Celebrating a quarter century of preserving Buddhist manuscripts
The Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC) is celebrating its 25th anniversary at the Rubin Museum of Art on 20 September. Founded on 28 September 1999, BDRC has engaged with supporters, communities, and organizations to digitally preserve Buddhist manuscripts. Many of these manuscripts are endangered or rare texts. On this anniversary, the BDRC is marking the monumental achievement of having preserved more than 30 million pages of Buddhist texts and made them freely available to the world.
On 20 September, BDRC will host a special evening in conjunction with the Rubin Museum of Art (which will close its physical space on 6 October, marking the institution’s 20th anniversary) in New York. This enriching and engaging event promises to explore “the evolution of Buddhist wisdom and knowledge as it is translated between cultures: from ancient times to today and into the future.”
The event is described as a “celebration on multiple levels,” with veteran Buddhist Studies scholar Donald S. Lopez to give a lecture. In his speech. Prof. Lopez will look at how translating Buddhist texts has had a transformative effect on nations and cultures around the world and throughout the ages. He will focus in particular on how E. Gene Smith (1936–2010), the founder of TBRC (now BDRC), made an immense contribution to Buddhist translation efforts that remain an inspiration to translators and supporters today. Michael Imperioli, writer and actor, will give a “dramatic Buddhist reading.” It will tell the story of how the Dharma can transform lives through translating texts and the artistic disciplines. Guest artists also will give musical performances.
The BDRC’s strategy over the next 25 years center on ensuring the institution’s longevity and securing its accessibility and security. They include the below rubrics:
Safeguard Buddhist manuscripts vulnerable to climate and political instability,
Innovate technologies to unlock the wisdom encrypted in the archive, and:
Assist Buddhist communities to become more self-sufficient in the digital preservation of their traditions.
Two key Buddhist institutions will be reinventing themselves in September, and if you are in New York, be sure to be part of this milestone.
See more
BUDDHIST WISDOM FROM PALM LEAF TO PIXEL WITH DONALD S. LOPEZ AND MICHAEL IMPERIOLI
Securing the Future of Buddhist Wisdom (BDRC)
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