Jewels of Wisdom Project

Introduction

Today, knowledge of the classical Tibetan language is endangered. Many of the traditional Masters who had a real in-depth knowledge of the meaning of important classical Buddhist texts have passed away … perhaps it is only HH the Dalai Lama who still remains with this type of insight. In fifty years or less this invaluable resource could cease to exist! However, implicit in the texts themselves is the knowledge of Dharma, which can provide a repository of wisdom that needs to be urgently saved. The opportunity for collecting and collating these ‘Jewels of Wisdom’ therefore needs to be safeguarded today for the benefit of this and future generations.

1. Basic Writing & Reading On-line Course

This course is already completed and offered for free via the SSIUK website.

2. Tibetan Language, Grammar & Pronunciation

Much of the material for this comprehensive on-line facility has already been completed but now needs to be formatted by an IT specialist.

Funding: In October 2018, SSIUK donated 1000 euro to start funding the IT work required but it needs a further investment of 11,000 euro to complete the project. This will pay for an IT specialist to work for 5 months (at 1000 euro a month) plus a fee (6,000 euro) for Prof. Sanders to oversee the work involved.

3. Tibetan Grammatical Translation Game

This is an innovative on-line project by which participants can attempt to translate complete Tibetan phrases from selected texts by themselves. Having made an attempt to ‘crack’ the meaning of the phase, the participant will then be able to see if their interpretation is correct. This project focuses mainly on facilitating an understanding of the underlying principles of Tibetan grammar and to illuminate the various ways in which many Tibetan texts can be read.

Funding: Some of the material for this project has already been completed, but it requires an IT specialist to format the content. This is an open-ended project since more material can continually be added. However, for the first stage of the project, funding of 12,000 euro is required to pay an IT specialist for 6 months (at 1000 euro a month) plus a fee of 6000 euro for Prof. Sanders to oversee their work.

4. Dictionary of Tibetan Quotations

A new & exciting project in which well-known Tibetan quotations from a range of sources are collected and the various available translations collated and compared. This is both an interactive and open-ended project where participants can eventually contribute their own interpretation of individual quotations. Such quotes will be taken from Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen texts where (especially in the latter) it is common for a separate secret, inner and outer meaning to be inferred.

Funding

This is perhaps the most innovative of all the ‘Jewels of Wisdom’ projects as it will be the first of its kind.

Funding for the first year of inception - Approx: £12000 euro.

Amount Raised: £1000