Linguistic Team International Forum

Hey Gang! Yoohoo! Over here. How'd I get over here in Z1?? And it's been locked down for almost a year. So why am I here?

Well, lemme tellya. I happened to catch the opening of this vid + srt recently and was a bit surprised by what I saw. Due no doubt to Chögyam Trungpa's thick accent, some key points of his opening soliloquy are mis-stated. Let's start with this trio of lines:

6
00:00:34,165 --> 00:00:37,725
A certain act is regarded as
7
00:00:38,238 --> 00:00:42,150
displeasing to our divine principles.
8
00:00:42,623 --> 00:00:47,811
A certain act is regarded as pleasing for the divine whatever.

In line 8 he does not say pleasing. He is repeating, or reiterating, the word displeasing for impact, thus corrected:

6
00:00:34,165 --> 00:00:37,725
A certain act is regarded as
7
00:00:38,238 --> 00:00:42,150
displeasing to our divine principles.
8
00:00:42,623 --> 00:00:47,811
A certain act is regarded as displeasing for the divine whatever.



The next tweak is here:

24
00:01:53,453 --> 00:01:58,520
We actually experience fantastic precision, always.

Now I agree it sure sounds like he says "precision" and that is a good strong word, but to me it seems out of place because it is vague. Precise what? or with respect to what? to some implied imprecision in the past? Again it seems strange to me. That said, from day 1 I always thought he said the word procession, strained within his accent of course. Thus:

24
00:01:53,453 --> 00:01:58,520
We actually experience fantastic procession, always.

NOW this line makes much more sense and has much more impact. Trungpa's meaning is that by living in the now moment we proceed or move forward (gee- where have I heard that phrase before) at an accelerated rate!



Now the next change is the BIG one, and again needs extra lines around it for establishing its context:

30
00:02:24,031 --> 00:02:27,698
Everything we experience are unconditional experience.
31
00:02:27,838 --> 00:02:30,373
They don't come along with a label by saying
32
00:02:30,513 --> 00:02:34,085
"This is regarded as bad" or "This is good".

Sorry but I think line 31 is a flat out mis-transcription of the words actually spoken; here is the correction:

30
00:02:24,031 --> 00:02:27,698
Everything we experience are unconditional experience.
31
00:02:27,838 --> 00:02:30,373
The dirt comes along with the label by saying
32
00:02:30,513 --> 00:02:34,085
"This is regarded as bad" or "This is good".

Again, with this correction the lines pop out with perfect clarity. I remember first watching Z1 years ago and straining to grasp these words initially, but once it clicked my mind, that's the way I have registered this line ever since.



Finally there is this closing tweak:

38
00:03:03,951 --> 00:03:09,352
That's a problem. And that is not trusting the nowness properly

Yes it can stand this way, but I think he says "That's d'problem" ie, that's the problem, thus:

38
00:03:03,951 --> 00:03:09,352
That's the problem. And that is not trusting the nowness properly

By doing this, this line is raised to its proper stature in Trungpa's speech, which is that it is the main point, not just another point (as when a is used).

Now that I've bored you to tears with my analysis, I'll stop and invite you to simply look at the attached small diff file, with the 4 changes above side by side. Listen to the opening again and see if you don't agree. Trungpa's opening is the only thing I focused on, the rest of the SRT is undisturbed.

I feel strongly about this because- love it or hate it (personally I love it)- this film is where it all began with Peter and all of us, and so it goes without saying the accuracy of this opening is critically important. And someday it may be translated into 100+ languages not just 2 or 3, so best to fix this now and not later. I welcome any feedback.

OK so what's the dispo on this guy?

So here I am finishing up my own thread, almost 2 years later LOL!!

So re: the "dirt" vs. "don't" debate, I checked with the man himself--Peter--and he squarely came down on the original side and not my interpretation. He said: Trungpa was never that abstract to use symbols like "dirt" in such a context. So I stand corrected.

And 2nd item, 'procession' vs 'precision', is--in the end--splitting hairs. 'Precision' is good enough as is, I'm over it.

So that leaves a single small change we all agree upon:

00:00:42,623 --> 00:00:47,811
FROM
A certain act is regarded as pleasing for the divine whatever.

TO
A certain act is regarded as displeasing for the divine whatever.



This change can be done by hand, so I will not even bother attaching a changed SRT file.