BACKGROUND

In 2011, five translators and scholars came together for the first time to form the Research and Translation Group “Teachings and Practices of the Drikung Kagyupa.” Although there had already been some active exchanges among them, this exchange was now intensified and structured.

In recent years, the Drikung Translation Group, with the support of the Vikramashila Research and Translation Project of the Garchen Foundation, has published over a dozen carefully translated and edited books on the foundational works of the Drikung Kagyu lineage. All these books were created in close collaboration with and under the guidance of the precious Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen and other influential teachers.

In 2022, His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Thinle Lhundup expressed the wish to establish a study and practice program under the coordination of the Drikung Translation Group, aiming to impart essential topics of Buddhism and particularly the Drikung Kagyu lineage to interested individuals. Following this wish, the Drikung Translation Group initiated several planning meetings and engaged in active exchanges with representatives and teachers of Drikung centers in German-speaking countries. As a result of these efforts, the Dharmadhara Study and Practice Program was launched in January 2024.

In December 2023, various translation initiatives of the Drikung lineage in Germany were consolidated into the newly founded Vikramashila Academy. In addition to overseeing the Dharmadhara Study and Practice Program, the Academy focuses on the training and further education of new translators, the creation of a dictionary of Drikung terminology, and the establishment of a knowledge network. A significant future project is the translation of the Collected Works of Jikten Sumgon, the foundation of the Drikung Kagyu tradition.