The Triratna Translations Project aims to translate the main texts and ceremonies used in the Triratna Buddhist Community into as many of the world’s languages as possible. With the translation of the Threefold Puja into Burmese it’s reached its 30th language. (This short puja was written by Bhante long ago, for the Finnish sangha, who found the Sevenfold Puja too elaborate.

It’s an ambitious project, but Lokabandhu, the project’s online co-ordinator says “We’re a worldwide community and between us we’re in touch with a lot of people! This translation of the Threefold Puja into Burmese was done by a group of students in the Upper Sagaing area of Burma (Myanmar), who happened to be studying English with Pabodhana, an Order member from Birmingham, UK.

The Translations Project page on The Buddhist Centre Online contains separate groups for every language, and you are invited to join any that interest you - and to contribute. Especially welcome would be suggestions from speakers of Far-eastern Asian languages such as Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese; also Arabic and Africa’s many languages. 

We’re also looking for people fluent in Sign Language who might like to video themselves signing one or more of the texts.”
 
Among the more unusual – or some might even say eccentric - languages represented are Pali and Latin, says Lokabandhu: "Dhivan has ‘reverse-engineered’ Sangharakshita’s Dedication Ceremony and Threefold Puja into a language close to the Buddha’s time; and Latin, where we’re hoping volunteers from the ‘Making Mars speak Latin’ project will help improve Google’s rather clumsy efforts!"

The project has also put together a hardback book, http://www.lulu.com/shop/triratna/buddhist-ceremonies-in-many-languages/hardcover/product-21962983.html">Buddhist ceremonies in many languages. 

Email the Translations Project: translations@triratnadevelopment.org
+Follow the Translations Project on The Buddhist Centre Online.

Make a donation towards Sangharakshita's 90th birthday present! We're raising 100,000 by 26th August, to fund the publication of all Bhante's writing for posterity, much of which is out of print or unpublished. To this Bhante will personally add money for translations.