Helping Padmakara
Padmakara publications
Contents:
How Padmakara functions
Padmakara’s income is from book sales (mainly French books in France) and royalties (Padmakara translations published by other publishers, mainly English and other languages). It just suffices to finance the printing of new books and pay Padmakara’s modest administrative running costs, after which there is not enough left to cover the full cost of the salaries of the two members of the administrative staff. The translators’ work, along with part of the administrative staff salaries, is paid by grants from sponsors.
Padmakara is an Association under French law, and was never intended to be a for-profit business. The books it publishes are not chosen because they are likely to sell well. They are specialist works made available to a very limited public, and are chosen for their intrinsic cultural and spiritual value. Many of them are reference works, difficult to understand without prolonged study, and designed to comprise the textbooks of an advanced study syllabus. They are of high quality, and the time that goes into their preparation is simply however long may be necessary to produce the desired result—indeed, the time spent researching and translating them is out of all proportion to their selling price. Once published, whether many copies are sold or not they are maintained in print without limit, unless superseded by a revised edition.
Of course, Padmakara’s administrative staff do their best to market and distribute the books and other products as effectively and efficiently as possible, applying business methods as a matter of common sense. But Padmakara’s primary goal is to make the translated texts available to an interested public, regardless of financial result, as a contribution to the knowledge, study and practice of Buddhism, and the preservation of a unique cultural and spiritual tradition.
In fact, as detailed in Padmakara’s ethics and goals as a publisher, Padmakara’s directors are quite happy—from an ethical standpoint—that no-one in Padmakara’s staff is making a living from the profits of selling Dharma texts. Moreover, were it practicable in the West to distribute such texts free (and still have them valued and taken seriously), they would be delighted to do so.
Inevitably, Padmakara’s work thus depends to a large extent on financial support from third parties—foundations and individuals. In particular, the Tsadra Foundation currently sponsors not only six of the translators as its Fellows, but also contributes a grant to cover the cost of one administrative staff salary. Other donations from private individuals cover three more of the translators and a substantial part of the second administrative staff salary. A number of part-time translators, re-readers, and technical staff in the audio department contribute their time free. Padmakara is extremely grateful for all of these precious contributions, without which it could not function at all.
In addition to the generous support it is receiving at present, Padmakara still needs further funding to maintain and improve its current activities and develop in new directions. Some of these needs are set out in this section (see below).
Priority projects to be funded
Padmakara is currently in urgent need of funds in the form of donations and sponsorships to support the following projects:
- The library project: a facility for text preservation, research, & translation
- Tibetan translation: the translation of more Tibetan texts
- Scholarships for new translators: training a new generatio
- Publication projects: helping to print Padmakara books and practice texts
- The audio library: preservation of a unique audio heritage
- Administrative staff support
If you would like to participate, please email info@padmakara.org. We will be happy to supply further details (including information relevant to donors in countries other than France). To make a contribution, please use our online donation form or read more about donations or how to get involved.
Help Padmakara by making a donation
Padmakara is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and translation of Tibetan literature. Padmakara functions solely on the generosity of our donors. You can help Padmakara's efforts by making a donation, using one of the following online donation methods. Contributions are very much needed and appreciated. We thank you for your support!
Donations are tax-deductible in France, but may or may not be elsewhere; see deductibility of donations. If you have questions please check out our FAQ or contact us.
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Please contact us for more information.
