(See English below.)
Das Unvorstellbare ist wahr geworden! Zumindest ich konnte mir nicht wirklich vorstellen, dass es einmal soweit sein würde … trotzdem habe ich angefangen. Ich habe Ajahn Brahm mehrfach sagen hören, um am Ziel anzukommen, brauche man bloß zwei Dinge zu tun:
- Anfangen.
- Nicht aufhören.
Er dachte dabei natürlich in erster Linie an das Ziel des Erwachens, aber es funktioniert offensichtlich auch für andere Dinge.
Mitte 2019 habe ich angefangen, die Suttas des frühen Palikanon zu übersetzen – und im April 2026 habe ich die letzte Zeile des letzten noch fehlenden Textes in der letzten noch unvollständigen Sammlung übersetzt. Und ich kann immer noch nicht glauben, dass das tatsächlich wahr ist!
Natürlich … nach der Übersetzung ist vor der Überarbeitung, und es liegt sicherlich noch genug Arbeit vor mir; vermutlich genug für den Rest meines Lebens, solange ich noch gesund genug bin, es zu tun.
Und natürlich ist all diese Arbeit auch Teil des eigentlichen und viel größeren Projekts, nämlich des Ziels, das Erwachens zu erreichen … 1. anfangen und 2. nicht aufhören! Dazu möchte ich euch alle von Herzen ermutigen! Mein Wunsch ist, dass meine Arbeit nicht nur mir selbst zu tieferen Einsichten in die Lehren des Buddha verhelfen konnte und weiter kann, sondern dass auch andere einen Nutzen davon haben!
Eine ausführliche Beschreibung auf Deutsch findet ihr im jüngsten Dhammaregen-Newsletter.
The unimaginable has come true! At least I was unable to truly imagine that at some point this would be the case … but I started nevertheless. I’ve heard Ajahn Brahm say several times that in order to arrive at the goal, you only need to do two things:
- Start.
- Don’t stop.
Of course he was thinking of the goal of awakening here in the first place, but obviously this works for other things as well.
Mid 2019 I started translating the suttas of the early Pali canon—and in April 2026, I translated the last line of the last missing text of the last uncompleted collection. And I still can’t believe this is really true!
Of course … after the translation comes the revision, and there is certainly enough work left for me to do; probably for the rest of my life, as long as I am still healthy enough to do it.
And of course all this work is also part of the actual and much bigger project, namely arriving at the goal of awakening … 1. start, and 2., don’t stop! For this, I would like to wholeheartedly encourage you all! It is my wish that my work was, and still is, not only able to help myself to deeper insights into the Buddha’s teachings, but that it may also be of benefit for others!
The translation project
There have already been German translations of all these texts which I have now translated. But as has been discussed on this forum several times, no translation can ever be final for all times. And the existing German translations have been of very different style and terminology across the different collections—and not only that; the Saṁyutta Nikāya has been started by one translator (in the 1930s), then continued by a second (1941), and finally, many years later (1993), completed by a third. So now we have for the first time a consistent German translation of the early Buddhist texts.
This project includes the following collections:
- Dīgha-Nikāya
- Majjhima-Nikāya
- Saṁyutta-Nikāya
- Aṅguttara-Nikāya
- From the Khuddaka Nikāya:
- Khuddakapāṭha
- Dhammapada
- Udāna
- Itivuttaka
- Suttanipāta
- Theragāthā
- Therīgāthā
The translation relies very much on Bhante Sujato’s English translation. His concept of a translation in a plain, approachable language and a consistent terminology was something I wanted to make available to my Buddhist friends who don’t understand English.
Technically, the project was realized with the translation software Bilara, developed by SuttaCentral and optimized to meet the particular needs of the early Pali texts. One of its greatest features is that it supports a consistent translation across collections.
So I hope that in my remaining life span I will be able to refine and improve the project and iron out any remaining inconsistencies so that, even if it will never be “perfect”, I can still leave a basis to later translators that can be built upon—just as I built upon the work of those who came before me.
Acknowledgments
Without the following people, this project would never have been possible. I am directing my deepest gratitude to them:
- Bhante @sujato, initiator of SuttaCentral and this very discussion forum who makes his own translation available to everybody free of copyright or any cost, and in addition invites other translators to create and publish their own translations of early Buddhist texts on SuttaCentral in the world’s languages. He has written many essays to explain in detail his understanding and translation choices for difficult passages and recently is adding notes to the individual translated suttas which, among others, point to connections between spiritual texts from the Buddha’s cultural milieu and the Buddhist discourses. For all this and much more I feel deeply grateful.
- @karl_lew, initiator and main developer of the audio project SC-Voice, has encouraged me to this translation project from the very first moment I considered it. Without him I might likely never have found the courage to begin in the first place. Also, in a time when Bilara was not yet developed, he helped me a lot with technical support and his vast know-how. And with his own project he allows users to not only read all these texts, but also listen to them. A heartfelt thank you!
- Blake Walsh was the first developer of SuttaCentral’s translation software Bilara, and his work is now carried on by others. This tool is an invaluable help! Many thanks to all who are involved!
- For proofreading and other feedback I thank @Beaver, @Bloom77, @Olivia, @raindrop, @Sabrina, @Wolfgang and others from our Saarland discussion group, as well as other people who can’t all be named here. Each contribution, big or small, is helpful!
- And not least, my gratitude is for all those who support this project with their sympathy.
Mönche und Nonnen, diese vier Personen findet man in der Welt. Welche vier? Jemanden, der weder zum eigenen Nutzen übt noch zum Nutzen anderer; jemanden, der zum Nutzen anderer übt, aber nicht zum eigenen Nutzen; jemanden, der zum eigenen Nutzen übt, aber nicht zum Nutzen anderer; jemanden, der sowohl zum eigenen Nutzen übt als auch zum Nutzen anderer. … Die Person, die sowohl zum eigenen als auch zum Nutzen anderer übt, ist die vorderste, beste, oberste, höchste und vorzüglichste unter den Vieren. (AN 4.95)
Mendicants, these four individuals are found in the world. What four? One who practices to benefit neither themselves nor others; one who practices to benefit others, but not themselves; one who practices to benefit themselves, but not others; and one who practices to benefit both themselves and others. … The individual who practices to benefit both themselves and others is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the four. (AN 4.95)
This translation project has been of much benefit to myself from the very beginning. If it can do the same to others as well, its purpose has been entirely fulfilled!
