WikiDhamma:About

WikiDhamma

WikiDhamma
{|style="border-spacing:8px;margin:-8px -8px" {|cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#faf5ff;color:#000" ! Summary WikiDhamma© is an attempt to compile English transalation tipitaka articles based on Tipitaka, (Buddhist sacred scripture), and its commentaries and articles related to modern perspective in online : searching, browsing, linking, instant editing as well as looking up terms in an online dictionary.
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Unmet Needs

 * While Buddhism is the third largest world’s religion, there is no complete online English translation of the Tipitaka.
 * There is absolutely no online commentary of the Tipitaka
 * While searching is what make electronic text distinct, the existing online Tipitaka’s are not searchable.
 * Terminology used in the existing translations of the Tipitaka are diverse, hard to comprehend.
 * Terminology used in the Tipitaka are in Pali-Sanskrit, and readers of the Tipitaka usually encounter difficulty in understanding them.

Uniqueness

 * Searchability
 * Standardized translation
 * Wiki format which allows users to participate in the process of completing (building) the Tipitaka, which is considered the supreme merit by Buddhists
 * Expanded scripture: WikiDhamma© is the the web service that provides an distinctive feature of the Tipitaka: different translations, commentaries, exegeses, interpretations, historical significances, discussions, dictionary, and encyclopedia.
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WikiDhamma's Advantages

 * Complete Features of an Online Text: such as search, browse, link, addition, edition and discussion.

The WikiDhamma© will be linked to an existing Dictionary of Buddhism, such as Andover-Harvard Library’s Dictionary of Buddhism or Stanford-subscribed Encyclopedia of Buddhism.

With client-side internet technology, users can simply double-click on the text to search the dictionary which appears on a new, popup page.


 * Expansive Canon: Wikiptaka© is the first and the only web service that provides an expansive feature of the Tipitaka: different translations, commentaries, exegeses, interpretations, historical significances, discussions, dictionary, and encyclopedia. Because in reality, there are several texts that attach to or elaborate on the Tipitaka, but these “secondary” texts are not yet online.

Under each sutta page, there will be five tabs (or links) for Original Pali Text, Commentary, Significance, Interpretation, and Discussion Forum. With help of users, we can complete this expansion very soon.


 * Inclusiveness & More User Involvement: Users get to take an active role in the web space. By the nature of a wiki, it opens up for people to edit, add, or erase any of the texts. This will make users feel as if they were a part of the community and continue using the website. Because of this openness, Wikipedia have more than two billion pages within five years, and we hope to succeed with this policy as well.

Main Page
The Main Page is divided into four sections:
 * About WikiDhamma©
 * Announcement (new pages and features)
 * Links to the three pitakas (Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, and Abhidhamma Pitaka),
 * Links to Buddhism and Modern Knowledges ( Buddhism and Philosophy, Buddhism and Science, Buddhism and Psychology, Buddhism and Psychotherapy, Buddhism and Philiantrophy),

Registration
Register Now! You can freely edit the existing pages. But to add a new page, you are required to register using your e-mail address. This process is kept easy for your convenience.

 Search
 On the toolbar of every page, there is a search bar. You can use this search bar to search for any specific terms or phrase in the Tipitaka as well as the accompanying pages. Search result ranks by percentage of relevancy.

 Synonym Search
 There is a separate list of Pali terms in Glossary. These terms are linked to their possible translations, once a user search for a term in the list, the search engine will automatically search the website for all possible translations of the term as well as its variations. By this method, we can guarantee that the user will get every passage relevant to his or her keyword.

 Dictionary
 WikiDhamma© can be link to an online Dictionary of Buddhism. There is a link to the dictionary on the toolbar.

 Administrative Staff
 At the moment, WikiDhamma has not any manging staff who help maintaining the website:

 Active and knowledgeable WikiDhamma© members like you are needed to accomplish this Great Task!

 Target Users
 This website will best serve the interest of scholars as well as practitioners of Buddhism. As a complete, searchable online Pali Canon, WikiDhamma© will provide Buddhist scholars a powerful tool to explore and analyze the Tipitaka.

 Target Number of Users
 The main target group is not only western scholars but also Buddhist scholars in major Buddhist countries. This includes Burma, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam. Buddhist scholars are  considering  <font stlye = "size = large"> who would find WikiDhamma© useful.

<font stlye = "size = large"> Other Online Tipitaka Websites
<font stlye = "size = large"> Because of the language differences, no translation can capture the true meaning of the Tipitaka. So, it is very important to look at many translations of a passage and treat them as mirrors that reflect one ultimate meaning of the Tipitaka.

<font stlye = "size = large"> Existing Websites
<font stlye = "size = large"> There are just a handful of online Tipitaka websites (as listed below). None of which allows searching which is the key feature in an electronic text. Also, none of which has a complete, standardized translation of the Tipitaka. Also, most of them are rarely updated.

<font stlye = "size = large"> List of existing online Tipitaka:
 * 1) <font stlye = "size = large"> Accesstoinsight.org: one of the most complete, reliable collection of Pali Canon
 * 2) <font stlye = "size = large"> Tipitaka Online: A translation from Burmese Tipitaka by Dr. Maung M. Lwin. Starting eight years ago, it is still an ongoing attempt to complete the translation. The website uses yahoo e-mail list as a discussion forum, yet there has been no respond from other member beside Dr. Lwin himself recently.
 * 3) <font stlye = "size = large"> Metta.lk: The collection contains Pali, Sinhala, and English translations. The English collection is by various authors often downloaded from the Internet.
 * 4) <font stlye = "size = large"> Tipitaka.com: a complete Thai translation.
 * 5) <font stlye = "size = large"> Palikanon.com: an incomplete Spanish translation.

<font stlye = "size = large"> Potential Websites
<font stlye = "size = large"> Although it is always possible for anyone to startup a new website of a similar kind, we firmly believe that at the moment there is no such an attempt. Because this is not a particular popular moment for Buddhism, yet a peak period for startup internet companies, and most of the Buddhist followers are in the countries with low internet accessibility, it is unlikely that any other potential competitor would come up with the same idea at the moment.

<font stlye = "size = large"> Key Assumptions

 * 1) <font stlye = "size = large"> Internet Penetration: We assume that by the time we launch WikiDhamma©, the internet penetration in major Buddhist countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and China will be high enough to allow enough Buddhist scholars to access the website and join the community.
 * 2) <font stlye = "size = large"> Users’ Willingness to Share their Knowledge: Like Wikipedia, the success of WikiDhamma© has to depend on users’ participation. We will post a famous Buddhist aphorism: “Among all charity, charity of knowledge is the greatest” to emphasize the importance of this project and appeal to Buddhist practitioners to seek a way to accumulate Good kamma even in the Cyber World.
 * 3) <font stlye = "size = large"> Credibility: Although the purpose of WikiDhamma© is to provide the most complete and accurate translation of the Tipitaka, some skeptics can always criticize the lack of central authority and thus the credibility of the translation. However, there is no better way to defend ourselves than letting the truth prove itself, like the case of Wikipedia.