Over fifty years ago, when Lama Tarthang Tulku escaped from the Chinese occupation of Tibet, he established a small publishing facility in his garage in Benares, India. The Revered Lama knew the significance of rescuing the Tibetan texts—he had witnessed the destruction of over 6,000 monasteries, the killing of over 1 million Tibetans and the subsequent exit of thousands of Tibetans into neighboring lands. Tarthang Tulku determined that unless action was taken, the repository of Tibetan Buddhist texts, representing the endeavors of the best thinkers and contemplatives of Tibet’s twenty five hundred year history, an entire generation of teachers may not have the needed tools to teach the next generation. The massive job of searching and collecting the ancient Tibetan Buddhist texts continued when Tarthang Tulku moved to Berkeley, California in 1971, where Dharma Publishing was founded under his direction.

In one of the world’s most ambitious publishing ventures, Dharma Publishing has been able to piece together the Tibetan Buddhist canon based almost entirely on what was brought out of Tibet. The easy part was reproducing the original texts. The harder part was collecting all the material and placing it in a logical order—a feat no one had ever accomplished.

Returning the books to the exiled Tibetans became the next focus of Dharma Publishing. Eighteen years ago, The Annual Peace Ceremony began in Bodh Gaya, India. This ten day event—when the lamas, monks, nuns and lay people receive their birthright, their texts—is also a time for ongoing chants to promote world peace and an opportunity to connect with fellow exiled Tibetans. For some, the trip can take ten days by foot. This year alone, over 400,000 volumes of the Tibetan Buddhist texts were printed, shipped and disseminated to over 8,000 people.

Tarthang Tulku explains “Our present way of life, with its emphasis on material possessions, competition, and technological solutions to problems, has brought us many benefits: New forms of knowledge, new ways to accomplish our goals, cures for once-fatal diseases, and a more luxurious way of life. Yet all these changes come with their own costs. Looking at the written records of world history, we may sense that two thousand years ago there were fewer internal and external conflicts and more opportunity for positive feelings among family and friends.”

Dharma Publishing is a non-profit corporation. No one who works at Dharma Publishing, including the directors, gets any compensation. All profits are donated to the Tibetan Text Preservation Project, which prints, collates, wraps and ships traditional sacred Tibetan texts and art to Tibetan refugees in India. Tarthang Tulku dedicates himself to making the teachings available to anyone who wishes to study. Dharma Publishing follows the ancient principle that no individual should benefit financially from the teachings.

“Adopt a Tibetan Book” was created in 2005 as the fundraising arm to Dharma Publishing. The goal for 2007 is to raise $200,000 to go towards the text preservation program. Volunteers are always needed at the Cazadero, California location to help with fundraising, marketing, grant writing, web layout and design, and of course, to assist with making the books. For further information please call (707) 847-3717 or visit www.dharmapublishing.com; www.adoptabook.us.

Living Without Regret
Human Experience in Light of
Tibetan Buddhism
By Arnaud Maitland
Dharma Publishing, 2004
$16.95, 332 pages