Nina Liu
To: Fah Sathirapongsasuti
On: Wikipitaka
First of all, I appreciate Fah’s vision of the project very much. This is a very brave and meaningful project to the whole humanity and Fah has already had a brilliant start on it. By initiating the Wikipitaka, his aim is that the online Tipitaka will reach “the same, if not greater, number of users of the Bible and the Qur’an” and contribute to the whole global Buddhism community.
He pointed out that the problem facing the global Buddhism community is the lack of English translation, online commentary, terminology explanation and searchability of the Tipitaka text. As a loyal Buddhist himself, I think his analysis is very persuasive. To fix this problem, Fah was inspired by the Wikipedia and constructed his website in the same format. I think this is a smart choice because Wiki provides a great way for the accumulation and exchange of public knowledge. In his Wikipitaka and the translation project, users will be able to write about Tipitaka and view the others’ translation as well. This global collaboration bonded by the same religious belief might be the most efficient way to introduce Tipitaka into the English world.
Because the whole value of the future website which features many fancy functions is based on a better translation of Tipitaka, I expect to see more about how the translation process is conducted and controlled on the website the first stage of the project. How exactly to carry out the translation plan on Wiki? Will it be in a free-adding manner or in a rather organized way? How to market it to the whole Buddhism community and get valuable translators into it? What kind of proof-reading and recension process will it be? Is there any current English edition that can be uploaded and let people revise/write on it? How long will process take in estimation? After it is completed, is there any publication involved and to whom this edition belongs to?
Nevertheless, Fah has a very nice plan on constructing his website. He conducted a diligent survey of the potential competitors (websites) in this field and showed that none of them has a search engine, a complete translation into the text and is updated regularly. As the future premiere Tipitaka website, Fah introduced several great features of Wikipitaka. In spite of the complete online text, there will be a tracing back system of all the variations under same root, pop-up expository windows and so on. These functions will definitely make his website a great resource to learn and read in Buddha. He will also make good use of his connections with some professional Buddhism institutes in the translation process.
This great website of Tipitaka will definitely cost a lot of money in running. Fah strived to solve this problem by obtaining sponsorship and donation. In a world of true peace and beauty of Buddha, I believe his project will be applauded and supported by numerous resources. Personally, I agree with Fah’s worry about the internet access development in South Asian countries but I think in this later stage, the English vision could have more influential power to the western world instead. The English vision will directly spread and familiar the spirit of Buddha to the English-speaking countries.
Again, this project is a very complex and long mission to complete and Fah’s trying is a brilliant one which makes good use of the technological advantage of Wiki in the translation process. His business goal is feasible but it might need some extra efforts on networking to get those sponsors while maintaining the website as an independent service.
