OSU professor translates ancient text for the Dalai Lama

Fluent in modern and classical Tibetan, Jim Blumenthal works to foster understanding

Devotees have been following the teachings of the Buddha for nearly 2,400 years, and yet the first time Buddhist texts were translated into English was only 150 years ago. Despite the ever-increasing popularity of Buddhism in the United States, few Buddhist texts are available to English-speaking followers.

"Buddhist studies is a relatively young discipline," said Jim Blumenthal, an assistant professor of philosophy at Oregon State University specializing in Buddhist philosophy. "Not a lot of people are trained in the languages."

Blumenthal, who is fluent in both modern and classical Tibetan, has spent several years translating Buddhist works into English, and his latest project is a translation of "60 Stanzas of Reasoning," for the Dalai Lama.

The work is by an Indian Buddhist philosopher from the second century, Nagarjuna. It focuses on the nature of reality from a Buddhist standpoint, a complex topic. The Dalai Lama will be speaking on the topic at presentations in Los Angeles April 13-15 for an audience of more than 5,000. Blumenthal's translation of the work will be given to attendees.

Translating the work, which is in a tight verse form of 60 stanzas of four lines each, isn't easy. Not only did Blumenthal have to have a firm grasp of classical Tibetan, he had to read between the lines and understand the philosophical and religious underpinnings of the work in order to accurately translate it.

"It's incredibly terse," he said. "It makes it challenging. I didn't try to keep the four-verse structure. I wanted to create a bridge between literal translation and translating the meaning."

The work originally was written in Sanskrit, but translated into Tibetan in the eighth century. The Tibetan translators tried to keep the original Sanskrit verse structure, but in doing so, made the Tibetan version extremely challenging to read, because words are dropped and syllables chopped in order to keep the rhythm of the original work.

The Sanskrit has long since been lost, and only the Tibetan work remains, but so much has been abbreviated or left out that Blumenthal has had to add interpretations in brackets when the Tibetan becomes too obscure or confusing.

He also had help from a fellow scholar, Lama Geshe Kelsang Damdul, who spent a long weekend in Portland with Blumenthal, going over the stanzas.

Blumenthal was chosen to translate the work for the Dalai Lama by organizers of the Los Angeles event who were familiar with his translation of work by Indian Buddhist philosopher Shantaraksita. They gave him the task three months ago, which, combined with his teaching load at OSU, has kept him pretty busy.

"I really enjoy it," he said. "It's gratifying. I think these ideas are really important. It will open up accessibility, because so little has been translated."

Blumenthal has met the Dalai Lama several times, including when he was a graduate student, and most recently in 1998. He hopes to get a private audience with the Dalai Lama in Los Angeles. At the least, he will have an opportunity to spend some time with the Dalai Lama when he meets with a group of the event's organizers.

Blumenthal is taking a monthlong vacation/research trip to Tibet this summer, during which time he'll visit the grave of Shantaraksita. Blumenthal has hesitated visiting Tibet under current Chinese occupation, given the government's intolerance of Buddhism and policy of expelling Tibetan monks from the country. However, due to his study of Shantaraksita, who first brought Buddhism to Tibet, he thinks it's an important journey.

To answer my own question, I took a look at the OSU Philosophy Course offerings. (I think the topic of this article is important work, just wondered if it fit in this institution and department - and whether it was balanced).

So I looked, and I did find one course that covered Judeo-Christianity:

PHL 220 WORLD-VIEWS AND VALUES IN THE BIBLE (4)
A study of central portions of the Bible (in the Old Testament: Torah, prophets, psalms, and wisdom; in the New Testament: Jesus, gospels, and letters) from the perspective of the academic discipline of biblical scholarship, exploring the philosophical questions of the relationships between story, myth, thought, values, and understandings of life. (Bacc Core Course)

And one that included it:

PHL 160 QUESTS FOR MEANING: WORLD RELIGIONS (4)
A survey and analysis of the search for meaning and life fulfillment represented in major religious traditions of the world, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (Bacc Core Course)

But these seem outweighed by others:

PHL 430 HISTORY OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY (4)
Examination of the major philosophical schools, texts, and thinkers in Buddhist history, emphasizing its Indian origins, but looking beyond to the various Buddhist traditions throughout Asia.

PHL 308 BUDDHIST TRADITIONS (4)
Survey of the historical development of Buddhism in India and its spread throughout Asia and beyond by investigating the literature, rituals, history and social structure of the Buddhist traditions of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, Tibet and the Himalayan region, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and finally its growth in the West.

PHL 312 ASIAN THOUGHT (4)
Familiarizes students with key figures in the history of Asian religious ideas and philosophy. While the emphasis will be on the philosophical traditions of Asia, it will quickly become apparent that philosophy and religion are not so easily distinguishable in many Asian traditions. Areas of thought studied will include Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist. (Bacc Core Course)

Then there's this really strange "philosophy" course:

PHL 491 SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY: MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES (3)
Examination of social, biological, and philosophical factors in natural resource management; includes concepts of sustainability and their consequences for forests and human communities. REQ: Field trip, group/individual projects.

Yep, the school's in Oregon after all.

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