這篇報導是釋迦師兄上禮拜五在美國的新聞……

中文大義：

首先由釋迦教授發起研究和保存梵文，之後由釋迦師兄和其他人，所共同努力的梵文企劃，在國際上受到肯定，從2003年開始製作梵文保存的企劃，在之前星雲大師和西來寺給予資金的協助和支持，一直到現在釋迦父子和他們的團體，已經完全成功數位化的將梵文上傳約九千頁在網路上，而這還是其中的一小部份，（據釋迦師兄另外補充說明：總共有三萬多頁的梵文）。所以釋迦師兄常常一天會花八到九個小時坐在電腦前編輯梵文的英文拼音。釋迦師兄說：梵文是相當珍貴的語言，卻大多使用在於佛教儀式而在中國或西藏很難發現到。西來大學的校長Roger Schmidt說：佛教的梵文就像是督教的聖經一樣，而尋找這些原來的文字就像是發現了一塊一塊神聖而迷失的時代。而且梵文的研究和保存對於佛教和大學來講都很驕傲也是重要的里程碑。

Interpreting the past

Buddhist texts get rewritten

By Christina L. Esparza Staff Writer

ROSEMEAD - In a plain, white-walled room in the belly of the University of the West, Miroj Shakya breathes new life into sacred Buddhist texts that much of the world thought were lost.

There are three sacred Buddhist canons written in Pali,which is used in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos; Chinesewhich is used in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam; and Sanskrit, the root of all Buddhist texts that, after translation, were virtually tossed and forgotten about, scholars said.

"The version in Sanskrit is not available really in a series or a uniform published form," said Ananda Guruge, dean of academic affairs at University of the West, who is one of the foremost Buddhist scholars in the world.

But Shakya, who with his father and others at the Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods in Nepal, is transliterating - changing the words into corresponding words of another language - the Sanskrit texts for Internet use.

The texts were found in a dusty stack in the national archives in Nepal. Shakya's father has made it his mission to make them more available to the world. Getting them copied, he said, is very expensive.

The project started in 2003 with a $30,000 grant from Most

Venerable Master Hsing Yun, founder of the university and the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights.

After funding ran out, there was abreak before the master awarded another $18,000.

Shakya and his team have uploaded about 9,000 pages of the text so far, but that is barely a dent: If any version of the canon were stacked up, the texts would be 5 feet high. However, the texts up on the Internet have already been used in research by hundreds of Buddhist scholars around the world, officials said. "Sanskrit is nearly lost," Shakya said. "It's lying on the floor and collecting dust. In 100 years, it will turn to dust."

Using a hard copy of the text and translating software, Shakya memorizes what each keystroke on a QWERTY keyboard translates to in Sanskrit.

He could sit behind his computer for eight or nine hours at a time, transliterating the canon line-by-line.

"Some believe Sanskrit is totally wiped out of the world," Shakya said. "But from our perspective, it's still alive."

Shakya said the Sanskrit language is rarely spoken, but is used in Buddhist rituals. However, a Sanskrit canon could not be found anywhere in China or Tibet. University of the West President Roger Schmidt said the canon is the Buddhist equivalent to the Christians' Holy Bible, and to find it in its original language and offer it to the world is like finding the final piece to a holy puzzle missing for generations.

Sanskrit, he said, is the only major Buddhist canon that is not easily available.

"It's \ an important milestone for Buddhism and the university is proud to be a part of it," Schmidt said.

christina.esparza@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2472

http://www.sgvtribune.com/search/ci_4619432

http://www.sgvtribune.com/