Those of you who have followed our progress here may be aware that some time ago we announced we would be organizing the printing of Michael Beisert’s excellent Portuguese translation of the Majjhima Nikaya. We worked with @vimala and @Gabriel_L on getting the files ready, and it has been sent to our wonderful publishing friends at Budaedu. We’ve contacted a number of centers in Portugal and Brazil, and are very much looking forward to getting this out. However, it has been slower than we hoped.
On my recent trip to Hong Kong, I had the good fortune to visit Taipei and meet with Mr Ju, the head of Budaedu. We had a long and fruitful discussion. One of the things we clarified was why the Portuguese text was delayed. It has nothing to do with the text itself, and everything to do with the Chinese economy. Yep, printing costs money: the Chinese economy has slowed down, and with it the economies in the region, so people have less money for donating to Buddhist causes. Anyway, the bottom line is that it will be done, it will just take a little longer than usual.
Another point that he clarified, which will be a relief for our friends in Brazil, who are going through such a very hard time right now. It is difficult to import books there due to the customs laws. However, Budaedu apparently have a normal channel to bring books in through a land crossing, supported by a local businessman, which end up at a major Chinese temple. I’m not sure of all the details, but the upshot is that there should be no need to get the books through customs, they will just need to be picked up from a temple.
Ayya, I wonder if you would be so kind as to share this news with our Portuguese-speaking friends?
