About Padmakara
The Literature of a Living Tradition
Padmakara was founded in 1987, in Dordogne, France (see Songtsen: location), and is directed by Tsetul Pema Wangyal Rinpoche and Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche.
Padmakara is the department of Songtsen responsible for the preservation, translation and publication of Tibetan texts. Its principal aim is to preserve the major texts of classic and contemporary Tibetan literature, particularly works on Buddhist philosophy and practice, and communicate them to a Western audience.
The Padmakara Translation Group, composed of translators and editors of a variety of nationalities, does its best to convey, in as many languages as possible, all the depth and flavour of texts originating in the four great schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Éditions Padmakara publishes and distributes books (mainly in French), practice text booklets (in several languages), and audio recordings. (See publishing & distribution or how to purchase books & audio).
Padmakara’s objectives
- To save an ancient tradition, over one thousand years old, from being lost
The wisdom of ancient Indian Buddhism has been preserved in its entirety in Tibet for over twelve centuries, and further enriched by the experience acquired by the great Tibetan teachers. Since the Communist occupation, this extraordinary body of knowledge has been threatened with extinction. To preserve the living oral tradition and the written texts upon which it is based is therefore a task of the utmost urgency.
- To present the Tibetan Buddhist teachings to a Western audience
This wisdom, still held by authentic teachers, is the subject of growing interest and study in the Western world. Padmakara’s wish is to make it available, in a variety of forms and in different languages, to all those wishing to understand it and put it into practise for themselves.
Padmakara's activities
To achieve these aims, Padmakara has defined four main areas of ongoing activity:
- Rescuing and preserving texts: cataloguing, and reproducing Tibetan manuscripts, xylographs, and printed books.
- Translation: Accurate and literate translation of Tibetan texts and oral teachings into Western languages, through the collaboration of authoritative Tibetan scholars and trained Western translators.
- Publishing: Publishing those translations and distributing them internationally, some under Padmakara’s own imprint, Éditions Padmakara, and others through major publishers.
- Audio archiving: Recording, archival and distribution on audio media of oral teachings given by contemporary Tibetan masters.
See also:
