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About the Conference

Light of Berotsana cordially invites translators of the Tibetan language to the Conference of Translators that we will host in Boulder, Colorado from the 26th to the 28th of September, 2008. Following an informal gathering from 5–7pm on the evening of Thursday, September 25th, the formal Conference will begin on the morning of September 26th.

To be held at the Boulder Shambhala Meditation Center, this conference will bring together a group of esteemed lamas and as many Western translators of Tibetan texts and oral teachings as possible for in-depth dialogue among peers regarding such topics as excellence in translation; language issues and dilemmas; personal projects and research; translation resources and technology; pedagogy, training, and mentorship; and safeguarding the future of translation in the West.

The conference promises to be a stimulating, meaningful, and provocative time. We hope you will be able to join us.

The purpose of the Conference of Translators is:

To cultivate the profession of Tibetan–English translation, nurture collegiality, and foster excellence in the craft.

Who should come:

The Conference of Translators is intended for translators who have accrued at least several years of serious study of the Tibetan language. While the Conference will focus primarily on Tibetan to English translation, we encourage those translating from Tibetan into languages other than English, and those translating from languages such as Mongolian, to join with us; we feel strongly that the topics and conversations planned will be relevant to you as well. We welcome all of you both to partake of one another's knowledge and experience and to mentor a new generation of translators.

We hope to inspire the following outcomes:

• Foster excellence and further skills
• Make connections and cultivate resources
• Honor the past and envision the future
• Deepen and refresh one’s personal connection to work
• Further professional life – an exploration of livelihood and the creation of a guild
• Use the spark of others’ intelligence and creativity to ignite one’s own
  

Program: Conversations that Matter

This Conference of Translators will consist of a series of conversations among peers: conversations that are conceived, convened, and shaped by translators. Based upon the thoughtful responses from the large community of translators, we have developed a preliminary group of topics around which we are designing our program, outlined here:

Preliminary Agenda:

1. What is excellence in translation? How do we define it, and how do we achieve it?
   • How do we balance precision with literary values?
   • Working in different genres
   • Tradition and modernity
2. Hands on practicum with words, phrases, ideas, approaches, and dilemmas:
   • Translating words and translating meaning
   • The myth of equivalence
   • Not having the concepts, not having the words
   • Using a language deeply influenced by Biblical tradition to express the Buddhadharma
3. Decisions: How do we make them? What do we do when the lama disagrees?
   • Specific challenges faced by native and non-native speakers of Tibetan when translating from Tibetan to English
4. Pedagogy, education, and the mentoring of younger translators
5. What to translate, areas of research
6. Resources, technology, global archive
7. The Profession: Creating a guild, making a living, fulfilling our responsibilities

These are the topics that have dominated the responses from the community of translators at large and appear to be timely and meaningful to so many of us.  We plan for these conversations to unfold and deepen over three days of rich interaction. Our intention is to explore these issues in ways that meaningfully support and further our work. We heartily encourage you to reflect upon our proposal and respond with your suggestions. Additionally we encourage those translating from Tibetan into languages other than English, and those translating from languages such as Mongolian, to join with us; we feel strongly that the topics and conversations planned will be relevant to you as well. For more information, please write to jf@berotsana.org.

Special Guests:

At this time, the following esteemed lamas have confirmed their attendance at the Conference of Translators:

• Alak Zenkar (Tudeng Nyima) Rinpoche
• Tülku Thöndrup
• Ringu Tülku
• Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche will join us for one day
• Anyen Rinpoche
• Acharya Tenpa Gyaltsen  
  

We hope you will join us in Boulder, Colorado, for the Conference of Translators, September 26th to 28th of 2008. Registration deadline is September 10th, 2008.

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