Translation Service

Translation Service

The Only Solution Is Dharma
Date of Advice:
February 2021
Date Posted:
January 2023

Rinpoche sent this letter to a nun who had translated a text and provided commentary to students. Rinpoche advised that her kindness brings great benefit to so many sentient beings at this time of unbelievable suffering in the world.

My dearest, most kind, most precious, my wish-fulfilling—not only that, but other sentient beings [who are] wish-fulfilling as well—one,

Here’s a short note, a message from me, Mickey Mouse, I say “sloth in a human body,” a sloth animal but in a human body. It’s my description, that I give to some people.

Really, your kindness normally and now, particularly this time, translating this teaching and providing some commentary to the students and outside people, I’m sure that is of great benefit to so many sentient beings in the world. You can see now there’s the [COVID-19] virus, several viruses and unbelievable health problems creating suffering. There’s famine and dangers of fire, water, air and earth, for example, what happened in Dehradun [the capital of the Indian state of Uttarakhand] yesterday, the water flooding from a broken dam due to an avalanche, wow, wow, and what happens in China and in so many countries.

You can see how Dharma becomes more and more important as the suffering increases. The only solution is Dharma, but people don’t know what to do. The majority don’t know, they have totally no idea. Skies of ignorance. Mountains of ignorance and skies of ignorance. No karma to meet Dharma for eons, eons, eons, eons, eons. Most of the sentient beings are like this. What to do? They have no karma to hear Dharma and no way to practice, no opportunity. It is like that. Even those born as a human being one time continuously engage their life totally in negative karma, harming others and thinking that is a way of achieving happiness.

Therefore now, you can see, your translation, explaining the holy Dharma and particularly Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings, is so important.

I hope you are well. You should be well because when your heart, your good heart, is benefiting others and you live the life with that, and on top of that, being devotional, having guru devotion, that brings all the happiness and all the wishes. You make your body and mind healthy and cause so many others to have healthy bodies and minds. Thank you very much.

A billion, trillion times thanks from my heart for your kindness in making the translation and not only for this, but whatever you have done in the past, including your study, becoming geshe-ma, studying, all these things. I thank you for this, for so many years of studying, for so many years of translating and explaining Dharma, all that.

Thank you very much. Your body, speech and mind, with bodhicitta, is worthwhile to every sentient being.

Thank you very much and see you soon.

Motivation for Translating Dharma
Date of Advice:
March 2016
Date Posted:
June 2018

A student wrote to Rinpoche about an offer of work as a translator at an FPMT Dharma center. The student wished to accept the job and to continue studying while earning income from this work.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Milarepa Center, Vermont, for a retreat, 2010. Photo: Jim Hagan.

My most dear, most kind, most precious wish-fulfilling one,
If they asked, do it. Just pray for success to Medicine Buddha, to your gurus and to Tara. You are most welcome to continue to help the FPMT organization.

That should be your main aim, as long as there is a way to do it, even if the work is not within FPMT but is outside. Sometimes that happens, things can change, so that’s still okay.

As long as you are translating Dharma it is opening the wisdom eye for sentient beings. This is the most important thing in life—to free [all sentient beings] from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to peerless happiness, buddhahood. Not just to free them from the lower realms.

With much love and prayers ...

A Billion, Zillion Thanks
Date of Advice:
September 2017
Date Posted:
March 2018

Rinpoche sent this letter to thank a translator for their service to others.

A billion, zillion thanks for all your life, whatever you do, even your breathing. It is for other sentient beings and for the teachings of the Buddha. Through FPMT you help others, so I just want to express this. Your life, your compassion and your wisdom are very precious.

Also, thank you very much for coming to the course and for making yourself available for the teachings. Please take care with bodhicitta.

Thanking Translators
Date Posted:
November 2012

Students from an FPMT translation service advised Rinpoche that two of his books had recently been published in Spanish by a new publishing house.

To all my dear friends of the ...Translations Services,
From my heart I want to thank you very much for all your service and dedication, putting together this most beneficial service. It's so, so beneficial, making the Dharma available. AMAZING! Thank you.

With much love and prayer...

Merit of Translating Dharma
Date Posted:
October 2012

Students from the sixth Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program (LRZTP6) sent photos to Rinpoche of their recitation of the Sutra of Golden Light in Tibetan, on Lha Bab Düchen, the festival celebrating Buddha’s descent from Tushita pure land. Rinpoche sent the following message to the students.

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling students of LRZTP6,
Zillions and billions of thanks for reading the Golden Light Sutra in Tibetan, especially those who only started Tibetan one month ago. You people must be like Manjushri! I also appreciate one student’s recitation of the Diamond Cutter Sutra in English.

Since many of you have received teachings from His Holiness, think you are fulfilling His Holiness’s wishes by learning Tibetan for the purpose of preserving the Dharma. That means you are following the wishes of numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas.

It becomes the most powerful purification and the most extensive way to create merit. This means quick enlightenment and also benefits sentient beings; to bring them to enlightenment quickly. With each Tibetan word you translate think this.

As much as possible each day, with each action, have compassion for all sentient beings, or at least many times in the day. This is the way to make the life most meaningful, so it becomes the happiest life.

You have a very qualified teacher, a very good teacher, so please recognize this. Thank you very much and see you very soon.

With much love and prayer...

 

Translation of a Text
Date Posted:
September 2009

Rinpoche gave the following advice to a student who was working with him on a translation of a text, mostly correcting the English.

Dear Jill,
Even though there are a few words to choose from for some of the words, basically do what is best. I am quite happy even with this part of the translation, the way it came out. It is most important that nothing is left out from the root text.

Here and there for some clarification, to make it easy to understand, a little elaboration was needed. As there are other translations, many people are not familiar with the meaning of the teaching, it is a little bit difficult for them. This makes it easy to understand.

When you go through this, of course, it is easy to say things are empty of true existence, but not so easy to understand the unification of existing and empty, which means TEN-DREL: dependently related unified with emptiness. So many meditators make this mistake. There are many different views of what empty means. Not everybody came to the conclusion of the Prasangika.

Before working on this part about emptiness, it may be helpful to make some prayers to Manjushri. First, purify defilements with nectar, next receive wisdom and the meaning of the teachings and emptiness. Do this either with mig-tsema or Manjushri mantra. This might help to have a clear mind when you go through the section on emptiness.

Even though it is just two three stanzas on emptiness, it is very profound and the heart of the Buddhadharma, talking of the very important point of all those philosophical texts on emptiness, the essence of all the Prajnaparamita texts from the Buddha, all the commentaries from India and Lama Tsongkhapa, and so forth.

One student read the translation we are working on and said that it has more feeling than all the previous translations.

Thank you very much.

With much love and prayers...