BUDHISMO KAJ ESPERANTO > Budhismo kaj Esperanto
Utileco de Esperanto en internacia komunikado pri Budhismo
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The Usefulness of Esperanto in International Communications about Buddhism
With the spread of science and technology, the conditions for international communications have become better and better. This has also given Buddhists in diverse areas of the entire world a grand opportunity. However, the problem of language has become a difficult hurdle. National languages are generally very difficult for foreigners to learn.
Let me give you the example of Ĉinese education. Although every student in Ĉina begins to learn English in elementary school or even kindergarten and, additionally, almost every Buddhist college and university in Ĉina teaches English, nevertheless, it is the rare Buddhist who can communicate and speak about Buddhism in English. Thus, their attempts to learn English seem almost in vain.
Is there another way for us to overcome the language barrier to our communications with each other? There certainly is an answer. The most effective way is to use Esperanto to proclaim and propagate Buddhism.
Esperanto is an easy and useful created language, vastly applicable in diverse fields in diverse lands. One is able to freely use it in international communications, attaining a much higher level of understanding after only a short period of study. For example, in my country almost all translation from the Ĉinese are done by foreign professionals, conversant in Ĉinese, while Esperanto translations from the Ĉinese are done only by Ĉinese Esperantists.
So, there are several advantages regarding the usefulness of Esperanto in Buddhist communication.
Simplicity: While one must spend a sufficiently long amount of time and expend a lot of energy learning a national language, learning Esperanto only requires about 10% of that time and energy. Almost anyone can learn Esperanto in a short amount of time if one applies the same diligence as with studying any other language. In fact, through an intensive course of study one could achieve a mid-level mastery in only one month.
Wide applicability: Although the total number of Esperanto users is not comparable to that of the large national languages, nevertheless it is used in almost every country and thus one can find Esperantists in virtually every region of the world.
Accuracy: Because of its regularity and simplicity, one can express one’s ideas more precisely in Esperanto, more effectively avoiding misunderstandings when communicating. Thus one can make Esperanto an intermediary language for our intercommunications and especially when translating works about Buddhism. If we were to first translate Buddhist works into Esperanto, our fellow Esperantists in other countries could then translate them into their own languages. That would be much more effective than our having to learn other national languages for purposes of translation.
Ŝared ideals: True Esperantists are peace lovers and they strive for world peace just as true Buddhists do. They have a closer relationship with Buddhists and in peace work they willingly and zealously contribute their energy. So, just for these reasons, many Esperantists are willingly giving their help to our Buddhist endeavors for Esperanto.
Here are several successful examples:
There are currently two Buddhist organizations for Esperantists around the world. One is the Buddhist Esperanto League (Budhana Ligo Esperantista, BLE): http://esperanto.us/budhana.html and the other is the Japan Buddhist Esperanto League (Japana Budhana Ligo Esperantista， JBLE): http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/jble/Budhismo.html. They have made a great contribution to the spread of Buddhism using Esperanto. Additionally, in Ĉina there are two special websites launched about ten years ago, the Buddhist Esperanto Web (Budhana Retejo Esperantista, BRE): http://www.budhano.cn in Esperanto and http://www.budhano.com), in Ĉinese.
As an Esperantist, the monk Miaohui began using Esperanto in the Buddhist milieu not long after becoming a monk, creating the BRE website, the BRE webradio (http://www.budhano.cn/podkasto), and he also began translating Buddhist writings into Esperanto. So far five books have already been translated into Esperanto, and from among those, two brochures and three audio disc translations have been produced. Tthese books and CD’s have been distributed in more than 20 countries.
It is worth mentioning that during his translation work many Esperantists, both in Ĉina and in other countries, offered significant help in correcting and modifying the translations and some Esperantists even translated Miaohui’s translations into their own native languages. Additionally, other members of BLE and JBLE have also been working hard at translating Buddhist writings.
With its Esperanto-supportive environment, Tiefosi Monastery, in the city of Xi’an, is unique among Ĉinese Buddhist monasteries, in that one can simultaneously learn both Esperanto and study Buddhism. Besides those endeavors related to Buddhism, one can also find diverse Esperanto activities.
All Esperantists are welcomed at the monastery and for the past 30 years the monastery has hosted fellow Esperanto speakers from diverse lands, in learning and communicating about both Buddhism and Esperanto.
Beginning this year the monastery plans to have an international Esperanto New Year activity and, collaborating with other Esperanto organizations, will host an Esperanto Summer School. For those Buddhists from around the world who are interested in Esperanto but have not had the opportunity to learn it, Tiefosi Monastery is prepared to offer instructional help at the monastery itself or, if needed, off-site. In point of fact, we are also striving to create an international Buddhist course or school.
Our plan is that students from around the world will come to the monastery and first participate in a one-month Esperanto intensive course, followed by two months of studying and learning Buddhism in Esperanto. All help in accomplishing this is welcomed.
Besides the examples mentioned above, Esperanto is also more widely applicable in other religions. In Esperanto conferences, both national and international, it is customary that one find sessions organized about various religions. This provides Esperantists with a great environment in which to familiarize themselves with and learn about various religions using Esperanto.
It is precisely for this reason, I sincerely propose that Buddhists and, specifically, Buddhist organizations and colleges around the world take notice of Esperanto and establish a favorable environment in which to apply the use of Esperanto in Buddhist undertakings, so that more people around the world will be able to receive the blessings of Buddhism through using Esperanto.
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