Digital Dharma

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Digital Dharma offers a delightful opportunity to rejoice in the unparalleled contribution of Gene Smith in helping to preserve, digitize, and make available to scholars and students worldwide tens of thousands of Tibetan texts—making it possible to literally have an entire library of Tibetan texts on one’s computer or a tablet. Gene’s work in Delhi on behalf of the Library of Congress, his travels to different parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet, so poignantly captured in this beautiful volume, bring home a powerful point—that with will and dedication a single person can make so much difference. I, for one, will treasure this book so that my deep gratitude to Gene always remains strong and vibrant.” —Thupten Jinpa, editor of The Library of Tibetan Classics and author of Tsongkhapa: A Buddha in the Land of Snows

“Gene Smith collected Tibetan texts for so many years, from India and other countries. As he gave permission to many universities to check and study the texts he collected, he offered so much wisdom to the world. And by giving texts to high lamas, monasteries and others he knew, he helped many people open the eye of wisdom–Dharma wisdom, not worldly wisdom. Furthermore, his nature was very kind, good-hearted, and I wish he could have lived forever.” —Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Digital Dharma is a beautiful and moving tribute to a life that was well lived and that enhanced the lives of others. Like so many, I was grateful for Gene’s generosity, in the PL 480 volumes with their incredible introductions, which made possible my own first studies in Tibetan Buddhism, and later for his encouragement and support in publishing my doctoral thesis during his brief time at Wisdom Publications. His spirit continues in the ongoing work of the Buddhist Digital Resource Center, and I like to think that we are still connected in some way in its close relationship with the Endangered Archives Programme. And of course there is so much more to Gene’s great life story, which is so well told in this book.” —Sam van Schaik, head of the Endangered Archives Programme, the British Library

“It can be safely said that, after His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the person most responsible for the serious study of Tibetan Buddhism in America is E. Gene Smith. I first met Gene in India in 1978; the photos here from the Delhi days bring back many memories. For those lucky few who knew Gene and those lucky many who have benefited from his work, the images and words in this beautiful book convey much of the spirit of this remarkable man.” —Donald S. Lopez, Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, University of Michigan

DIGITAL DHARMA

Recovering Wisdom

Dafna Zahavi Yachin Arthur M. Fischman

This is the epic story of an international rescue effort to preserve a culture’s literary history.

Originally a Mormon from Utah, E. Gene Smith, founder of the Buddhist Digital Resource Center, became the unlikely mastermind behind an international effort to rescue, preserve, digitize, and provide free access to the vast Tibetan Buddhist canon, many volumes of which had been lost or destroyed during China’s Cultural Revolution.  

Digital Dharma is a stunning visual experience offering a behind-the-scenes look into this unprecedented mission. Through hundreds of photographs taken during Smith’s trip to deliver drives containing the digitized volumes to remote monasteries in South Asia, you’ll gain extraordinary and intimate access to life inside Buddhist monasteries, to the rituals of Tibetan Buddhism, and to the insights of some of the world’s leading lamas and lineage holders. Throughout the journey, you’ll meet monks, local publishers, scholars, and dignitaries involved in the preservation movement to which Smith dedicated his life. With the accompanying historical and cultural background, you’ll develop a deeper and more personal understanding of Tibetan Buddhism and of the achievement of preserving and disseminating its sacred canon.

Gene Smith’s legacy lives on in the organization he founded in 1999, the Buddhist Digital Resource Center. BDRC’s founding mission was to digitally preserve the entirety of Tibetan Buddhist literature in order to secure it from destruction. In 2015, it expanded its mission to include all Buddhist traditions. More than twenty years later, BDRC has digitized and archived millions of pages of Tibetan, Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Khmer and Newari literature. BDRC is dedicated to seeking out, preserving, documenting, and disseminating Buddhist literature. With its text preservation programs, free online library, digital tools for researchers, and hard drive distribution programs, BDRC provides lamas, scholars, translators, Buddhist practitioners, and the general public with access to an unparalleled collection of Buddhist texts.

book information
  • Hardcover
  • 264 pages, 12 x 9 inches
  • $75
  • ISBN 9781614297994
  • ebook
  • 264 pages
  • $50.99
  • ISBN 9781614298212
about the author
Digital Dharma

Dafna Zahavi Yachin is a director, producer, and writer of award-winning documentaries, broadcast series, national commercials, educational programs, and multimedia campaigns. She has been instrumental in creating lasting formats for projects airing on CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Discovery, History, and SyFy. Her first Indie Feature Documentary, Digital Dharma, was Oscar qualified in 2012. Dafna has focused her documentary and online initiatives in the humanities, justice, and women’s rights arenas. She holds a BA in rhetoric and communications, and a BA in international political science from the University of Pittsburgh. Candid and documentary photography has been her avocation since she could hold a Polaroid.

Digital Dharma

Arthur M. Fischman holds a BA from Queens College and a JD from Temple Law School. Coauthor of The Living Memories Project, he is a freelance writer whose video and interactive scripts have won numerous awards, including a Telly, an ITVA Silver Award, and a New York Festivals Bronze World Medal. He co-wrote the award-winning documentary Digital Dharma and has written radio, TV, and print ads for leading consumer product manufacturers. A veteran speechwriter and ghostwriter, he was director of executive communications and internal communications at a Fortune 500 company. He and his wife, Janet, live in Philadelphia, where he also writes plays and moonlights as a jazz pianist.

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