The major practice traditions are often referred to in Tibetan
literature as the Eight Chariots of the Practice Lineages of Tibetan
Buddhism. The Eight Chariots refer to the eight major practice lineages
of Tibetan learning and attainment, traditions which can be traced
directly back through the centuries of the history of Tibet and beyond
that into India. These traditions encompass the major schools and
lineages within Tibet:
1. The main doctrinal lineage of Kama, the Ancient Translation School known as Nyingmapa
2. Atisha's lineage, the Old Kadampa School, and the New Kadampa
3. The lineage of the glorious Sakyapa
4. The Four Major Schools and Eight Minor Schools of the lineage of the Marpa Kagyü Tradition
5. The Shangpa Kagyü
6. Phadampa Sangye's and Machik Lapdron's lineage
7. Vajra Yoga Instruction Lineage
8. The Great Yogi Orgyenpa Rinchenpal's Lineage
Each of the Eight Chariots of the Practice Lineages of Tibetan Buddhism
has developed its own individual terminology within the context of
specific practices, oral explanations and regional understandings. An
image of Padmasambhava, the originator of many of the oral traditions
and written texts used by one of the Eight Chariots, the Nyingma
schoolSimilar or identical terms are used differently within the
contexts of each tradition's systems, and carry different meanings.
Accordingly, there is enormous confusion among research scholars and
translators in explaining and translating terms from different
traditions.
The Tibetan tradition, which continued and developed Indian
philosophical and soteriological traditions begun over 2500 years ago,
is highly nuanced and complex, and the vocabulary of the written works
which embodies those traditions is commensurately difficult to
understand outside Tibetan traditions. Moreover, oral explanations and
practical experience are a necessary accompaniment to any living
tradition of scholarship and practice. In Tibet, these oral traditions
are even more necessary for understanding Tibetan texts, for each text
is interpreted within the context of a living lineage which passes down
its critical understanding and applications of the text. Thus, the
Tibetan traditions cannot be preserved merely by reading Tibetan books
-- the next generation must be taught how to read and understand the
terms found in those books.
The Compendium of Buddhist Terminology will provide analytic
explanations and comparisons of the key terms used by the major practice
traditions of Tibet. Though these traditions share similar goals and
outward clothes, each tradition provides a discipline and vocabulary
specific to the tradition. The vocabulary used to transmit the wisdom of
the tradition has been finely honed over thousands of years by great
scholars and practitioners of the tradition. These terms are used in
specific ways, and the traditions cannot be understood without a precise
understanding of the nuances of the terms.
The abilities to use computers to digitize the Tibetan corpus and use
electronic search and data extraction techniques provides a scholarly
resource that was unavailable in classical Tibet. Thus, we have a unique
opportunity to create reference works today that were not available in
Tibet. But these advances will be misdirected if they are not commenced
by scholars familiar with traditional Tibetan methods as well as modern
resources. Nitartha international, through its combination of scholarly
and technical resources, it thus in a unique position to make major
advances in Tibetan scholarship.
Nitartha international was founded by The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche to
aid in the support of Tibetan educational systems, and to preserve the
precious heritage of Tibet, which is in such great danger of being lost.
Under his leadership, Nitartha international has amassed an extensive
digital library of Tibetan texts that can be searched electronically to
assist in creating references for the Compendium. Nitartha has completed
over 80,000 pages of text input at its input center in Nepal, and
edited several thousand pages of text so far, despite limited manpower
and resources.
Read more at : http://www.nitartha.org/compendium.html