Hypertexting is a Dharma project that can be done by anyone with access to a computer. No Tibetan skills are required, and it is a wonderful way to serve the Dharma and learn Tibetan. It is also a wonderful offering to Geshe Michael Roach, who has often expressed his wish for students to participate in the hypertexting project.

Brief explanation of the project

Geshe Michael Roach has kindly translated thousands of pages of Tibetan scripture into English. The hypertexting project aims to use this vast resource to create tools to help future translators.

To "hypertext" a document, you view a Tibetan scripture or commentary on the computer (transliterated into ordinary Roman characters), look up each word or phrase, and then connect it with the corresponding term in Geshe-la's English translation. You connect the Tibetan with the English using a simple mark-up code, which is explained on this website.

To hypertext, all you need is access to a computer and a little time and patience. No commercial software is required, and the necessary dictionaries are either accessible over the web or available for free download. While some Internet access is necessary, you do not need to be connected to the Internet the entire time you are hypertexting.

By hypertexting Geshe-la's many translations, we are creating an electronic dictionary that will not only contain many of Geshe-la's poetic expressions, but it will also make it possible for users to type in a Tibetan or English word or phrase and see examples of how they have already been translated, in context.

[For a more complete explanation, please see "Purpose of Hypertexting".]