INITIATIVES

Text Preservation

SINI's text preservation work focuses on making rare Buddhist texts and teachings accessible to contemporary audiences through scholarly research and collaborative projects that bring together monastics and researchers from across the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Our major current initiative is the Kagyur Karchag Project, which creates comprehensive summaries of the sutras that compose the Kagyur, the collection of the Buddha's teachings translated into Tibetan.

The Institute's commitment to text preservation builds upon decades of work by our founder, Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, who established the Yeshe De Text Preservation Project in 1983. This ongoing initiative focuses on researching, archiving, and reproducing rare Buddhist teachings that might otherwise be lost to time.

These efforts ensure that rare Buddhist manuscripts and canonical texts remain accessible to future generations of practitioners and scholars, preserving the textual foundation upon which all Buddhist learning depends.

TEXT PRESERVATION

Kagyur Karchag Project

The Kagyur Karchag Project brings together more than 50 researchers from all five major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism (Gelug, Kagyu, Jonang, Nyingma and Sakya) to examine the 368 sutras that compose the Kagyur, the transcribed words of the Buddha.

The work is directed by Khenpo Ju Tenkyong from Larung Gar Institute in China. The project differs from previous karchags in that each summary-introduction begins with a description of the five perfections (phun sum tshogs pa lnga): the teacher, the teaching, the place, the disciples, and the time. As Khenpo la explained, "When our readers see this, they immediately understand the context of when, where, how, and to whom a particular sutra was taught."

Whereas previous karchags were essentially indexes or tables of contents, the summaries contained in the Kagyur Karchag Project will allow readers to immediately access the heart essence (snying po) of each particular sutra. The researchers compare Tibetan editions of the Kangyur with those in Chinese, Pali, and Sanskrit, while the writers consult available commentaries, often reading 20–30 commentaries for sutras that are well known.

Launched by Tarthang Tulku in 2019 and directed by Tsering Gellek, the project has received blessings from preeminent lamas including His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, His Holiness Sakya Trizen, His Holiness Drikung Kagyu Rinpoche, His Eminence Thrangu Tulku, and His Eminence Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. The sutras are initially synopsized in Tibetan with the intention to benefit monasteries, shedras, and Buddhist scholars. A condensed version will make the material accessible to laypeople and form a springboard for the development of curriculum materials for Tibetan schools. There are also plans to render the summaries in English and Chinese and to make them available online. As Lopon Tsering Nyima, Assistant Director of the Kagyur Karchag Project, explained: "For more than 1,200 years, for generations and generations, Tibetans have held these precious Buddhist teachings. If we can translate our work into English, I have faith that we will likewise benefit people long into the future, for many generations to come."

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