Buddhist Philosophy, Textual Translation, and Tibetan Language Studies

• Tibetan Language Dictionary (see it here)
  • I developed this because the other main online dictionary, while very good at what it does, had limited search flexibility. I wanted to be able to perform full-text search, regex search, wildcard search, etc. on the available dictionaries.
• Tibetan Consonant Pronunciation App (see it here)
  • Helps learners of the Tibetan language by providing examples of multiple native speakers pronouncing the thirty consonants in Tibetan. This both helps practice pronunciation and learn the script.
• Website to gather Tibetan language resources (see it here)
  • learntibetanlanguage.org gathers all of the resources I have found to learn Tibetan language in one place. Initially I was surprised at how few resources I found to learn Tibetan. Later, as I continued to search, I began to find some, but they were disparate and unconnected. This website is a simple attempt to gather them in one place so that other people may benefit. It now has around 1000 hits a week, which is great for a Tibetan language website.
• Tibetan Language Wiki (see it here)
  • I wanted to create a Tibetan language resource that had two features. First, that it could be updated. Second, that it was searchable. The wiki is an attempt to create a place for students of Tibetan language to work together to build a resource for learning and sharing about Tibetan grammar.
• Foundation of All Good Qualities (see it here)
  • Geshe Lharampa Yangsi Rinpoche chanting the Foundation of All Good Qualities by Je Tsongkhapa. The website tracks the chanting and highlights the appropriate verse, allowing the student to more easily learn the chant in Tibetan.

In 2018, after 15 years of a personal meditation practice, a brush with death convinced me to dedicate some time to studying Buddhism more seriously. My partner and I moved from Alaska, where we had been living, to Portland, Oregon. I attended Maitripa College for four years, studying Buddhism, Chaplaincy, and Tibetan language.

During that time, Tibetan language studies captivated me. Initially, when I applied, I had no interest in Tibetan and even said so to my advisor. But through the kindness of Bill Magee, a teacher who also became a good friend, I changed my mind. I was shocked to learn how little I (and most Westerners) know about the Tibetan Buddhist scholastic tradition, and how little — less than 5% — of their scholarship has been translated. It was fascinating to see how concepts about the mind that seemed vague in English, because of the lack of correct translation equivalents, were anything but in Tibetan. If Eskimo have 100 words for snow, the Tibetans have 1000 words for mind and it’s many aspects. The English language does not capture it, not with the laser precision that exists in the Tibetan literary tradition.

While at Maitripa, Dorjee Gyaltsen Gurung¹ and I translated two letters of advice written by Thang Tong Gyalpo. Thang Tong Gyalpo is known as the “mad man of the Tibetan plain” and the “iron bridge builder,” Thang Tong Gyalpo was a 15th century Buddhist scholar, practitioner, and renaissance man; not only was he recognized as a great Buddhist adept and scholar, but he was a physician, blacksmith, engineer, artist, and social activist. He wrote the letters to two women practitioners of his time. Dorjee and I submitted the translations of the letters to the 2022 Tsadra Foundation Lotsawa conference. We were accepted and presented the translations at the conference. They were very well received.

Members of the 84,000 translation committee invited us to translate a Buddhist Sutra for them. Dorjee and I translated the Sutra of the Twelve Eyes, a previously untranslated divination sutra (that opens with a bang before diving into a list of portents and dooms).

The Tibetan language was only part of my studies at Maitripa College. I also studied Buddhist Chaplaincy — essentially how to provide spiritual assistance for people who are sick and dying. During my time at Maitripa, I was also fortunate to spend the first year of COVID helping to care for a Western monk who had been diagnosed with ALS. During that year, the first year of COVID lockdown, his condition deteriorated. By the end of the year, he entered hospice. Myself, my partner, and two of his lifelong friends had the honor of helping him through the dying process. His death was beautiful. He died with grace and dignity, surrounded by friends. His many years of Buddhist practice allowed him to transform the apparent suffering into growth.

After finishing my studies at Maitripa, graduating with 72 credit hours and an M.A. in Buddhist Studies, I decided to continue my language studies. I moved to India and began studying at the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translation Program. Located in Dharamshala, India, LRZTP is the most challenging Tibetan language program in the world. Originally designed to train interpreters for Buddhist centers around the world, it focuses on fluency in spoken Tibetan.

I am currently (as of Spring 2025) finishing up the LRZTP program and working on a translation of a White Tara Sadhana (a type of Buddhist practice text) along with an oral commentary by a teacher.