Bodhgaya: During the 36th Nyingma Monlam Chenmo ceremony in Bodh Gaya, a 11-volume Kangyur Karchag cataloging the Buddha’s teachings was launched and presented to the presiding lamas marking the culmination of an unprecedented seven-year scholarly collaboration on 5 February 2025.

This comprehensive work, known as the Kangyur Karchag Yidzhin Norbu, was initiated by Tarthang Rinpoche and consists of a 10-volume encyclopaedia along with a single-volume summary, representing one of the most extensive catalogs of the Kangyur—the collected teachings of the Buddha—ever created.

Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, who is currently participating in the Nyingma Monlam Chenmo in Gaya, also took part in the book launch.

For over 55 years, Tarthang Rinpoche has supported the production and distribution of millions of sacred Dharma texts, including over 14,000 sets of historically important versions of the Kangyur. Distributed over the years at the annual Nyingma Monlam Chenmo at Bodhgaya, these sacred texts have been carried away by devoted Buddhist pilgrims.

Tarthang Rinpoche arrived in India in 1958, following his revered master Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro into exile. In 1962, Kyabje Dujdom Rinpoche asked Tarthang Rinpoche to teach at Sanskrit University in Varanasi. Rinpoche quickly established one of Tibet’s first printing houses in exile, Dharma Mudranalaya, which later would be re-established in the USA as Dharma Publishing and Yeshe De. 

In 2018, some 60 years later, Rinpoche requested the khenpos and students at the Sarnath International Nyingma Institute (SINI), which he had founded in 2007, to start a close reading of the Kangyur, in preparation for a major research and publication project that became known as the Kangyur Yidzhin Norbu Karchag. 

This grand, non-sectarian project aims to provide a more systematic presentation of the scriptural treasures contained within the Kangyur. By summarising, clarifying, and connecting the streams of knowledge passed down from the Buddha, in the form of a reader-friendly encyclopaedia.

The formation of this encyclopaedia will provide a gateway into the study of the Kangyur. The Kangyur encyclopaedia project has already proven in its research process to be an excellent opportunity for wide-scale collaboration. 

Each summary includes a detailed table of contents, and an explanatory key covering various aspects such as the Tibetan, Chinese, Sanskrit, English, and alternate title information. It provides the classification of the sutra according to the vehicles, the designation of teachings as provisional or definitive, and the identification of which turning of the wheel of Dharma a text belongs to. It also defines structural elements such as chapters, bampos, and pages and discusses methods for determining if the text belongs to the earlier or later translation period. It outlines the process of searching for commentaries, exploring the purpose of the text, and provides a concise meaning. 

The summary further examines the five perfect conditions for teaching (place, teacher, retinue, time, and teaching itself), known in Tibetan as the pun sum tshog pa nga, explains key terms and the concept of impetus in text, and includes a section on addressing potential objections and refutations. This comprehensive approach ensures a thorough understanding and analysis of the sutras, their context, and their significance within the tradition. Each sutra summary also includes an area on “special notes” with additional information about the sutra available in other versions of the Kangyur, commentaries, or even the editors’ notes. 

In the ecumenical spirit of this project, several key considerations have been at the center of our hearts: how to help encourage the study of the Buddha’s teachings, how to make them more accessible, and how to help prepare Kangyur study materials that will lead to the creation of Buddhist textbooks for schools in the Himalayas, India, and beyond.

In the words of Tarthang Rinpoche, the summaries of the Kangyur reveal “an exceptional array of circumstances and a long line of extraordinary masters dedicated to ensuring the longevity of the light of knowledge these texts radiate.”

-Report filed by Tibetan Parliamentary Speaker’s Office