Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP)

Donating to the Asian Classics Input Project's work in Mongolia preserves incredibly unique teachings that are a part of the Greater Way of training. In this path of training at its core is the practice cultivating altruism and an aspiring level of compassion and positive influence.

Take for example Master Shantideva’s 8th century Scholar Yogi who has some of his texts inside of the Mongolian National Library.

He says in his text the Bodhisatthva Way of Life

“May the blind see the forms,
May the deaf hear sounds.

May the naked find clothing,
The hungry find food;
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks.

May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy;
May the forlorn find new hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.

May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed;
May the powerless find power,
And may the people think of benefiting one another”
― Shantideva

Some of texts that we are preserving,archiving, digitizing, cataloging and translating have exceptional detail. Imagine a text having so much value to you that you spent days hand painting images of yogis, Buddhas, or Bodhisatthvas. Many of the texts we preserve at the Asian Classics Input Project are hundreds of years old and not only outline how to train the mind and heart but also include gems of artistic detail like the pecha above.

Around the world the value of compassion and wisdom is increasing. Countries, people, and global economies are starting to recognize the vital need to reconnect with ancient wisdom. Much of humanities problems can be solved through acting with the wisdom we already have. Preserving this wisdom is therefore vital and greatly beneficial to global human culture.

Consider what a world would look like if people understood this statement from Master Shantideva.

“All the joy the world contains Has come through wishing happiness for others. All the misery the world contains Has come through wanting pleasure for oneself.”
― Śāntideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva

Stacks upon stacks of ancient wisdom. On this day of gratitude we are grateful for all of the previous yogis, scholars, and practitioners who labored hard so that lineages of wisdom and compassion would be preserved and passed on for future generations.
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Where does your wisdom come from ?

The details of a woodblock created with Tibetan script that’s part of our Mongolian collection. Many of the texts in our Mongolian library outline in exquisite detail the stages of human attentional development. From stage one where someone struggles to keep attention stable, into stage 9 where a practitioner can hold one object with total absorption concentration for more than an hour. This final stage of attentional development is called Shamata or calm abiding. It’s unique because the faculties of cognition become completely unified and as a result the mind becomes pliant and peaceful.
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Where does your wisdom come from ?