SuttaCentral
Interesting, thanks for the data. I might add to that, as the main purveyor of HH Dalai Lama’s books, I would expect that the vast bulk of those sales come from them, as well as some popular books like Ajahn Brahm.
Can I clear up one point? You said “donations of $162.5 k” but also “the reported total donation and gifts amount was of only $2,000”. What’s up with that?
Wisdom publications only donated $2,000 in the reported year, but received $162,500 in donations as part of their revenue streams.
Oh, okay, thanks.
If I am not mistaken, royalties are calculated from gross revenue. Which makes the royalty rate about 7% or so. Does that seem right to you?
Yes. You are right. Note that they pay for royalties as well. I hope these payments are done to non-monastic authors!
When they receive royalties I believe they are being paid by other publishing houses for printing Dhamma-related stuff that is theirs or trusted to them.
When they pay for royalties they are giving away a share of the revenue they made selling Dhamma-related stuff they got trusted to them by third parties.
I was talking about the money paid by them in royalties. Is that around 7%?
The royalties paid to them is, I assume, where their works have been published by other publishers, would that be right?
Royalties paid to monastics usually goes to a specified charity. For Ajahn Brahm, this is, or was, the nun’s monastery. For Ven Bodhi, I assume the BGR.
So, the total paid in royalties was $352,000, which stands at 14% of their total gross revenue of $2.44 million.
Oh, okay, thanks.
Believe it or not, I once scored 102% in a maths test. How is that possible, you say? Ahh, those are trade secrets! But as you can see, in my dotage my math skills have declined considerably.
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No malice from me. I actually thought people like you would appreciate we bring up the fact that all these things are publicly available - this is the premise of a not-for-profit operation.
There is nothing to hide or to fear.
No sin or fault.
@DKervick, I am sorry that you feel this way and sorry that you are leaving. You’ve brought some interesting and valid perspectives here, and I have learned much from your perspectives. Even the recent “Burning Man” exchange was enlightening.
I am terribly grateful for Sutta Central and D&D. Sure, there are the occasional offbeat posts, and the occasional trolls that pop up on nearly any site these days, but I have found D&D to be an indispensable resource for me. Much like graduate school, I was surrounded by people sillier than me (very few), and much smarter than me. I was surrounded by some ridiculous beliefs, and occasional brilliance. Like a great graduate school, I feel that D&D has elevated my understanding and my study; it has opened doors for me to some wisdom and insight. People here are generally very smart and cool. Is there any forum, anywhere, that accomplishes what Sutta Central accomplishes?
As for monastics, I am unsure what is meant by the allusions to “temple priests, etc.” I feel we’re fortunate to have monastic leadership here that is exemplary, and courageous, and not afraid to demonstrate some grit and outside the box thinking and strong scholarship. And all done in a gracious, yet firm way. Much like some of my favorite profs in grad school, they cared about their subject and provided challenge for their students, and challenged us to think well and do better. Sometimes feelings get hurt, and sometimes the positions taken go against our grain. But, I have always felt that it is in these environments that we are called to learn and grow. I want to be challenged, to have my ideas turned upside down, and even be forced to reconsider my positions on deeply held views. I feel confident that D&D is the only online incubator for such growth and development available within traditional/original Buddhism.
I’m a believer that iron sharpens iron. So, this community, with its great minds and occasional problematic ones, sharpens us. I always hate to see strong thinkers depart D&D, even those that I do not agree with and find problematic at times. But, we all must chart our own course, and find refuge in environments that advance us along the Path. I trust you will find yours, Dan. With Metta.
hope you don’t bring the attitude that theravada buddhists are bad to real world. online is always worse. real world most are friendly.
i agree that post about wisdom’s money is shameful. as though making a living is evil.
We can try to trace the money flow for Bhikkhu Bodhi’s Buddhist Global Relief (BGR) as well.
This is their latest IRS Business Master file:
262852923_201506_990.pdf (1.4 MB)
Just mind/note that they report every June while WP reports every December.
In FY14/15 BGR raised $547 k. I believe that the royalties revenue are chunked within the $412k amount they reported as “contributions, gifts, grants and similar things”.
As expected, most of BGR’s operational expenses were related to grants. Some $252k were given to entities within the US and some $178k were given to entities elsewhere in the world. This amounts to 90% of the total $479k it cost to run the charity.
Yes, exactly. This information is publicly available for a reason. There was no malice or shaming, just a discussion of what exactly is going on. I am grateful to be able to understand a little better the details. I don’t see why there should be any problem here. If anyone wants to know about SC’s finances, please just ask. If you have any criticisms of how we do things, I would be happy to respond.
Oh, and I might add just a little historical anecdote. After Ven Bodhi’s Majjhima translation was released—this must have been the late 90s—there was some discussion at Bodhinyana among the monks about the cost of the books. Some people thought the prices were excessive. Someone—was it Ajahn Brahm?—wrote to Wisdom to ask about this. They responded with a detailed letter that broke down their financing and showed how much they made. We were grateful that they responded so helpfully, and appreciated having the accurate information so we could understand the situation. Indeed, it is relying on that—although it is indeed a long time ago—that I have said that I don’t believe they are making much money from sales of the sutta translations per se.
This is really uncalled for.
Welcome to the internet? Most Buddhist internet forums, in my experience, are largely the same. There’s good and there’s bad. I find when I really start to notice the bad, it is because I’ve been immersing myself too much, and need to take a break from these kinds of spaces, which attract all kinds, admittedly.
There is indeed. But we do not tolerate this kind of language. Everyone here must treat each other with kindness and respect and decency, especially if they disagree.
Sorry, I missed this earlier. Yes, we have plans to print the new translations.
In most places these days, it is 70 years after the death of the author.
No need to do so.
You made some valid points and your contribution is important.
Do not take things personal.
This is not a ballroom dance where every one take perfect steps so nobody steps in to someone else.
Subbe Sankhara Anicca!
I thought Wisdom Publications makes most of its money from Dalai Lama-related stuff.
And being someone who first got in touch with Buddha Dhamma through Tibetan Buddhism, I can guarantee that what you describe here - brilliant temple priests and “fields of merit” in the possession of some body of magical revealed wisdom with which they can impress the fawning and scraping devout - is actually closer to represent what the Dalai Lama and other so-called tulkus’ cult s are all about more than anything! 
And in terms of Theravada, it is exactly the group of so-called monks that fit in that category who benefit the most from the relative inaccessibility of the Buddhist scriptures to a wider audience.
It is exactly because people don’t have easily available to them good and free translation of key suttas / sutras such as MN117, MN118, SN12.26, AN10.2 and so many others (and their respective Chinese and Sanskrit parallels) that fruitless renderings of Buddhism which sometimes seem to totally ignore the eight-fold path and theprosper nowadays!