Nagapriya writes from Mexico about the work of Triratna's Spanish Translations Board.
"The translation into Spanish of Urgyen Sangharakshita's work and that of other Triratna writers, began in the early 1990s with the prodigious efforts of a Mexican (ex-) Order member then known as Shuddhavajra. Shuddhavajra did much pioneering work, including founding the publishing house Tres Joyas (Three Jewels) and beginning the difficult task of creating a Dharmic vocabulary in Spanish. Unfortunately Tres Joyas no longer continues but in recent years, the Mexico City Buddhist Centre has taken on the job of translating and publishing a number of titles and valiant work has also been done in Spain.
In all, more than 30 books have now been translated and published within Spanish-speaking Triratna, of varying degrees of quality. Various titles have also been published by commercial publishers. The Spanish Translations Board aims to bring together the rights of existing publications and conduct a thorough review of them in order to improve or where necessary replace existing translations.
In order to do this, it proposes to create a foundation that will function as the owner of existing translations as well as all rights to translation into Spanish of Sangharakshita´s works and those of other Triratna authors. The foundation will also be responsible for future publications.
All translated books will have an ISBN in order prevent theft. In addition, we aim to create a clear publishing policy for the future including a rigorous editorial process in order to ensure high-quality publications. Plans also include an effective means of distributing ebooks in Spanish.
Among the difficulties to be resolved are the lack of standardised terms in Spanish: 'wrong view' has been variously translated as: visión incorrecta, enfoque erróneo, punto de vista equivocado, and opinión errónea, to give just one example!
Non-Spanish-speakers may not realise that there are significant differences in the use of Spanish between different Spanish-speaking countries, especially between Spain and Latin America. Finding a Spanish Dharma vocabulary that will work throughout the Spanish-speaking world is no easy task but will permit more effective communication across the Spanish-speaking sangha.
The Spanish Translations Board will be an international project, embracing Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, and the rest of the Spanish-speaking world. The board comprises Rijumati, Silamani, Upekshamati and Nagapriya, with further members to join in the future.
If you would like further information about this project, and especially if you would like to support it financially, please contact us."