Suvannavira is a member of the Triratna Translations Board and lives in Moscow.

He writes: 

The Triratna Translations Board came into existence at the end of 2015, to promote and co-ordinate translations and publications projects. One of our tasks has been to administer funds made available for translations by Bhante Sangharakshita, following his hugely successful 90th birthday appeal in 2015.  

Of the £30,000 given for translating his books, £5,000 went to projects in India and the remaining £25,000 was given to projects elsewhere in the world, for which we received 15 different applications totaling nearly £70,000. We are very glad to say we managed to partially fund every application, so they can all begin. To complete them we will apply for further funding from Triratna's FutureDharma Fund and European Chairs’ Assembly.

Of the 15 applications, seven were for translations into languages we have not funded before:

• Albanian: translating The Noble Eightfold Path
• Estonian: Who is the Buddha? and What is the Dharma?
• Greek: Who is the Buddha?
• Hebrew: What is the Dharma?
• Hungarian, (re-publishing): Ambedkar and Buddhism
• Italian: The Noble Eightfold Path
• Turkish: Living with Kindness

Six were for translations into other languages:

• Dutch: The Bodhisattva Ideal
• German: Living Wisely and the second and third chapters of A Survey of Buddhism
• Polish: The Drama of Cosmic Enlightenment
• Portuguese: What is the Dharma?
• Russian: the introduction and first chapter of A Survey of Buddhism
• Swedish: editing The Inconceivable Emancipation

There were also three special projects:

• Spain and Mexico: part-time support for two people to co-ordinate translations work from these two countries. This has been done on an ad hoc basis over the last 25 years, so there is a bit of a backlog!
• Venezuela: support for editing articles and books already translated free of charge as part of a university programme by students studying translation.
• Sweden: Bhante donated money directly for a Right Livelihood translations project.
• Finally, an Indian Translations Board has been established to administer funds there. We will bring you further news when we have it.

Since the funding came from Bhante's 90th birthday present, he has also seen the awards, and sent us this message:

“A lot of discussion must have gone into the allocation and I very much appreciate the fair and objective manner in which it was conducted. The allocation certainly has my approval and blessing, and I was interested to see how many languages were involved.”

Naturally we have received thanks from the grant recipients:

Prakashika for the grant for Hebrew:
“This is good news indeed, and will certainly make a difference. Thank you, and everyone on the Translation Board, for doing this work! It's great to hear that there is so much translation work being done out there.”

Padmaketu for the grant for German:
“Das ist ja wunderbar, dass wir einen Zuschuss aus der Bhante 90th fund grant allocation bekommen sollen - vielen Dank!!”  (“It is wonderful that we should be allocated a grant from the fund from Bhante's 90th birthday – thank you very much!”)

Vaddhaka for the grant for Estonian:
“Many thanks for the news. We are very grateful for this financial support.”

Seden for the grant for Turkish:
“Knowing that every application can get started is hope-inspiring.  I am excited to start the project.  And receiving Bhante's blessings is great! Thanks again for your intense effort.”

Val for the grant for Italian:
“That is wonderful news!  Thanks for the offer and trust you are all placing in me.”

Would you like to take part in this great adventure? Are you inspired to participate in this positive flow of energy contributing to the communication of the Dharma as elucidated by Bhante, to share that great gift in as many languages as possible?

There are many ways in which you can help us:
If you are not a native English speaker, you can tell us how important it is for you to be able to read the Dharma in your native language. Email us. 

• Let us know of any situation where resources for translations might be needed.
• Share your skills with us in the areas of publishing, design, editing, proof-reading, website creation, etc.
• Donate to the FutureDharma Fund or directly to our Just Giving page.  
• Let us know of any other ideas you may have! Email us.