Chinese New Year Celebrating Translation

Welcome the spring with an auspicious sutra recitation

In this Chinese New Year special issue, Khyentse Foundation presents the newly completed Chinese translation of The Sūtra on Dependent Arising, recently translated from Tibetan into Chinese by the Kumarajiva Project. You will also find Rinpoche’s Chinese New Year greeting, with his recommendation to recite the Dependent Arising Dharani and sutras, as well as call for ideas as how best to introduce the concept of dependent arising to young children.

In The Sūtra on Dependent Arising, Buddha teaches several ways in which one can use the text to accumulate merit. These include contemplating dependent arising, making copies of the The Sūtra on Dependent Arising, or building a stupa into which one places the Dependant Arising Dharani inside.

OM YE DHARMĀ HETU-PRABHAVĀ HETUM TESHĀM TATHAGATO HYAVADAT TESHĀM CHA YO NIRODHA EVAM VĀDI MAHĀSHRAMANAH SVĀHĀ

All these phenomena have arisen from causes and Tathagata himself has spoken of the causes. The great Recluse the Buddha has also spoken of the cessation of the causes.

(The Dependant Arising Dharani, Sanskrit to English translation by the late Raji Ramanan, former KF Board member.)

Rinpoche’s 2022 Chinese New Year Greeting | 仁波切2022農曆新年祝福 from Khyentse Foundation on Vimeo.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche encourages the recitation of the Dependent Arising Dharani during the new year with the aspiration “to be healthy, wealthy, and happy so that we can make others healthy, wealthy, and happy.”

February 15, 2022, is the full moon day of the first month according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which marks the final day of the Chinese New Year celebration, also known as the Lantern Festival. On that day, the Kumarajiva Project and Siddhartha’s Intent India will jointly make 20,000 butter lamp offerings at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya (subject to COVID regulations) on behalf of all those who have recited the Dependent Arising Dharani or any other of the Kumarajiva Project translated sutras in any language.

Click to download The Sūtra on Dependent Arising (in Chinese)
Click to download The Sūtra on Dependent Arising (in English by 84000)
Click to download additional sutras in Chinese by the Kumarajiva Project

Tiger, Woman and bird illustration by Yachi Tseng.

Introducing “Dependent Arising” to children

Many busy parents are looking forward to spending time with their children during the Chinese New Year Holiday. We would like to take the opportunity of the official launch of The Sūtra on Dependent Arising to invite you to share with us how adults can talk about Dependent Arising with our children, either in the form of pictures or videos. You are welcome to submit your ideas to [email protected]. Your creative ideas will be shared on Khyentse Foundation social media and the Kumarajiva Project website. For more information, please visit our website.

“How to build a stupa” from the Kumarajiva Project website.

Online Lectures by the Kumarajiva Project

February 11, Introduction to The Sūtra on Dependent Arising by Professor Han,Tzu-Feng. In Chinese, no English translation.

We are honoured to have Professor Han,Tzu-Feng, long-time practitioner and scholar of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, give us a guided reading and explanation of the sutra.

February 25, Translating the sutras: trials, tribulations, and pleasures by Professor Peter Skilling. In English with Chinese translation.

The Kumarajiva Project is honoured to have Prof. Peter Skilling, the internationally renowned scholar of Sanskrit, Pali, and Tibetan Buddhist texts, share his journey of translating 25 Tibetan Buddhist sutras into English and compiling them into his new book, Questioning the Buddha.

“This volume, prose and verse join beautifully to celebrate the Dharma. The selections show how rich, how diverse, and how wonderful the Kangyur is – and how little we know about it.” (Excerpts from Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s preface for the book)