TRANSLATION OF THE BUDDHIST CANON

The record of the Buddha's teachings (sutra), the rules of the monastic discipline laid down by the Buddha (vinaya) and the commentaries on the above two (abhidharma) make up the three divisions of the Buddhist Canon, known as the Tripitaka. Sectarian differences emerged, and Canons such as the Pali Tripitaka, the Tibetan Tripitaka, and the Chinese Tripitaka are still being propagated today.

The Tripitaka being translated by BDK is the Chinese Tripitaka which was compiled in Japan in the early part of the 20th century. It is generally known as the "Taisho Edition," and contains 2,920 works (3,053 including variant versions), 11,970 fascicles and 80,645 pages.

The total number of Tripitaka scriptures which have thus far been translated from Chinese into English is very limited, and moreover, the English translation of the Tripitaka, can be said to be almost non-existent. In order to have the many peoples of the world come to know the teachings of the Buddha, Rev. Dr. Numata believed that an English translation of the Tripitaka was essential.

To realize this goal, BDK established the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research in Berkeley, California to coordinate this effort which includes Buddhist scholars from throughout the world to assist in undertaking this translation project. For the First Series of this project, which is estimated will take several hundred years to complete, BDK has selected 139 of the Tripitaka's texts which will be published in 108 volumes. As of 2006, BDK has published 34 volumes containing 64 of the texts.