-of-translators/

2009 BLHP/ 84000, Bir, India: http://84000.co/about/origin/ , previously mentioned

2011 Tengyur Translation, Sarnath, India: http://www.aibs.columbia.edu/conference.html

2014 June: Translation Conference and Workshop at University of Vienna, Austria:http://buddhism.tibetan-translation.com/2014/05/translating-and-transferring-buddhist.html

2014 October: Translation and Transmission Conference in Keystone, Colorado, USA:http://translationandtransmission.org/index.html

Translator Types

Who are the people, who participates in these events? Apart from a few Tibetan teachers

committed to translating, they are men and women mainly from Europe and America, who have

a particular connection to Tibetan Buddhism, culture and language. During the latest conference,

which I attended along with 200 other participants, senior translator Wulstan Fletcher and others

discussed the distinction between two types of translators:

1. Dharma practitioners who become translators and interpreters – they are often self-professedor designated by a Tibetan teacher. Often not subject to professional oversight, their focus is

on the religious significance of a text, the accessibility for the target audience of

practitioners, and/or the use of a text as practice liturgy. As practitioners they are sometimes

bound by religious rules of samaya (dam tshig ) and secrecy.

2. Academics whose fields of expertise often include philology, buddhology, philosophy,

anthropology, religious studies, etc. - they are not necessarily trained as interpreters orlanguage experts. The oversight of their translation work comes from within academia in the

form of peer-review. Their focus in translating is on accuracy, comparison of editions,historical and philosophical contextualization and significance. Academics are not bound by

the tradition‘s norms of secrecy, but follow the code of critical investigation and unrestrainedcuriosity.

Both types of translators often work as individuals, seeking occasional help from advisors or

colleagues. A peculiar fact is that many translators that work with text translations cannot

necessarily speak colloquial Tibetan. Both groups generally consider the literary language to be a

classical Tibetan which is distinct and separate from spoken Tibetan. However, the more

experienced translators, and particularly those who have been immersed in Tibetan communities

for some time, emphasize the importance of the oral tradition. Spoken Tibetan is not only

important for the collaboration with Tibetan scholars, but also allows a richer understanding of

the subtleties of the language.

Concluding Remarks

These glimpses into the history of the translation of Buddhist scriptures, however brief and over-

simplified they may be, show sufficiently the different contexts in which translation has taken

http://www.berotsana.org/conference-of-translators/http://www.berotsana.org/conference-of-translators/http://84000.co/about/origin/http://www.aibs.columbia.edu/conference.htmlhttp://buddhism.tibetan-translation.com/2014/05/translating-and-transferring-buddhist.htmlhttp://translationandtransmission.org/index.htmlhttp://translationandtransmission.org/index.htmlhttp://buddhism.tibetan-translation.com/2014/05/translating-and-transferring-buddhist.htmlhttp://www.aibs.columbia.edu/conference.htmlhttp://84000.co/about/origin/http://www.berotsana.org/conference-of-translators/http://www.berotsana.org/conference-of-translators/


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place in the past and is taking place today. The most important difference in my view is the fact

that translation started as a state-supported endeavour in Tibet which entailed a strong

centralizing and standardizing power right from the beginning. In comparison, today‘stranslation projects do not enjoy royal or state support, and only a few efforts to centralize a

translation effort. The 84000 is probably the most important of them. The short but successful

story of the 84000 shows the importance of concerted efforts in this field. The recent surge in

Tibetan Buddhist translation conferences worldwide is most likely another outcome of a shift in

thinking about translation, a shift moving away from the individual achiever towards mutual

support and team efforts.

There is another significant difference in the translation context then and now - a difference on

which I do not elaborate in this presentation because of time restrictions - and that is the

immense supply of translation tools available today. Starting with digitized dictionaries, digitized

and searchable texts, online resources such as the TBRC, ACIP or AIBS data bases, cloud

search, etc., translators are able to benefit from the accumulated and recorded knowledge of

Buddhist scholarship like never before in history.

In the second part of my presentations, I would like to present and reflect upon my personal

experience as translator of the 84000 within the context that I have outlined so far.

II.

The Translation of the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra In the summer of 2011, the Sakya Pandita Translation Group signed a contract with the 84000

for the translation of several sūtras, among them the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra. This sūtra is a text of 20folios in the Dege Edition,

20 or 44 pages in the Pedurma edition. Its complete name is

Ā k āśagarbha-nāma-mahā yāna-sūtra ('Phags pa nam mkha'i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo). In the Catalogue of the Tibetan Buddhist Canons [Tokyo: Tōhoku University, 1934],it is Tōh. no. 260. It was translated into Tibetan by the scholars Śākyaprabha and Ratnarak ṣita.

In the following I will present our translation work of this sutra. I will briefly introduce the text

and our translation team, and then focus on the challenges we encountered in the work process,

as well as the solutions we found.

Introducing the SūtraThis sūtra is named after the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, in Tibetan Namkhe Nyingpo, which

means ―essence of space‖ or ―matrix of space.‖ The sutra tells of a situation in which BuddhaŚākyamuni resides in the Khalatika Mountains, which refers probably to the Barabar mountainsnear Bodhgaya. Buddha Śākyamuni and his retinue are joined by the bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha,who arrives displaying his magical powers. At first, a bright ray of light, coming from the jewel

on top of his head, transforms the whole of the world into a pure land. Thereupon the bodhisattva

Maitreya requests Buddha Śākyamuni to give a teaching on the powers and capacities of

20Degé Kangyur, vol. ZA, folios 264r.4-283v.2.


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Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha. The answer of Buddha Śākyamuni forms the major part of the sūtra.The Buddha explained the qualities and the powers of Ākāśagarbha. His particular power is hisability to help practitioners purify their wrongdoings, in the sutra called ―downfalls.‖ TheBuddha explains each of the twenty-three downfalls, or transgressions, separately, in more or

less detail. They include general unwholesome actions such as killing and stealing, and also the

eight transgressions of bodhisattvas which are deeds like teaching emptiness to disciples that are

not mature enough for comprehending it; or trying to convince somebody that the Mahāyāna path is not the right path to practice; or trying to deter somebody who wants to take the monastic

vows of self-liberation. The Buddha also explains various methods of purification of these

negative deeds and transgressions, such as praying to Ākāśagarbha, giving special offerings,reciting dharaṇis, and so forth. A special emphasis is on a dream incubation type of practice. The person invites Ākāśagarbha to appear in her or his dream and to listen to the confession ofwrongdoings, and it is in the dream that Ākāśagarbha purification will take place. The sutra endswith the Buddha giving a teaching on the emptiness of phenomena.

Because of its systematic presentation of the twenty-three transgressions this sūtra has gainedspecial importance among Mahāyāna sūtras and is mentioned as reference work for Bodhisattvaethics by masters such as Śāntideva, Sakya Paṇḍita or Jamgon Kongtrul.21 The famous Bodhicaryāvatāra (translated as The Way of the Bodhisattva) by Śāntideva recommends the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra as the first reference text to study for bodhisattva training.

This sutra was translated by four members of the Sakya International Buddhist Academy, which

I will briefly introduce before turning to the work process of our translation group.

Introducing Sakya IBA and its Translation Team

The International Buddhist Academy (short: IBA) is located in Kathmandu, Nepal, and wasestablished in 2001 by the late Khenchen Appey Rinpoche, an eminent Sakyapa scholar and

teacher, whose students include prominent teachers such as His Holiness the Sakya Trizin, and

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.22

In 2009, an intensive translator training program began that educated simultaneously Tibetan and

Western scholars to prepare them for collaborative translation programs in the future. The

Tibetan monastic scholars who were admitted to the IBA all had completed seven to nine years

of philosophical studies at various Sakya monastic colleges, such as Dzongsar Shedra (Bir,

India), Sakya College (Dehradun, India), Rimbik Shedra Sakya Chopelling (Darjeeling, India),

or Sakya Institute (Puruwalla, India). Thus, all of them are highly qualified in Buddhist philosophy and have attained either a Shastri (ka chu pa) degree - equivalent to a Batchelor‘s

21 Śāntideva was an Indian master of Nalanda, lived around the 8th century. Sakya Paṇḍita (chos rje sa skya paN Dita kun dga' rgyal mtshan) (1184-1251), is one of the five founders of the Sakya School. Jamgon Kongtrul ( 'jam

mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas), (1813-1899), is a renowned master of the Rimé (ecumenical) movement.22 ―Welcome to the International Buddhist Academy,‖ accessed October 10, 2014.http://internationalbuddhistacademy.org/about/

http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rim%C3%A9http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rim%C3%A9http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rim%C3%A9http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rim%C3%A9


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degree - or an Acharya ( slob dpon) degree, equivalent to a Master‘s degree, prior to entering theIBA. Their education at the monastic colleges had included extensive training in logic and

debate. This discipline of philosophical debate has become so ingrained in the monks‘ way ofthinking and speaking that, even though not formally on the curriculum at the IBA, debates can

often be witnessed during tea breaks and recreation time. At the IBA, the monks‘ trainingfocuses on English language which most of them had received only to a very little degree before

arriving at the IBA.

The non-Tibetan (mostly Western) students of the IBA translator program focused on studying

Tibetan language: classical Tibetan (chos skad ) as well as colloquial Tibetan ( phal skad ). Tibetan

exists as a diglossia, i.e. as two different co-existing language ―habits,‖ namely classical, literaryTibetan which has seen very little change since the Buddhist canon itself was translated, and

colloquial Tibetan, spoken dialects, which have continued to evolve into new usages of

vocabulary and grammar. Both aspects of Tibetan intersect in the field of Buddha Dharma. The

monastics at the IBA are familiar with both, and therefore it is deemed necessary also for non-

Tibetan translators to study not only literary language, but also its practical application in

conversations about Buddhist teachings, as well as colloquial Tibetan. At the IBA, Tibetan

scholars also spoke Kham and Amdo dialects but these were not taught to non-Tibetan students.

The non-Tibetan, or Western students at the IBA come from various backgrounds, some hold

academic degrees in Buddhist studies, others have a strong affiliation with a Tibetan lama who

advised them to learn the skill of translation. In a two year program, they receive an education

consisting of three areas: Tibetan grammar, translation of Buddhist scriptures, and conversational

Tibetan. They study Tibetan grammar ( sum chu pa and rtags ‘jug pa) with Tibetan teachers, i.e.from a Tibetan perspective without the attempt to apprehend Tibetan grammar through western

grammatical concepts. Translation into English is taught in workshop style with experienced

senior translators such as Gavin Kilty (Institute of Tibetan Classics), Dan Martin (PhD,

independent researcher), Khenpo Jorden (PhD Harvard, Director of the Institute), and others.

Tibetan conversation is practised daily in one-on-one modules, and informally during lunch and

tea breaks. According to Gavin Kilty, for translating a classical text you must have knowledge of

spoken Tibetan. You need to discuss it, not only with khenpos and lamas that you might ask, but

with yourself.

At the end of the first two year intensive program in 2011, a small number of students committed

to working in the two translation groups associated with the IBA, the Chodung Karmo

Translation Group which focuses on the translation of specific commentaries of the Sakya

tradition, and the Sakya Pandita Translation Group, which translates sūtras and is funded bygrants of the 84000.

Team Translation

The ideal model that these translation groups follow is that of the lotsawa-paṇḍ ita as explained previously. Since different text translations demand various ranges of language expertise, the


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translation teams are complemented with Sanskrit experts, English editors and proof readers as

needed. In the case of the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra, the text was translated into English by a teamconsisting of the monastic scholars Jampa Tenzin and Ngawang Tenzin, and the western

academics Christian Bernert and myself. It was edited by Pamela Gayle White and the final

proof reading was done by Vivian Paganuzzi, an English professor at the IBA. Our team was

supervised by Dr Khenpo Ngawang Jorden, the director of the IBA.

Challenges

In the process of translating the sutra, we faced different kinds of challenges. Roughly speaking,

one could group them into four categories: [1] human resource challenges, [2] structural

challenges,[3] textual challenges and [4] challenges of the Tibetan language.

1. Human Resource Challenges

Our first challenge consisted of the fact that we were junior translators. The two Tibetan scholars

had no prior experience; Christian Bernert and I had academic training, both holding a M.A. in

Buddhist Studies, but had each translated only a few shorter texts before embarking on this project. All four of us had studied Tibetan Buddhism for more than a decade, albeit in different

contexts. None of us had, however, focused particularly on the study of sūtras. We were,therefore, in many respects, in a training process.

The solution for this challenge was that we were very well framed. The head of our translation

team was Khenpo Jorden, the director of the IBA. A student of Khenpo Appey Rinpoche, he is

excellently trained in the Tibetan monastic college system, as well as in the Western academic

System, holding a PhD from Harvard. He helped us with difficult passages and verified the end

result. Moreover, we were well connected via email with translators and editors of the 84000

who helped us with a number of problems. An online community of translators has since starteda Google group, which is regularly used for conversations on translation issues.

2. Structural Challenges

Our second challenge could be called a structural challenge because it had to do with how we

structured our work flow. We decided to divide the text in two parts. Acharya Jampa Tenzin and

myself translated the first half, Acharya Ngawang Tenzin and Christian Bernert translated the

second. Afterwards we exchanged our translations and verified the section of the other party.

The advantage of this work style was that we had a fresh, new reading of our translated text by

two other translators, which we hoped would reduce the amount of errors. The challenge was,evidently, to harmonize two different styles, and to verify that passages that had the same

wording in Tibetan would have the same wording in English. This work style was quite time-

consuming. It elicited numerous discussions between the translators which were helpful for

gaining experience in translating but, generally speaking, we concluded that it would be

reasonable to have one text translated by only one pair of translators in the future.


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3. Text Edition Challenges

The translators of the 84000 are requested to research existing versions and editions of the s ūtrathey are translating. For the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra, no Sanskrit version is available, but there is, inthe Chinese Canon, the Sūtra on the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, translated by Buddhayaśas between 403 and 413 CE. The Chinese version of this text differs, however, significantly from

the Tibetan translation found in the Kangyur . It has been translated into German from the Korean

and Chinese versions by the Korean monk and scholar Sunim Tenzin Tharchin together with

Elisabeth Lindmayer in 2010.23

Christian Bernert and I both read this translation, but decided

that although the basic content of both texts is the same, their structures are very different, i.e.

the Chinese contains numerous passages not found in the Tibetan, and vice versa.

The solution to this challenge was simply to acknowledge that there were two different versions

of the Ākāśagarbha sūtra in the introduction to our translation, but to treat our text as anindependent work. We did not attempt to compare our translation with the translation from the

Korean-Chinese version.

4. Challenges of Translating the Tibetan Language

The fourth and most important challenge in my list is found in the Tibetan language itself.

Unlike the inflectional language of Sanskrit, classical Tibetan is an agglutinating language that

uses particles, or connectors ( phrad ) to express person, number, gender, and case. The particular

challenge in understanding Tibetan texts is due to the ―transcategorical and optional nature of theuse of case markers.‖24 This means that the same particles ( phrad ) may designate different cases,or that particles may be omitted altogether. This elliptical style that overrides rules of syntax was

dubbed ―The Tibetan Telegram Principle‖ by Stephan Beyer.25 In order to produce an accuratetranslation, it is therefore indispensable to possess a large contextual understanding. Knowing the

vocabulary and grammar rules alone is not sufficient; the understanding comes from background

knowledge. In a teamwork of paṇḍ ita-lotsawa, it is often the Tibetan scholar who can providesuch a background.

Specific Examples:

4a. Archaic Language

The first challenge that I would like to address among the many linguistic challenges in

translating Tibetan texts, especially sūtras, is the challenge of archaic language. Even though wedo have wonderful resources — lexica, dictionaries, data bases and so on — they are not able to

answer all of the translators‘ questions. In the process of translating the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra, wehad a few terms that posed a challenge even for learned Tibetan scholars. Living at the

23Tenzin Tharchin and Elisabeth Lindmayer. Das Akashagarbha- Sutra. Allumfassende Liebe und Weisheit: Heilend

und Wunscherfüllend , (München: Diamant Verlag, 2010).24 Nicolas Tournadre, ―The Classical Tibetan Cases and their Transcategoriality: From sacred grammar to modernlinguistics.‖ Himalayan Linguistics 2010, Vol. 9(2): 87-125.25 Stephan Beyer, The Classical Tibetan Language, 195.


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International Buddhist Academy, we were surrounded by Tibetan scholars with various fields of

expertise. Still, we had a few expressions that were unfamiliar to all of them. One example is the

term phyag dar ba which occurred in the passage on the seventh and eights bodhisattva

transgressions. The word‘s meaning that was familiar to native Tibetan speakers, and which youfind in dictionaries, is ―sweeper,‖ phyag dar meaning ―dust‖ or ―rubbish‖. In the Ākāśagarbha

Sūtra, the term occurs in connection with ―advisors, ministers, soldiers and physicians.‖ Totranslate the term as ―sweeper‖ did not seem intelligible in the context of this sūtra.

To solve this problem we spoke with various experts at the IBA and also consulted other texts on

the bodhisattva transgressions. We read the corresponding Tibetan and Sanskrit passages in

Śāntideva‘s Śikṣāsamuccaya. This led us on to discover that phyag dar ba is the translation ofcaṇḍālā in the Sanskrit text, a term that means in general ―outcast, person of lowest value.‖According to Monier Williams it can also mean ―a very low representative of something.‖26 Itseems that the context for this secondary meaning could be found in brahmanical thought, in

particular its hierarchy of pure versus impure occupations and the value judgement associated

with it.

4b. The Tone of a Translation

The second challenge I would like to discuss is the tone, or voice, of a translation. The

Ākāśagarbha Sūtra contains several passages of poetry, which were challenging to translate because they were obscure, and seemed to express several layers of meaning at the same time.

Our translation group discussed the verses several times and finally opted for reading the passage

as describing the realization of Bodhisattva Āk āśagarbha. We decided to keep the translation asliteral as possible. In these verses (below), the Tibetan word kun gzhi means literally ―all-ground.‖This term refers in numerous other texts to the ālaya, the eighth or so-called storehouseconsciousness in Buddhist psychology, which in some schools of thought is associated with

tathā gatagarbha, or Buddha nature. However, after some discussion, we finally opted forignoring a possible philosophical reference and used a literal translation of the ―all-ground.‖

The verses of obscure poetry on folio 265b read as follows:

The Bhagavān replied:27

―It is just as you have said. The place where the all-basis is heard,and where, with wisdom, sentient beings are established,

that place is the sphere of activity of meditative concentration.

―It is the sphere of activity of the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, who has demonstrated the meditative concentration free of appearances

26 Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 383/3.27Degé Edition, F.265.b.


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and free of proliferations.

―Whoever is attached to the two views will later be in a realm of delusion.

Attachment to permanence o annihilation

is utter delusion about here and there.

―Those who wish to free themselves completely from both of these views

should meditate on that which is inexpressible,

thereby swiftly attaining the grounds.

In Tibetan this passage reads as follows:

Regarding our first translation of these verses, the reviewer of the 84000 - whose identity was

kept anonymous by the editorial committee - pointed out that ―the meanings of the versifiedteachings on the nature of reality in this sutra are often obscure and lend themselves to

ambiguity. However, if the translation is rendered clearly and unambiguously, the reader will

have no idea of the ambiguous nature of the text, and will assume that the clarity of the English

reflects the clarity of the Tibetan. This could lead the reader to believe that the translation isdefinitive, whereas future translations of the same sutra that carry contradictory readings will not

be seen as merely reflecting the obscurities inherent in the text but as either correction to the

original or mistaken readings of the Tibetan.‖

The suggested solution for such problems was to insert a paragraph in the introduction on the

difficulties of translating these kinds of verses on the nature of reality in general, and specifically


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within this sutra. Moreover, specific instances of ambiguity could be annotated with footmarks to

the translation itself. We opted for the first solution suggested here.

4c. Technical Terms and Treatment of Sanskrit

A third challenge concerns the numerous Buddhist technical terms. Many or all of them

encompass meanings that cannot be accurately rendered with one single English term. Whereasthe Tibetan translators in the 7

th century were reluctant to retain Sanskrit loan words in their

translation, and rather translated nearly everything into Tibetan including names of people and

places, English translators often resort to the original Sanskrit terms. Tibetans did not shy away

from creating altogether new words, rendering, for instance, the word ―Buddha‖ with ― sangsrgyas,‖ two words that both carry new meanings, none of which directly found in the Sanskrit√ budh (to awaken). Since many English translators use Sanskrit terms, over time, Englishreaders got accustomed to certain words such as ―buddha, bodhisattva, dharma.‖ In accordancewith the 84000 guidelines, we tried to find a middle way between the necessity for, and the

overload of, Sanskrit. Our solution was to use Sanskrit whenever we could not find a satisfying

English term. We tried to reduce the amount of Sanskrit as much as we could. In our first draft

we had also bhik ṣu, parāmitā, bhūmi, saṃ gha, etc., which you find now as English terms -monk, perfection, ground, assembly, etc. - in the final, published version. The Sanskrit of these terms

can still be found in the online glossary which the reader can access by clicking on highlighted

terms in the translated text.

We used Sanskrit terms in the following instances: to describe [1] particular types of

practitioners (mahāsattva, śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha), [2] particular types of beings that werementioned as part of the Buddha‘s entourage (deva, nāga, yakṣa, gandharva, asura, garuda,kinnara, mahoraga, kimbhāṇḍa, preta, piśāca, pūtana, kaṭapūtana), and [3] for Buddhisttechnical terms that encompassed a spectrum of meaning too vast to capture all meanings. One

example for the latter category is dhāraṇī . This term is used in various ways. For instance, itrefers to the mental capacity of not forgetting, enabling one in particular to cultivate positive

forces and to ward off negativity. It is also very commonly used as a term for mystical verses

similar to mantras, the usage of which will grant a particular power. There is no English

multivalent term bearing equivalent meanings. Thus, the use of Sanskrit remains a necessity as

long as no satisfying English translations have been determined; and translation decisions have

to be taken in a case-by-case manner.

4d. Repetitions

Another challenge peculiar to translating sūtras pertains to repetitions. The editorial policies‘ statement of the 84000 reads: ―A great deal of repetition, sometimes of stock phrases, is acharacteristic feature of some Kangyur texts, and in most cases it should be reproduced in full in

the translation.‖

To give an example from our particular sutra: We had several passages mentioning fear, or the

absence thereof, for example, in the face of Āk āśagarbha‘s magical displays. In the original,


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In this presentation I have tried to elucidate the editorial policies of the 84000and our personal

experience with it. The challenges that we faced were partly specific to our team of junior

translators, and partly general difficulties that all translators of the Tibetan language encounter.

The solutions that we found have one feature in common: in order to find solutions we had to

expand – we had to expand our pool of knowledge to include the intelligence and experience ofsenior translators, and we had to expand our focus beyond the limits of the text we were

translating in order to find information and ideas in other texts. Generally speaking I can say that

the English translation of the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra would not have reached its level of qualitywithout the assistance of many scholars, particularly the editors and reviewers of the 84000. In a

collaborative effort, we have attempted to come close to their ideals of ―accuracy of meaning,clarity, consensuality, and consistency.‖ The organization of the 84000 demonstrates that in astructured collaborative effort, translations can be produced in quantity and quality that represent

much more than the sum of the individuals‘ work.

Bibliography

Tibetan Texts

Ākāśagarbha nāma mahāyāna sūtra ('Phags pa nam mkha'i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo). Tōh. 260. Degé Kangyur, vol. 66 ZA, (mdo sde, za), folios 264r.4-283b.

Dpe sdur ma. Krung go'i bod rig pa'i dpe skrun khang /, pe cin/. 2006-2009. par gzhi dang po/.Accessed Oct 10, 2014. http://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=W1PD96682

Secondary Literature

―84000 Editorial Policy v8.0.‖ Accessed Oct 30, 2014. http://84000.co/resources/grants/.

Beyer, Stephan. The Classical Tibetan Language, New York: State University of New York,

1992/ Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1993.

Jamgon Kongtrul ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas), Treasury of Knowledge,

Buddhism's Journey to Tibet . Ithaka, NY: Snow Lion Publication, 2010.

―Origin.‖ Accessed Oct 30, 2014. http://84000.co/about/origin/.

Raine, Roberta. ―Translating the Tibetan Buddhist Canon: Past Strategies, FutureProspects.‖ Forum 9.2 (2011): 157-186

―Progress.‖ Accessed Oct 10, 2014. http://84000.co/about/progress/.

Skillings, Peter. ―Dr. Peter Skilling‘s address to the conference,‖ http://translationandtransmission.org/videos.html.

Tharchin, Tenzin, and Elisabeth Lindmayer. Das Akashagarbha- Sutra. Allumfassende Liebe und

Weisheit: Heilend und Wunscherfüllend . München: Diamant Verlag, 2010.

http://84000.co/about/progress/http://84000.co/about/progress/


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Tournadre, Nicolas. ―The Classical Tibetan Cases and their Transcategoriality: From sacredgrammar to modern linguistics.‖ Himalayan Linguistics 2010, Vol. 9(2): 87-125.

―Welcome to the International Buddhist Academy,‖ accessed October 10, 2014.http://internationalbuddhistacademy.org/about/

Weldon, David. ―Guardians of the Sacred Word.‖ Accessed Oct 10, 2014.http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/covers/intro. html.


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국제 불교 학회 네팔) 사꺄

28 빤디따 번역 그룹의 프레젠테이션과

대승허공장보살경 大乘虛空藏菩薩經) 역경

서언

2014년 2월에 티베트 신년을 맞음과 동시에 “84000-부처님 말씀의 역경” 프로젝트는 백 년 동안

티베트 대장경을 완전히 역경 하는 번역 프로젝트의 일환으로 온라인상에서 대승허공장보살경

( Mahā yāna Ā k āśagarbha S ūtra; ’ phags pa nam mkha’ i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’ i mdo) 을

출판하였다.29

이 경을 번역한 사꺄 빤디따 역경 그룹은 84000프로젝트와 온라인 출판의 초기 단계부터

같이 일해 왔고, 그 사이트를 위해 첫 시험 번역을 제공하였다. 이 프레젠테이션의 목적은 84000

프로젝트의 큰 정황 안에서 가장 최근에 역경한 허공장보살경에 관한 경험을 사용하여 사꺄 빤디따의

역경작업에 관한 배경적 지식을 제시하는 것이다. 프레젠테이션 첫 부분에서 나는 우리의 역경작업에

관한 필수적인 배경 지식을 제공하고, 우리 작업의 지침인 84000의 편집 정책의 주요 특징들을 논하려

한다. 둘째 부분에서는 우리 역경 과정에 대한 특정한 세부적 내용에 초점을 두려 한다. 여기서 나는

허공장보살경을 번역하면서 직면한 난제들에 대해 논하고, 우리가 발견한 다양한 해결책을 설명할

것이다.

I.

84000 – 부처님 말씀 역경 프로젝트

역사

2009년 인도 비르 지역에 있는 녹야원 승원에서 개최된 한 번역 학술회의가 ‘84000 – 부처님 말씀

역경’을 설립하는 역할을 한 첫 걸음이었다. 이 학술회의에서 종사르 켄체 린포체의 선두 아래 50여명

이상의 티베트 경전의 역경가들이 티베트 불교 경전을 역경하는 것에 대한 중요성을 논하였다. 그들은

거기서 국제적 협력의 중요성을 깨닫게 되었다. 티베트 경전의 역경은 그 작업을 위해 금전적·물질적

지원을 얻으려 고전하고 있던 개인 번역가와 번역 그룹에 떠넘겨져왔었다. 비르에서 개최된 그

학술회의의 결과로서 우선적으로 ‘불교 문헌 유산 프로젝트 Buddhist Literary Heritage Project’가

설립되었고, 그것은 2011년에 ‘84000 – 부처님 말씀의 역경’이라고 개명되었다. 이 프로젝트는 이렇게

종사르 켄체 린포체에 의해 창시되었고, 켄체 재단이 자금을 지원하고 있다.30

이 재단은 “모든 불법을

현대 언어로 번역하여 모든 사람들에게 무상으로 제공하는 목적”을 가진 공인 글로벌 비영리 사업체이다.

비르 학회 참여자들은 또한 모든 종단의 전승자와 스승의 참여를 적극 유도하기로 결정하였다. 오늘날,지금까지 84000 프로젝트에 참여해온 153명의 개인 번역가와 23 번역 팀의 명단

31은 티베트불교의

모든 주요 종파 (닝마, 까규, 사꺄, 게룩)가 참석하였고, 따라서 범종단적인 통일된 사업체가

구성되었음을 보여준다.

28 역) 티베트 사대 종단 중의 하나. 회색 자갈이란 뜻의 티베트어로서 사캬무니의 사캬와는 어원적으로 다르다.29 인터넷 웹사이트: www.84000.co30 http://84000.co/about/origin/31 ―Translators,‖ accessed Oct 30, 2014. http://84000.co/about/translators/.


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84000 프로젝트의 비전 선언문에서 그들의 동기가 설명되어있다:32

붓다는 진정한 평화와 고로부터 해탈을 위해 팔만 사천여가지의 방편으로 가르쳤다고 한다.

이 가르침은 단지 5%만이 현대어로 역경되었다. 고전 언어에 대한 지식과 전문적인 학자들의

수가 급격히 감소하여 현재 우리들은 정신적 유산과 문화적 전통을 잃을 위기에 처해있다.

84000 프로젝트의 공언된 목표는 티베트 삼장 전체를 백년 안에 역경하는 것이다. 5년, 10년 그리고

25년의 중간적 목표는 이 목표가 달성되어야 할 중간적 단계를 확정한다. 현재 84000 프로젝트는 경장의

주요 본문을 역경하는 데 초점을 맞추고 있으므로, 논장의 역경은 상대적으로 방치되어 있다.

장 단기의 목표는 다음 차트에서 상술되었다:

100 년 현대어로 번역된 불교 문헌 유산을 모든 인류가 이용할 수 있도록 제공한다.

25 년 경장 전체와 관련된 논장을 영어로 활용가능하게 만들고, 다양한 플랫폼에서

광범위한 접근성을 제공한다.

10 년 상당한 분량의 경장과 부수적인 논장을 영어로 활용가능토록 만들고 다양한

플랫폼으로 쉽게 접근하게 만든다.

5 년 대표적인 경장과 논장의 표본을 영어로 활용가능하게 만들고, 장기적인

비전을 달성하는데 필수적인 기반환경과 자원을 정착시킨다.

티베트 불교 문헌 유산 전체를 번역하는 비전을 현실화하기 위해서 84000 프로젝트는 다섯 영역을

동시에 작업한다. 그것들은 다음과 같다:

1.역경비

: 84000 프로젝트는 주요 본문 번역을 연구금 신청 형식으로 편성하고 있다 –

지금까지는 대부분 경전들이다.

2. 출판: 84000 프로젝트 출판 위원회는 번역된 본문을 84000 웹사이트에 온라인으로 출판될

때까지 편집 과정에 가담하고 감독한다.

3.기금조성

: 84000 프로젝트는 현재 진행 중인 그리고 미래의 번역 사업을 위해 기금을

조성하는데 필수적인 노력을 취한다.

4. 번역

도구: 84000 프로젝트는 현존하는 번역 프로그램과 번역 도구, 그리고 다른 관련 정보에

관한 연계를 제공함으로써 장기적 목표를 추구하는 데 관련된 정보를 제공한다.

불교 행사

: 84000 프로젝트는 보드가야(2012, 2014)와 뉴욕 (2012, 2013)에서의 ‘부처님의 가르침이

울려퍼짐 Resounding of the Buddha‘s Word‘33과 같은 역경된 경전들이 불법 수행에 사용되는 불교 행사를

조직한다. 이런 법회식을 조직하는 공덕에 관한 고려와는 별도로, 이런 행사는 분명히 번역 프로젝트의

후원의 중요성을 선전하는 목적에 공헌한다.

32 ―Vision,‖ accessed Oct 30, 2014. http://84000.co/about/vision/. 33 역) 티베트 사람들이 불교 축제 중에 여러 다른 경전을 큰 소리로 다함께 독송하는 행사.


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프로젝트

실태

:

출판되었거나

진행

중인

작업

온라인상에서

출판

되었거나

진행

중인

역경물

역경을

의뢰한

쪽

수

출판된 쪽 수

번역 지원

번역 수


26/39


번역 의 소속

■다르마 센터 ■학술기관

84000 프로젝트 작업의 영향

아래 일람표는 84000 프로젝트에 의해 제공된 번역물들이 얼마나 자주 사용되고 있는가에 대한 개요를

제시한다.34

도서관

접속

수

:

4.4 백만 건

경전 다운로드:

110,898 번

사이트 방문자 수:

151,813 명

도서관

방문자

수

:

81,238 명

34 ―Impact,‖ accessed Oct 30, 2014. http://84000.co/about/impact/ Information updated on: January 1, 2014.


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독자

소속

국

:

135 개국

84000

프로젝트의

편집

정책

84000 프로젝트는 모든 번역가들이 준수해야할 편집 정책을 발달시켜왔다. 일 년에 한 번, 84000

프로젝트는 이미 선정된 경전의 역경 지원서를 제출하도록 번역가들에게 공지한다. 거기에 지원하기

위해 역경가들은 5 쪽의 표본 번역과 함께 팀의 역경가 소개서와 예산을 제출해야 한다. 선정된 팀은

84000 프로젝트의 편집 위원회에 의해 제시된 2010년에 시작되고 매년 증장되는 특정한 규칙에 기반을

두어 역경을 시작할 수 있다.

원전과 대상 언어

이미 언급했듯이, 84000프로젝트의 주요 초점은 경장과 논장에 속해있는 티베트 경전의 역경이다.

따라서 역경은 주로 티베트 어로부터 행해지며, 현존하는 한문본과 범본의 해석을 포함해야 한다.

대상언어는 영어이고, 장기적으로 자원이 활용가능하면 중국어를 포함한 다른 현대 언어를 포함한다.

대상 독자는 교양 있지만 전문가는 아닌 사람들이다. 역경가는 학자들과 일반 신도 양자가 이용할 수

있는 언어를 사용하도록 요구된다.

본문과 본문 비교, 그리고 교정판

대부분 역경의 원전은 데게 판의 티베트 어 경전이다. 상당한 분량의 작업들은 범어 판이 현존하지

않기 때문에 영어로 번역할 때 필수적으로 티베트 번역본으로부터 만들어 진다. 오직 소수의 작업들에만

신뢰할 수 있는 범어 원전이 활용가능하다. 그 경우 역경가는 범본을 원전으로 택해야한다. 번역은

이상적으로 한자본과 범본, 티베트본이 현존할 때 다른 판본의 본문 비교와 참조가 포함되어야 한다.

티베트본의 이형에 관해서 이 업무는 베이징의 중국 티베트학 연구 센터(krung go’ i bod rig pa zhi ’ jug ste

gnas)의 티베트 삼장 대조국(bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang )에서 발행한 경장과 논장의 신대조판(dpe bsdur

ma)에 의해 쉽게 비교·분석 할 수 있다.35

역경가들은 신대조판 경장을 사용하여 다른 판본들의 이형을

추적하는데 사용한다. 하지만 오직 의미에 중대한 영항을 끼치는 이형들만을 각주에 표기해야 한다.

연구

경전을 역경하는 것과 더불어 역경가들은 그 경전에 관해 어느 정도 연구해야하며, 소개문, 각주,

도서목록, 부록과 다른 참고 자료를 작성하도록 규정되어있다. 이것들은 그 역경물과 함께 출판된다.

모든 출판물은 온라인상에서 출판되고, 무료이다.

표준과 표준화

84000 프로젝트는 편집정책에서 번역작업을 위한 지도 원칙을 세웠다. 일반적으로 번역물은 다음과

같은 특성을 가져야한다: ‘의미의 정확함, 명료함, 합의성, 일관성 그리고 융통성.’

36

84000 프로젝트의 편집 위원회는 이 원칙들이 수반하는 내용을 역경가의 가이드라인에서 설명한다. 제 2부

프레젠테이션에서 나는 이 세부사항들 중 일부를 상세히 논할 것이다. 일반적으로 말하자면, 모든 방침은

쉽게 읽을 수 있는 경전을 만드는데 목적이 있다고 말할 수 있다. 역경가로서 우리는 독자에게 친절함 을

항시 염두에 두어야 한다.

35 Dpe sdur ma, Krung go'i bod rig pa'i dpe skrun khang /, pe cin/. 2006-2009. par gzhi dang po, 109 volumes, accessed Oct 10, 2014.

http://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=W1PD96682.36 ―84000 Editorial Policy v8.0,‖ IV A, 7, accessed Oct 30, 2014, http://84000.co/resources/grants/.


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표준을 정하는 것은 자연스럽게 표준화에 대한 질문으로 이어진다. 즉, 모든 역경가들은 빈발하는 불교

용어들에 대해 동일한 단어를 사용해야한다. 84000 프로젝트의 편집위원회는 과거에 티베트에서 한

Mahāvyutpatti(飜譯名義大集)와 유사한 번역 표준화 프로젝트를 추진하고 싶어 하는 소망을 가지고

있음을 표명하였다. 하지만 그런 표준화 사업은 현재에는 가능하지 않고, 차후 언제, 어떤 범위로 할지도

현재로선 명확하지 않다. 84000 프로젝트의 지침서는 철자법, 대문자쓰기, 기울임과 구두법에 관한

규칙을 정해주지만 단어 선택은 역경가들의 자유재량에 맡긴다. 하지만 각각의 역경 팀은 번역하는 와중에 권말 용어 해설(glossary)을 만들어야 한다. 이것은 엑셀 시트에 티베트 어, 범어와 영어를

수록하고 짧은 영어 해설을 실어서 만든다. 최종 출판 본에서는 영어 단어가 자동적으로 링크되어

독자들은 용어해설을 쉽게 볼 수 있다.

표준화에 대한 난제와 거부감에 대한 문제는 현재와 범어 불교 문헌을 티베트 어로 번역할 때의 역사적

정황과 비교해 볼 때 더 쉽게 이해된다. 따라서 나는 잠시 동안 티베트 불교 경전의 번역의 역사로 주제를

벗어나려 한다. 그러고 나서, 프레젠테이션 제 2부에서 84000 프로젝트 편집 지침의 구체적인 실례를

다시 다룰 것이다.

불교경전의 티베트 어 역경

티베트 불교 경전은 지난 수십 세기 동안 대부분의 본문이 파괴되고 사라져버린 범어에서 역경되었다.

다른 것들은 범어 원본이 사라졌다고 생각된 시기에 한자와 신장 지역의 코탄어와 소코도니안어 등의

언어로부터 행해졌다. 반면에 빨리 경전은 완전하게 전해져왔거나 혹은 오히려 재건되었다—태국,

미얀마 그리고 스리랑카와 같은 이웃 나라에서 각각의 필사본을 세대에 걸쳐 필사한 노고 덕분이다.

하지만 불행하게도 범어경전은 이에 해당되지 않는다. 수많은 범어 경전이 티베트 어와 한자

번역본으로만 현존한다.

티베트 어 역경에서는 두 개의 뚜렷이 구분되는 범어-티베트 어 역경 형태가 있는데, 그것은 티베트

역사가들이 말하는 ‘초기 전법기( snga dar )’와 ‘후기 전법기( phyi dar )’에 상당한다. 처음으로, “위에서

아래로”운동은 7세기부터 9세기 중반까지 존속하였으며, 왕권의 지도와 보호에 기반을 둔 사업이었다.

기원 후 7세기에 새로운 티베트 통일 왕국은 송쩬감뽀왕( srong btsan sgam po, 569 – 649?/605 – 649?)이

불교와 인도에서 중요시된 불교 경전 역경을 지원했을 당시에도 여전히 상대적으로 신흥국가였다.

정치적인 붕괴와 불교의 위기가 도래할 때 까지 두 세기 반의 황금기가 있었다. 두 번째, “신역경기( gsar

‘ gyur )—또는 후기 전법기( phyi dar )라고도 불린다—는 11세기와 14세기 사이에 일어난 산발적인

운동이고, 스승과 전문 학자들에 의해 불 지펴진 풀뿌리 운동이다. 이것은 위대한 개인의

활약시기이지만, 통일된 표준화를 따르는 것에는 상대적으로 일관성이 부족하다. 예를 들어, 바리

역경가37

, 드록미 역경가38

, 그리고 린첸 상뽀39

가 그런 역경가들의 일부였고, 사꺄 빤디타 번역 그룹이

속해있는 사꺄파에서 추앙되는 세 명의 위대한 역경가이다.

14세기 이후에 불교는 인도 아대륙에서 대부분 사라졌고, 범어 본문이 티베트 어로 더 이상 번역되지

않았다. 총 합 5250 본문과 230,000 개의 경전 낱장이 범어에서 티베트 어로 번역되었다. 870여명

이상의 번역가와 교학자들이 관여하였고, 그들의 역경물은 현대 역사가들이 팀워트와 전문용어, 그리고

일관성에 있어서 걸작이라고 찬탄하고 있다.40

37 Ba ri lo tsA wa(1040-1111), Rinchen Drak (rin chen grags)이라고도 불린다.38 Brog mi shakya ye shes (994-1078).39 Rin chen bzang po (958-1055).40 http://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/canons/about/wiki/tibetan%20canons%20introduction.html. Roberta Paine, ―The Translator inTibetan History: Identity and Influence.‖ Forum 8.2 (2010): 133-161 또한 보라.


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티베트 장경 번역의 독특한 특색

범어에서 티베트 어로의 역경은, 티베트 어가 티베트-버마 어족에 속해 그 두 개의 언어가 직접적인

언어적인 계통에 속하지 않음에도 불구하고, 티베트 사람들이 범어에 기반을 둔 티베트 언어 체계를

구축하였기 때문에 독특한 특색을 가지고 있다. 어쨌든 범어는 불교 경전을 티베트 어로 역경하기위한

척도로서 선택되었다.41

문법학자들은 범어의 명사 격변화, 통어론, 그리고 동사 활용—비록

단순화되었지만—의 렌즈를 통해 티베트 어를 개념적으로 해석하려 노력했을 뿐만 아니라, 왕립 위원회는 단어 선택과 번역 문체를 고도로 체계화하였다. 표준화는 아마 역경의 가장 중요한 특색이

되었고, 티베트 어가 범어와 인위적인 유사함을 가지게 된 것은 번역을 용이하게 만들고, 고도의

정확성을 가진 경전을 번역해 낼 수 있게 하는 밑거름이 되었다.42

로짜와-빤디따

경전의 표지(刊記)에서 알 수 있듯이, 번역은 대부분 티베트 번역가들과 인도 학자의 협력에 의해

행해졌고, 이 양식은 로짜와-빤디따(lotsawa-paṇḍ ita)라는 이름을 얻게 되었다. 빤디따라는 범어는 문법학,

논리학, 의학, 예술, 그리고 철학이라는 다섯 학문에 통달한 이를 지시한다. 로짜와라는 명칭은 범어

경전을 티베트 어로 역경한 티베트 본토인을 높여 부르는 용어이다. 그들 중 일부는 인도 혹은 히말라야

국경을 여행하고 인도 빤디따와 티베트로 돌아와 건강과 재산, 노고를 희생하여 역경하였다. 다른 두

가지 능력을 가진 집단의 협동적인 노력이 매우 성공적이라는 것이 증명됨에 따라, 우리 번역 팀을

포함한 오늘날 수많은 번역가들이 티베트 경전을 영어로 역경할 때 로짜와-빤디따 양식을 본뜨고 있다.

번역도구- hāvyutp tti 飜譯名義大集과 dhy vyutp tti飜譯名義中集

범어 경전의 티베트 번역은 용어 선택에 있어 고도의 일관성을 보여준다. 이것은 용어의 표준화에

투자한 노력의 결과이다. 이것은 번역명의대집과 번역명의중집, 그리고 그와 유사한 본문에 잘

분류·정리되어 있다. 번역명의대집(bye brag tu rtogs pa chen po)은 범어와 티베트 어의 용어를 비교·참조한

작업으로 무려 10,000 표제어가 수록되어 있으며, 오늘날의 학자들도 여전히 사용하고 있다. 그것과

연관된 번역명의중집(sgra sbyor bam gynis)은 번역기법의 세부적인 내용을 제공한다. 이 두 권은 티베트

어로 불교 경전의 표준화된 번역을 위해서 티데 송쩬왕( Khri lde srong btsan, 재위 799-815년)의

명령으로 약 814년—즉, 첫 역경기 동안—에 작성되었다. 이 책들은 철자법과 문법, 그리고 역경 규칙의 문제들을 해결하였고, 따라서 불교 경전을 역경하는데 상당히 일관성 있고 표준적인 언어를 구사하는데

중심적인 역할을 하였다. 티베트 어 학생은 오늘날 여전히 이 개론서를 참조한다.43

2014년 10월에

개최된 짜드라 법인의 ‘역경과 전승Translation and Transmission‘이라는 한 최근의 학회의 연설에서 피터

스킬링 박사는 역경가들에게 번역명의대집을 주의 깊게 공부하기를 권장하였다. 그는 이 책들을 대학

세미나에서도 가르칠 것을 권장하였다.44

티베트 초기 역경사에서 왕실의 감독과는 별개로 표준화된 언어를 용이하게 고안할 수 있었던 또 다른

요소는, 중국과는 달리 티베트에서는 불교의 보급 이전에 잘 발달된 철학 전통이 없었던 것이다. 따라서

번역가들은 다른 문맥에서 오해의 여지가 적은 범어 표현에 해당되는 기술적 용어들을 만들어 낼 수

있었다. 따라서 티베트 경전들은 비록 직역(逐語譯)이고, 얼마간 조밀하고 부자연스럽지만, 범어 원전을

41 티베트 문법 경전과 본문들은 7세기에 만들어졌다고 한다. Songtsen Gampo (srong btsan sgam po)왕의 지도 아래 문법학자이자

교학자인 Tonmi Sambhota (thon mi sam bho ta)는 숨쭈빠와 딱기죽빠(rtags kyi ‗jug pa)라는 문법책을 만든 저자라고 전통적으로 알려져왔다.42 Stephan Beyer, The Classical Tibetan Language, (New York: State University of New York, 1992/ Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1993)을

참조하라.43 David Weldon, ―Guardians of the Sacred Word,‖ accessed Oct 10, 2014. http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/covers/intro. html.44 Peter Skillings, ―Dr. Peter Skilling‘s address to the conference,‖ http://translationandtransmission.org/videos.html.


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표현하는데 상대적으로 신뢰성이 높다고 여겨진다. 그것들은 또한 유실된 범어 경전들을 재구성하는데

매우 귀중한 자료임이 증명되었다.45

언어 개혁

두 역경 기간 동안에, 세 번의 주요한 언어 개혁(skad gsar bcad)이 있었다. 이 개혁기 동안 수많은

용어들이 ‘舊譯(brda rnying )’으로 분류되었고, 새로운 용어들에 의해 교체되었다. 이 개정들은 표준화된 철자법과 단어, 문법을 확립하는 수단이 되었다. 마지막 개혁은 10세기에 행해졌다. 문어(文語)는 이

시간 이후로 다소간에 고착화되었다.46

이 개정 각각의 기간에 오래된, 존속하던 번역들은 새로운

표준으로 갱신되었다.

티베트

어에서

영어로의

역경

지금으로부터 500여 년 전의 시간으로 거슬러 올라가면, 번역가들의 상황은 아주 다르게 보인다. 첫

번째로 주지해야할 사항은 티베트 불교 경전을 영어(또는 다른 유럽 언어)로 역경한 역사는 오래되지

않았다는 것이다. 콜로라도 키스톤의 짜드라 학회에서 짜드라 설립자 에릭 콜롬벨은 프랑스 파리에서

미숙한 학생으로서의 경험을 공유했다. 거기서는 불어로 번역된 책이 단지 두개 있었는데 아주 이해하기

어려웠다고 했다. 어쨌든, 서양 세계의 인도-티베트 불교에 대한 관심은 19세기의 몇몇의 인도학자와

티베트학자의 비축품으로부터 150년 후 일반적인 주류 현상으로 급격히 진전되었다. 구역 경전들은

식민주의자와 기독교 선교사 혹은 융 심리학의 추종자와 같은 불교문화와 교류를 증진해가는 특정

단체의 영향을 종종 보여 왔다.47

선두적인 티베트 불교의 스승들은 현재 티베트와 티베트 망명 사회의 사회적이고 정치적인 상황에선

한 두 세대의 시간 안에 순전히 티베트 어와 그 내용을 충분히 이해할 수 있는 사람이 아주 적어질

것이라는 실질적인 위기를 인지하였다.

이 위기에 대한 증가되는 인식은 84000 프로젝트의 자금지원뿐만 아니라 티베트 불교 문헌 유산의

본존과 관계된 사업으로 이어졌다:

2008 Light of Berotsana, Colorado, USA: http://www.berotsana.org/conference-of-translators/

2009 BLHP/ 84000, Bir, India: http://84000.co/about/origin/ , previously mentioned

2011 Tengyur Translation, Sarnath, India: http://www.aibs.columbia.edu/conference.html

2014 June: Translation Conference and Workshop at University of Vienna, Austria: http://buddhism.tibetan-translation.com/2014/05/translating-and-transferring-buddhist.html

2014 October: Translation and Transmission Conference in Keystone, Colorado, USA:http://translationandtransmission.org/index.html

번역 의

종류

이 역경사업에 참여하는 사람들은 누구인가? 역경에 종사하는 티베트 스승들과는 별개로, 그들은 주로

티베트 불교와 문화적이고 언어적으로 특별한 관계가 있는 유럽과 미국의 남성과 여성들이다.

45 Roberta Raine, ―Translating the Tibetan Buddhist Canon: Past Strategies, Future Prospects,‖ Forum 9.2 (2011): 157-186.46 Jamgon Kongtrul ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas), Treasury of Knowledge, Buddhism's Journey to Tibet, (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion

Publication, 2010), 220.47 Roberta Paine은 H. Kern‘s translation을 번역에 있어서 전형적인 기독교 영향을 받은 것이라고 언급한다 (in ―The Translator in TibetanHistory: Identity and Influence.‖ Forum 8.2 (2010): 133 -161). 융학파의 영향은 예를 들어 Evans-Wentz, W. Y., Tibetan Book of the Dead :혹은, The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927에서 볼 수 있다. 이것은 칼 융의 심리학적 주석을

포함하고 있다.

http://www.berotsana.org/conference-of-translators/http://84000.co/about/origin/http://www.aibs.columbia.edu/conference.htmlhttp://buddhism.tibetan-translation.com/2014/05/translating-and-transferring-buddhist.htmlhttp://buddhism.tibetan-translation.com/2014/05/translating-and-transferring-buddhist.htmlhttp://translationandtransmission.org/index.htmlhttp://translationandtransmission.org/index.htmlhttp://buddhism.tibetan-translation.com/2014/05/translating-and-transferring-buddhist.htmlhttp://buddhism.tibetan-translation.com/2014/05/translating-and-transferring-buddhist.htmlhttp://www.aibs.columbia.edu/conference.htmlhttp://84000.co/about/origin/http://www.berotsana.org/conference-of-translators/


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200여명의 다른 참여자들과 함께 참석한 최근의 그 학회에서 선임 번역가인 울스탄 플렛쳐와 다른

이들은 두 가지 종류의 역경가들의 구분에 관해 논의하였다.

불교 수행자 통역 와 번역 �

Documents

JStenzel-SPTG presentation-with Korean.pdf