So far there isn’t a single Triratna book in Italian but you can easily change that. Mitra Val Cartei is translating Who is the Buddha? into Italian. She just needs the last £265 to make it happen. (That's €333 or US$ 354.)
Born and brought up in Italy, Val is a mitra training for ordination in Brighton, UK. She’s a published author in both English and Italian, now working with Triratna’s Translations Board, who say she is enthusiastic, inspired and generous. (She's asking for very little financial support while she does the work.) She writes:
“Like many in the West, I grew up with a pretty distorted image of Buddhism. I thought the Buddha was a God and meditation was for people with too much time on their hands. Then, a few years ago, I was suddenly faced with loss and grief. I started going to my local Buddhist Centre and there I started to understand the profound message of Buddhism and to develop a peace and happiness that I once believed impossible.
Who is the Buddha? is a treasure trove of wisdom, easily applicable in everyday life by all people of all backgrounds and beliefs.”
The Triratna Translations Board have almost all the money they need for this - but they do just need this final £265!
Make a donation.
Any surplus will go to future translation projects.
What is the Triratna Translations Board?
The Triratna Translations Board came into existence at the end of 2015, to promote and co-ordinate translation projects in many languages. In autumn 2017 they administered funds made available by Triratna’s European Chairs’ Assembly (ECA) and also, for the first time, money allocated via Triratna's new fundraising project, FutureDharma.
In total they distributed £10,000:
Polish Translating the first year of the Dharma study course for mitras
Estonian Who is the Buddha?
Russian A Survey of Buddhism, chapters 2 & 3
Italian Who is the Buddha?
Portuguese The Triratna Story
Dutch Publishing five books, already translated
Spanish Continuing part-time support for two people to set up a common legal framework and co-ordinate translations work across the Spanish-speaking world, which has developed well over the last 25 years, but on a very ad hoc basis.
Read more about the Spanish translation project.
Our vision
We want to make available in many languages the Dharma as elucidated by Sangharakshita.
Without translations, our ability to share the Dharma in non-English speaking countries is very limited: only 5% of the world's population are native English speakers and of the remaining 95%, some simply don't speak English at all, some will speak a little but not enough to be able to read a book, while others will be able to read and understand a book in English, but only to some extent. Even those fluent in English as a foreign language almost always say that it makes a far deeper impression to read the Dharma in their native tongue.
Read more about Triratna translation work.
Find out more about the FutureDharma Fund.
+Follow the FutureDharma Fund on The Buddhist Centre Online.
Follow the FutureDharma Fund on Facebook.
“Sangharakshita's books explain Buddhism in a very accessible way to the 'European mind', while keeping a broad and versatile perspective [..] It's essential for the reader to them in their own language – it helps the understanding and integrating the content. When I read in English many things elude and escape me, and the emotional resonance is much stronger when reading in Polish.” Alicja from Poland