Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön is a small non-profit organisation working to preserve the rich teachings of Yungdrung Bön. Founded in 2012 with the blessing of Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, FPYB was officially registered with the UK Charity Commission as an educational body in 2017.
Our first translation was made at the request of Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak in 1996,and since then we have worked in close collaboration with Yongdzin Rinpoche and other bona fide Bönpo lamas to produce dozens of books, videos and practice materials, many of which are now available to serious practitioners.
In recent years, we have received a growing number of requests from the international Bönpo community for eBooks. In response, we looked into the various possibilities of producing these materials securely. Since the recent EPUB 3 Fixed Layout format means it is now possible to insert Tibetan text and even publish bilingual editions electronically, we are happy to offer selection of our publications digitally.
As always, we would like to remind you that it is both against the law and against the principles of the teachings to reproduce any part of these publications in any way without the express written permission of the publisher.
Why is it important to preserve Yungdrung Bön teachings through translations and edited transcripts?
Since leaving Tibet during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Yongdzin Rinpoche has devoted his whole life to preserving his lineage for future generations, and an important aspect of this is publishing books. His first mission in exile was to collect the scattered copies of the Bön Kanjur and Katen which had either been miraculously smuggled out of Tibet or had survived in ancient Bön temples in Nepal. Yongdzin Rinpoche’s aim was to gather and reprint the necessary texts to re-establish the Geshe training programme in exile, and it is thanks to his tireless efforts that teachers such as Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung, Khenpo Gelek Jinpa, Drubrda Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin and Ponlob Tsangpa Tenzin now have the knowledge and qualifications to teach.
Here in the West, we are very fortunate. We can simply browse the internet or look in a bookstore to find many books on Buddhism, and even a few on Bön. However, authentic translations by erudite masters are very rare indeed, so it is our joint responsibility to do all we can to ensure the teachings of our great master, Yongdzin Rinpoche, are recorded intact, seriously and respectfully, not only as study and practice aids for ourselves, but also as an invaluable legacy for future generations. As Yongdzin Rinpoche is the current, supreme lineage holder, his teachings and translations are imbued with the powerful blessings of the living lineage transmission.
For over 25 years, our Founding Members Carol Ermakova and Dmitry Ermakov have been working closely with Yongdzin Rinpoche and other lamas translating, transcribing and editing Bönpo texts. They have recently been joined by a team of translators for Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Russian. All our staff are unpaid volunteers.