Name/Title
Sacred Tibetan Texts on MicrofilmDescription
In the late 1960's, James George (Sept 14, 1918 - Feb 7, 2020), then Canadian High Commissioner to India was instrumental in preserving sacred Tibetan texts. Using his office as headquarters, he and his team microfilmed 500 Tibetan books [manuscripts]. The project was implemented by a young CUSO worker who was given a special camera for microfilming. He was invited to live at the High Commission for about a year to accomplish the task. The microfilms included texts of all the major Tibetan sects & schools. Each school was given their own microfilm compilation, including ten Kagyu microfilm reels for Kalu Rinpoche, who later gifted these reels to Namgyal Rinpoche and the Dharma Centre of Canada. This material was not known to Western Buddhist practitioners, nor available anywhere in translation. A five-page table of contents of all reels, e.g., Roll I, Part A; Roll II, Part A, and so forth, was produced by Ven. Kalu Rinpoche and accompanies the reels. Dechen Drolma (Doris Unterthurner) catalogued the microfilm collection in 2022, sponsored by the Archive Committee of the Dharma Centre of Canada.
References:
DCC Archive Committee. (2021). 'Page 2: Useful Backstory Information'. In "Minutes of DCC Archive Committee Meeting #5, 21 April 2021". Dharma Centre of Canada.
George, J. (2011). The Little Green Book on Awakening. Barrytown/Station Hill Press.
James George obituary: https://montrealgazette.remembering.ca/obituary/james-george-1078492453Parts
Count
11Parts
Microfilm Reels.
Note: Reel 11 only has 20 pages.
