Padma Publishing
Padma Publishing, established in 1986 to make the written works of the Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism available to Western students, is Chagdud Gonpa Foundation's publishing arm. Padma Publishing translates and publishes numerous traditional Nyingma sadhana texts, ritual liturgies, and prayers as well as the contemporary teachings of Chagdud Rinpoche and other Vajrayana lamas.
Padma Publishing is engaged in the long-term project of translating into English the revered Dzogchen commentaries known as the Seven Treasuries, authored by the fourteenth-century Nyingma master Longchen Rabjam (Longchenpa). These masterpieces, admired by scholars for centuries, synthesizes more than 600 years of development in the spiritual tradition first brought to Tibet by Padmasambhava in the eighth century. Padma Publishing editions include the English translation as well as structural outlines, critical notes, lists of key terms, and glossaries.
Producing an English edition of the Seven Treasuries is a daunting task, both scholastically and linguistically. Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, late head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, felt that such a project would be a extremely important undertaking, but pointed out that these comprehensive and profoundly intricate texts presented enormous challenges to quality translation. Every line, and often each word, of Longchenpa's text presents challenges. The Padma Translation Committee, headed by Richard Barron (Lama Chökyi Nyima), established a multi-leveled editorial process, similar to the traditional manner of translation projects in Tibet's great monastic institutions. In addition to having received input and direction from Chagdud Rinpoche, the translators have benefited from several visiting scholars, who have lent their expertise in elucidating and clarifying difficult points in the texts.
