In this talk, Erik Pema Kunsang, one of the most prolific textual translators of Tibetan Buddhist practice-based literature and a long-time oral interpreter for Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and his sons, will be interviewed RYI Professor Catherine Dalton, who also works as a textual translator and oral interpreter. Together they will explore Erik’s experience as one of the early translators of Tibetan Buddhist teachings, the role translation plays in the transmission of the Buddhist teachings to the West, translation as a form of Buddhist practice, and Erik’s personal advice for Buddhist translators.
Erik Pema Kunsang is a dharma teacher, co-founder of Rangjung Yeshe Institute and Publications, and translator of numerous sacred books. After serving Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and his sons for many years, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche appointed Erik to teach the dharma. He now guides retreats on love and insight, simplicity and naturalness. In 2016 he founded the Bodhi Training education in Denmark, giving participants an opportunity to connect with the dharma in a gradual, experiential and interactive way. In his own words: “These days I enjoy a quiet life with my wife Tara, singing mantras and Buddhist songs and doing no-dig gardening. It brings me deep happiness to make the original poetry of dharma possible to chant in English, especially the sadhana texts of Padmasambhava.”
Dr. Catherine Dalton is an assistant professor of Buddhist Studies at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, where she teaches primarily in RYI’s MA program in Translation, Textual Interpretation and Philology. She received her doctorate in Buddhist Studies from UC Berkeley, where her doctoral research focused on Indian Buddhist tantra. In addition to her academic research, Catherine has worked for many years as a textual translator of Tibetan Buddhist literature and an oral interpreter for Tibetan Buddhist teachers.