Unexpected Freedom

We are all TranslatorsTruly it is ourselves that we depend upon;how could we really depend upon another?When we reach the state of self-reliancewe find a rare refuge.Dhammapada verse 160On this occasion I would like to discuss the effort that we areall making in our work to translate the practice of Buddhism.Maybe it hasn’t occurred to you that you are a translator. Iwould like to suggest that we are all translators in the sensethat the teachings which we have inherited from our Asianbrothers and sisters cannot be simply uprooted and thenreplanted in another place on the planet without dueattention to the differing environmental conditions. Whilewe gladly recognize there are certain universal principles inthe teachings, there are obviously also some aspects that arerelative to culture and tradition. So the manner in which weare taking up Buddhist practice and the kind of effort we aremaking is our contribution to this shared task of translation.This is as important as, if not even more important than, thework of translating texts. Can we become more conscious ofour contribution to this task as we make it?I have often spoken about identifying what pertains toform in the teachings and what is in the domain of spirit.Mixing up these things can mean that we put emphasis in15