History: Fresh Baked Bread Our community first experienced the dharma as a bolt of lightning in the night sky. The Vidyadhara emerged in North America as a unique figure who offered ancient dharma as—in his words—fresh baked bread. Students gathered. Before too long it became clear that our teacher wanted us to have access to as much written dharma and practice liturgy as possible. He also made it clear that he wanted his students to be able to study and practice in their own language. On the foundation of this strong, heart-felt desire, he gradually prodded and cajoled a translation committee into existence. Midsummer's Day 1980: Translation Committee with the Vidyadhara, performing a lhasang. Photo by Phyllis Segura. A group of students gathered to learn both the Tibetan language and the art of translation from the Vidyadhara. What brought us together as translators was our love for our teacher and passion for the dharma. Our passion (and probably our aggression and most certainly our ignorance) far outweighed our expertise. At that time, only a few of us had previous training in Tibetan and Sanskrit. The Vidyadhara was the focal point for all our activities, providing us with our vision, choosing the texts for translation, meeting with us, and painstakingly reviewing our preliminary translations. In 1976, with the blessings of His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, we gained the invaluable assistance of Lama Ugyen Shenpen, who at that time knew only a little more English than we knew Tibetan. The work was inspiring but also tough at times, and not conducive to conventional living, even though most of us were trying to hold down semi-regular jobs. In the early days, translation sessions that began in the afternoon might last into the wee hours of the morning, with the Vidyadhara pushing us back up if our energy started to flag. At times we found ourselves not only in argument with each other but in open disagreement with our teacher, which tended to make one's seat uncomfortable. But the Vidyadhara patiently sat through our endless questions and quibbles, and awakened in us a larger vision of translation. Fresh Baked Bread Continued....