AIBS at Columbia University
Khurul: The Central Temple of Kalmykia
Tibet House US

Central University for Tibetan Studies, India

TENGYUR TRANSLATION INITIATIVE

His Holiness the Dalai Lama always says he is the “son of the great Pandits of Nalandā.” Nalandā was the great Buddhist Monastic University of classical India, delivering enlightenment sciences and world-transforming arts to millions of seekers from all over Eurasia. Those “Great Pandits” were genius adepts like Nāgārjuna, Āryāsanga, Dharmakīrti, Chandrakīrti, et al., and their voices are recorded in around 4000 works of sciences and arts. The Nalandā Library, “Jewel Treasure Ocean” (Ratnodadhī), was the greatest of the “Libraries of Alexandria” of the classical world, repository of human knowledge and achievement since unrivalled, especially in the field of the “Inner Sciences.”

It was destroyed a thousand years ago, all but 5% of its texts lost in original Sanskrit. Only around 3% were translated into ancient Chinese. Fortunately, it has been recently discovered that its most important masterpieces still exist in lucid, flawless Tibetan translations preserved in the Tibetan Tengyur Collection. Thanks to the kind inspiration of contemporary Tibetan master sages, such as H.H. the Dalai Lama, we are just beginning to translate, interpret, understand, and put into practice the teachings contained in these works.

In this intense time of world crisis, the Inner Sciences are vital to survival, as they must urgently provide the methods for we humans to transcend our crippling delusions of self-estrangement from nature and other beings, and our self-destructive habits of greed and hatred that threaten all life with rampant consumerism and reckless militarism. Modern “inner sciences” of psychology and neuroscience are advancing tremendously, just held back on the brink of success by materialistic reductionism. Therefore, the voices of the great scientist sages of Nalandā must be heard, as they teach us what we need to know about mind being the most effective force in nature—and its control, cultivation, and accelerated evolution now being the key method of saving the world for all future generations.