Goals and ethics
Padmakara's sole aim is to preserve and spread the Buddha’s teachings to a world audience. To publish and distribute books effectively, the organization is obliged to operate in the commercial world of publishing, but is nevertheless committed to remaining a strictly non-profit organization.
Moreover, Songtsen’s directors insist on maintaining as far as possible the Buddhist tradition by which it is not considered ethically appropriate for people to live on income arising from the sale of sacred Dharma books. All revenue from book sales is therefore used solely to publish more books and texts. Those translators who are not able to volunteer their work without basic financial support are funded by third-party sponsorships, which also cover a substantial proportion of the administrative staff salaries.
Ideally, Padmakara would like one day to provide all its texts free of charge to all. This has been possible to a large extent in the East. However, printing costs in the West are significantly more expensive; distribution networks for free books do not exist; and the western public tends to view publications that are given away as either publicity or propaganda. Nevertheless, Padmakara has the aspiration, if these problems can be solved, to make its publications free. In the meantime, the prices of its books reflect production and printing costs, but not the work of translating, researching and editing the texts.
Guiding Principles
Padmakara’s policy is to maintain strict quality standards:
- Transmission and explanation of the text by a qualified teacher
- Careful, painstaking translation of the meaning, with research where necessary
- Difficult points and doubts submitted to competent teachers with a good knowledge of the text
- Draft translation double-checked by at least one other translator
- Careful editing and rewriting to produce a clear, readable style
- Final text proof-read and approved by a person who knows the subject and has a good command of the final language
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