The following article is from the Winter, 1995 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

Major lineage holders of the Drukpa Kagyu school met in November in Kathmandu under the auspices of the Drukpa Kagyu Heritage Foundation to begin the next important step in a project aiming to collect, preserve, and publish the entire written heritage of this Tibetan Buddhist lineage. The puipose of this historic gathering was to draft an agreement among the principal masters of Drukpa Kagyu teachings regarding the order of publication and method of organizing these rare texts.

Among those participating were: H.E. Khamtrul Rinpoche, Ven. Dorzong Rinpoche, Ven. Chogon Rinpoche, Ven. Adi Rinpoche, Ven. Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Ven. Chogyal Rinpoche, and Ven. Sengtra Rinpoche.

The Drukpa Kagyu Heritage Foundation is a project of Ven. Tsoknyi Rinpoche, who was trained at Khampagar Monastery, Tashi Jong, Himachal Pradesh, India, the seat of the Khamtrul Rinpoche. Some years ago, the Drukpa Kagyu Rinpoches of Tashi Jong recognized the urgent need to preserve the texts of the lineage and began the process of collecting them. To date, more than eighty percent of all known texts have been recovered and it is hoped that the remaining twenty percent will be found.

The scope and importance of the project is epic, and the foundation is working to provide a model process for preserving the written heritage of other schools of Tibetan Buddhism. When Tsoknyi Rinpoche and the Drukpa Kagyu Rinpoches originally envisioned the project, it was assumed that a minimum of forty years would be needed to collect, transcribe and correct the texts using traditional methods of hand-transcription. By using specially designed Tibetan word-processing software, the project staff could finish transcribing, correcting, compiling, and publishing 125 volumes of text during the next five years, if adequate funding is secured.

The Drukpa Kagyu Heritage Foundation's goal is to print 500 editions of 125 pechas (Tibetan volumes), each containing 600 pages of text. It is the intent of Tsoknyi Rinpoche to provide a copy of the complete works of the lineage free of charge to every Drukpa Kagyu monastery and retreat center in the world, and to make copies available to the world's m^jor libraries. In this way, the written heritage of the Drukpa Kagyu school will continue to provide a spiritual resource for many generations of scholars and students of Tibetan Buddhism.

For more information about the Drukpa Kagyu Heritage Foundation or the availability of Tibetan word-processing software, contact: The Pundarika Foundation, PO Box 34, Crestone, CO 81131 Tel: 719-256-4452, fax: 719-2564694.