--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "olbeggaols" <MikeOlds@...> wrote:

>
> Bhante Sujato,
>
> You mention a digitized version of an English translation of the
> Chinese Canon. Do you have a link?

Hello Mike,

Sorry, that para in my message was not so clear. I was just giving
an example in the case of DN 1 Brahmajala, and mentioned that there
is a translation of the Chinese available on the web. This is in
fact an excellent job; the sutta is near identical with the Pali,
with a couple of interesting differences. The translator also gives
a long essay and notes. I don't have a link, but the title is: A
CRITICAL TRANSLATION OF FAN DONG JING, THE CHINESE VERSION
OF BRAHMAJALA SUTRA, by Cheng Jianhua. Last time i googled it had
disappeared; if you (or anyone else) want but can't find, let me
know and i'll send you a copy.

There is no complete translation of the Chinese canon. Large parts
have been translated, but little work has been done on the early
Agamas and Vinayas, thus perpetrating the entirely inaccurate
perception that the Chinese canon is 'Mahayana'. Of course, it
includes many Mahayana works, but much, perhaps even most of the
Indian works derive from the early Sravakayana schools.

The Numata foundation has a long-term project to translate the
entire Chinese canon. Some works have appeared, which are of good
quality. Work is underway on several important early works: the
Dirgha Agama (Dharmaguptaka); Madhyama Agama (sarvastivada);
Mahasanghika Vinaya; Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (this last is very similar
to the Pali, and is the Vinaya followed by Chinese bhikkhus and
bhikkhunis; the Tibetans follow Mulasarvastivada). These
translations are eagerly awaited, but will not appear anytime soon.
I recently contacted the Numata Foundation and they were not able to
give even an estimated publication date.

Incidentally, does anyone know if any serious work is being done on
translations from Tibetan? I was recently talking with a Tibetan
Lama who lamented that to date mainly the Tibetan works have been
translated and taught in the West, ignoring the Indian roots. Of
course they have very little early material. Peter Skilling (thru
PTS) has done an amazing job on the Maha Sutras, a group of about
ten suttas in Tibetan, most of which have pali cognates.

How amazing it will be when the scriptures of all the traditions are
translated into one language, so that anyone can pick them up, read
them, and see for themselves where all these great spiritual
traditions spring from.

in Dhamma

Bhante Sujato