The words of Gelek Rimpoche:
Originally the teachings were in different languages, Sanskrit, Pali and local lan-
guages, and they have been translated into Indian, Tibetan and Chinese. At the first translation, the mes-
sage already got deluded quite a lot. If you do a word-by-word translation, [you have the difficulty that]
the words have different meanings, and besides that it just doesn’t work. You know that very well. That is
why a lot of scholars complain that if you really translate literally, it doesn’t make any sense. That is a true
problem. To make it make sense, the translator tries, as much as is within his capacity, to absorb the mes-
sage and then expresses it in the different language. Whatever absorption he or she got, is manifested out.
Get the real message. Lamrim is a little easy, but when you go to other Buddhist texts, it is very com-
plicated. You may read it thirty different times, and you will probably have thirty different understandings.
You go to thirty different teachers, and they give you thirty different explanations. You read thirty different
commentaries, and they will give you thirty different points. I really mean, it is very, very difficult to absorb
that language. A person who spends ten or fifteen years trying to absorb it, will only get 10% or 15% out of
it. Then, on the basis of that information what one has been able to absorb, it is expressed again. And that’s
how we get it. So, you see, is very hard to get the real message.
What happens is this. Firstly, if you as an individual have been able to build up a quite good solid base,
and you read a text, you sometimes may get more information than the translator himself. That depends on
how solidly that individual has been able to build up [his or her practice of learning, thinking and meditat-
ing]. Secondly, it also needs a little bit of purification as well as a little good luck. Spiritual texts are unlike
other texts. When the translator speaks out certain words, even the translator may be limited and individu-
als may be able to go beyond those words and get the real message. The foundation you need for that can
be built up by this Lamrim. That is this quality: to be able to find the real message!
Whatever best one could express by words, has been expressed. But what the words say is not neces-
sarily what is meant. The meaning is much beyond that. So, what does Lamrim do? It will help you under-
stand the teachings further and better. Every teaching of the Buddha, every word of it, has a direct, an indi-
rect and a hidden meaning. Not necessarily the direct meaning is true, not necessarily the indirect meaning
is true. In order to understand that, Lamrim helps.