“The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels” ( Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha )
As taught by Guru Sakyamuni Buddha : a new translation with commentaries.
This is a reference to a major new translation of a Buddhist classic, a discourse by Guru Sakyamuni Buddha ( sutra ) which has just been published. It is “The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels”, provided in the main Buddhist languages of Pali, Sanskrit, and English.
In this post I will introduce the book, translator Tony Duff, and his Padma Karpo Translation Committee. News of this translation came to my email from Tony Duff’s Committee just yesterday.
The focus of this teaching/ sutra is The Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, i.e. The Awakened One, the Discipline/ Practice of the Awakened One, and the Community of the Awakened One. This set of Three Jewels is the Buddhist Refuge for all Buddhist schools and lineages, be they Theravadin, general Great Way Mahayana, or Vajrayana ( Esoteric Buddhism ).
All Buddhist teaching is based upon the Three Jewels exclusively, and formal Refuge in the Three Jewels is the sole determinant of (1) entry into the Buddhist community, (2) membership in the Buddhist community, and (3) authority of Buddhist teaching. Therefore this is a foundational teaching and guidance which determines the meaning and character of Buddhist practice and community.
There are a vast number of Buddhist sutras, and the general oral teaching of Guru Sakyamuni Buddha comes to about sixteen hundred ( 1600 ) pages in English, as translated from the Pali language. Some amount of scripture is necessary even to begin practicing the Buddhist teaching or to understand Buddhist Refuge, and that begins with knowing the meaning of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Thus, among the many kinds of Buddhist scriptures and teachings, the formal teaching of the Three Refuges is quintessential and of very high priority. It makes sense that every Buddhist fellowship should want a copy of this new translation and that it should be studied in Buddhist fellowships of all kinds.
The scripture “The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels” comes with three commentaries, including two by the master scholars Taranatha and Mipham. Thus, this is a self-contained text and a complete course in scriptural study for a major sutra. The overall book, with commentaries, is over 300 pages. A major Buddhist teacher has called this translation “superb” and is strongly recommending it for shedra ( formal teaching retreat ) studies.
The translator is Tony Duff, one of the most important translators of Buddhist teachings into western languages and a Buddhist spiritual doctor.
The publishing organization for this translation is Padma Karpo Translation Committee, which provides a remarkably useful and profound set of translations for key Buddhist teachings at all levels, some of which are restricted materials for initiates of Mahamudra and Atiyoga / Dzogchen.
Their web site is
http://www.pktc.org/pktc/index.htm
and it gives more detail on Padma Karpo and Tony Duff, as follows:
The committee was established in 1993 by Lotsawa Tony Duff at the request of Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Lotsawa Tony has directed the committee ever since.
The committee provides oral and written translation services for Tsoknyi Rinpoche and other teachers. The committee records and archives the dharma teachings of various teachers.
Lotsawa Tony is a very well known scholar and translator who has spent over thirty-five years of his life fully dedicated to studying, practising, teaching, and translating. He has been a full-time Buddhist practitioner-scholar since 1973. He was Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s personal translator during the 1990’s and has translated orally and in writing for many other great teachers during the years. He has been a member of several translation committees and has published or been involved in the publication of many Tibetan Buddhist texts.
The committee actively pursues textual translations. Many books are available on this site both for purchase and for free. The committee provides the texts of the translations in Tibetan in electronic format where possible.
The committee has a special interest in electronic publications. To this end the committee has developed a suite of software for working with the Tibetan language. Many dictionaries and reference texts are available using the software.
Here is the book description, from
http://www.pktc.org/pktc/transpaper.htm#UnendingAuspiciousness
---------------------
Title Unending Auspiciousness
Sub-Title The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels with Commentaries by Ju Mipham, Taranatha, and Tony Duff
Author Tony Duff
Details 306 pages, 2 colour plates, 6" X 9", US$30, available on paper and in PDF and Kindle e-book formats
ISBN 978-9937-9031-0-3
Texts Tibetan text in Tibetan script: Derge edition of the extended recollections of the Three Jewels, and Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels
The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels is a compilation of the Buddha’s teachings called “the recollections”. The recollections are widely used throughout all Buddhist traditions as a way of remembering the Three Jewels and deepening faith in them. This book is a particularly complete collection of everything needed to study, practice, and even translate the Sutra.
The book starts with three chapters of introduction which explain: the origins of the Sutra; the many translation issues raised by the Sutra; and how to study and practise the Sutra. These chapters contain a wealth of material gathered and arranged in one place by the author after years of study of the Sutra. They contain something for everyone. There are discussions of faith and how to arouse it using the Sutra. There are extensive discussions of translation which are a must-read for anyone doing translation work from Tibetan Buddhist texts; they cover important issues of translation that have not been seen in print to date. Then there is helpful guidance on how to study and understand the Sutra. There is also a section on how to access the magic of fundamental reality using the Sutra.
The second introductory chapter entitled Translation Issues raised by the Sutra contains ground-breaking explanations of the translation process that was followed in Tibet and the process that needs to be established for translating Tibetan texts into English and other languages. Clearly, it will be of great interest to almost anyone seriously involved with Tibetan studies. However, the chapter also contains in-depth explanations of the meanings of terms such as buddha, Three Jewels, arhat, and so on and should be of wide interest, even to non-scholars. It is of such interest that we are providing it for free as an independent document.
The body of the book follows. It starts with all of the source materials needed to understand, study, and translate the Sutra (see below for the list of texts included). The sources are backed with information on them and how they relate to the Sutra in the first introductory chapter. Following that, the Sutra itself in Tibetan and English is provided. The book culminates in three major commentaries to the Sutra.
The first commentary, by the author himself, was written directly in English to make it easy for English speakers to understand all the details of the Sutra and the many issues surrounding it. At the same time, it is very extensive, covering issues that even the Tibetan commentaries do not consider. For example, the author presents a number of insights taught by the vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa when he explained the Sutra in 1982 but which seem to have been lost. It also gathers into one place the many issues surrounding the Sutra raised by the two Tibetan commentaries. The second commentary, by the extremely learned Tibetan Taranatha, has the advantage of being a shorter commentary that it is relatively to understand. The third commentary is the very extensive and rather complicated one by Ju Mipham Namgyal that has become very famous in general these days as the way to study the Sutra. Mipham’s commentary is very technical and can be hard to understand in places unless one is already very well versed in Buddhist philosophy. Therefore, the author has provided extensive notes to make it accessible.
The administration of Gangteng Tulku’s shedra for his Western students has reviewed our book and the translation of Mipham’s commentary in particular and called it "superb". They are strongly recommending it for all the shedra students.
The book contains translations of the following texts:
The recollections of buddha, dharma, and sangha as originally taught by the Buddha, in Pali, Sanskrit, and English
The recollections of buddha, dharma, and sangha as extended by Great Vehicle followers, from the Derge edition of the Tibetan Tangyur, in Tibetan
The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels, edition from Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje’s Collected Works, in Tibetan and English
A Complete Commentary to The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels by Tony Duff, in English
A Little Explanation of The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels by Taranatha, in English
A Complete Commentary to The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels called “A Melody of Unending Auspiciousness” by Ju Mipham Namgyal, in English
--------------------------------
Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu!
May this sutra flourish, may all the work of Padma Karpo flourish and may all the classical Buddhist teachings be strengthened and properly established in the West for the benefit of all beings!
Written in partial fulfillment of my formal responsibilities as a Mahayana Buddhist guru, with deep gratitude for the extraordinary work performed by Padma Karpo.
KT
As taught by Guru Sakyamuni Buddha : a new translation with commentaries.
This is a reference to a major new translation of a Buddhist classic, a discourse by Guru Sakyamuni Buddha ( sutra ) which has just been published. It is “The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels”, provided in the main Buddhist languages of Pali, Sanskrit, and English.
In this post I will introduce the book, translator Tony Duff, and his Padma Karpo Translation Committee. News of this translation came to my email from Tony Duff’s Committee just yesterday.
The focus of this teaching/ sutra is The Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, i.e. The Awakened One, the Discipline/ Practice of the Awakened One, and the Community of the Awakened One. This set of Three Jewels is the Buddhist Refuge for all Buddhist schools and lineages, be they Theravadin, general Great Way Mahayana, or Vajrayana ( Esoteric Buddhism ).
All Buddhist teaching is based upon the Three Jewels exclusively, and formal Refuge in the Three Jewels is the sole determinant of (1) entry into the Buddhist community, (2) membership in the Buddhist community, and (3) authority of Buddhist teaching. Therefore this is a foundational teaching and guidance which determines the meaning and character of Buddhist practice and community.
There are a vast number of Buddhist sutras, and the general oral teaching of Guru Sakyamuni Buddha comes to about sixteen hundred ( 1600 ) pages in English, as translated from the Pali language. Some amount of scripture is necessary even to begin practicing the Buddhist teaching or to understand Buddhist Refuge, and that begins with knowing the meaning of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Thus, among the many kinds of Buddhist scriptures and teachings, the formal teaching of the Three Refuges is quintessential and of very high priority. It makes sense that every Buddhist fellowship should want a copy of this new translation and that it should be studied in Buddhist fellowships of all kinds.
The scripture “The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels” comes with three commentaries, including two by the master scholars Taranatha and Mipham. Thus, this is a self-contained text and a complete course in scriptural study for a major sutra. The overall book, with commentaries, is over 300 pages. A major Buddhist teacher has called this translation “superb” and is strongly recommending it for shedra ( formal teaching retreat ) studies.
The translator is Tony Duff, one of the most important translators of Buddhist teachings into western languages and a Buddhist spiritual doctor.
The publishing organization for this translation is Padma Karpo Translation Committee, which provides a remarkably useful and profound set of translations for key Buddhist teachings at all levels, some of which are restricted materials for initiates of Mahamudra and Atiyoga / Dzogchen.
Their web site is
http://www.pktc.org/pktc/index.htm
and it gives more detail on Padma Karpo and Tony Duff, as follows:
The committee was established in 1993 by Lotsawa Tony Duff at the request of Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Lotsawa Tony has directed the committee ever since.
The committee provides oral and written translation services for Tsoknyi Rinpoche and other teachers. The committee records and archives the dharma teachings of various teachers.
Lotsawa Tony is a very well known scholar and translator who has spent over thirty-five years of his life fully dedicated to studying, practising, teaching, and translating. He has been a full-time Buddhist practitioner-scholar since 1973. He was Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s personal translator during the 1990’s and has translated orally and in writing for many other great teachers during the years. He has been a member of several translation committees and has published or been involved in the publication of many Tibetan Buddhist texts.
The committee actively pursues textual translations. Many books are available on this site both for purchase and for free. The committee provides the texts of the translations in Tibetan in electronic format where possible.
The committee has a special interest in electronic publications. To this end the committee has developed a suite of software for working with the Tibetan language. Many dictionaries and reference texts are available using the software.
Here is the book description, from
http://www.pktc.org/pktc/transpaper.htm#UnendingAuspiciousness
---------------------
Title Unending Auspiciousness
Sub-Title The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels with Commentaries by Ju Mipham, Taranatha, and Tony Duff
Author Tony Duff
Details 306 pages, 2 colour plates, 6" X 9", US$30, available on paper and in PDF and Kindle e-book formats
ISBN 978-9937-9031-0-3
Texts Tibetan text in Tibetan script: Derge edition of the extended recollections of the Three Jewels, and Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels
The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels is a compilation of the Buddha’s teachings called “the recollections”. The recollections are widely used throughout all Buddhist traditions as a way of remembering the Three Jewels and deepening faith in them. This book is a particularly complete collection of everything needed to study, practice, and even translate the Sutra.
The book starts with three chapters of introduction which explain: the origins of the Sutra; the many translation issues raised by the Sutra; and how to study and practise the Sutra. These chapters contain a wealth of material gathered and arranged in one place by the author after years of study of the Sutra. They contain something for everyone. There are discussions of faith and how to arouse it using the Sutra. There are extensive discussions of translation which are a must-read for anyone doing translation work from Tibetan Buddhist texts; they cover important issues of translation that have not been seen in print to date. Then there is helpful guidance on how to study and understand the Sutra. There is also a section on how to access the magic of fundamental reality using the Sutra.
The second introductory chapter entitled Translation Issues raised by the Sutra contains ground-breaking explanations of the translation process that was followed in Tibet and the process that needs to be established for translating Tibetan texts into English and other languages. Clearly, it will be of great interest to almost anyone seriously involved with Tibetan studies. However, the chapter also contains in-depth explanations of the meanings of terms such as buddha, Three Jewels, arhat, and so on and should be of wide interest, even to non-scholars. It is of such interest that we are providing it for free as an independent document.
The body of the book follows. It starts with all of the source materials needed to understand, study, and translate the Sutra (see below for the list of texts included). The sources are backed with information on them and how they relate to the Sutra in the first introductory chapter. Following that, the Sutra itself in Tibetan and English is provided. The book culminates in three major commentaries to the Sutra.
The first commentary, by the author himself, was written directly in English to make it easy for English speakers to understand all the details of the Sutra and the many issues surrounding it. At the same time, it is very extensive, covering issues that even the Tibetan commentaries do not consider. For example, the author presents a number of insights taught by the vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa when he explained the Sutra in 1982 but which seem to have been lost. It also gathers into one place the many issues surrounding the Sutra raised by the two Tibetan commentaries. The second commentary, by the extremely learned Tibetan Taranatha, has the advantage of being a shorter commentary that it is relatively to understand. The third commentary is the very extensive and rather complicated one by Ju Mipham Namgyal that has become very famous in general these days as the way to study the Sutra. Mipham’s commentary is very technical and can be hard to understand in places unless one is already very well versed in Buddhist philosophy. Therefore, the author has provided extensive notes to make it accessible.
The administration of Gangteng Tulku’s shedra for his Western students has reviewed our book and the translation of Mipham’s commentary in particular and called it "superb". They are strongly recommending it for all the shedra students.
The book contains translations of the following texts:
The recollections of buddha, dharma, and sangha as originally taught by the Buddha, in Pali, Sanskrit, and English
The recollections of buddha, dharma, and sangha as extended by Great Vehicle followers, from the Derge edition of the Tibetan Tangyur, in Tibetan
The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels, edition from Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje’s Collected Works, in Tibetan and English
A Complete Commentary to The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels by Tony Duff, in English
A Little Explanation of The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels by Taranatha, in English
A Complete Commentary to The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels called “A Melody of Unending Auspiciousness” by Ju Mipham Namgyal, in English
--------------------------------
Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu!
May this sutra flourish, may all the work of Padma Karpo flourish and may all the classical Buddhist teachings be strengthened and properly established in the West for the benefit of all beings!
Written in partial fulfillment of my formal responsibilities as a Mahayana Buddhist guru, with deep gratitude for the extraordinary work performed by Padma Karpo.
KT
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