Creation, Printing, and Distribution of Critical Editions of the Eighteen Lamrim Commentaries
One particularly important task for the Jangchup Lamrim Teachings was the distribution of critical editions of all eighteen Jangchup Lamrim commentaries, upon which His Holiness gave His precious transmission and discourse. 18,000 5-volume sets (90,000 books in total) of these eighteen Jangchup Lamrim commentaries, in Tibetan language, were printed for free distribution at the Jangchup Lamrim teachings. Additionally, 6,600 texts were distributed in English. The creation and printing of these texts was sponsored by Ling Labrang, Lama Zopa Rinpoche (FPMT), and Dagri Labrang.
You can download all eighteen of these critical edition Tibetan-language texts here.
Editing Team at Work March-July 2012
H.E. Ling Rinpoche visits the Printing Press August 2012
The Printing Press
Printing and Distribution of the Texts
“Critical editions” are texts which have been thoroughly reviewed and corrected for errors, so that they most closely resemble the author’s original text, free of spelling and grammatical mistakes which have arisen from printing press errors passed from one edition to another over many years. In order to create these critical editions, several months were spent collecting many various ‘soft-copy’ editions of all eighteen Jangchup Lamrim texts. Then for five months, from March to July 2012, the Editing Committee, a team of thirteen monks who are highly skilled in grammar and philosophy, spent at least eight hours per day completing at least six rounds of review and correction of all the digital copies.
After visiting top-quality printing presses in Bangalore, Delhi and Manipal in search of the best printing press to publish the Jangchup Lamrim texts, they finally selected Manipal Technologies Limited, one of the most modern and sophisticated printing presses in all of India.
The printing of the books took place from September to October 2012 and they were distributed free of charge, along with commemorative embroidered carrying bags, during the 2012 and 2013 Jangchup Lamrim Teachings.
The printing and binding of the texts is of high quality in hopes that these precious texts will remain for a very long time, perhaps even hundreds of years, as a lasting tribute to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s rare teaching of all eighteen Jangchup Lamrim commentaries. During the 2012 Jangchup Lamrim Teachings His Holiness the Dalai Lama publicly commented on what precious books these are, and advised all attendees to keep them with oneself wherever one goes.