In Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche’s own words:

“I would like to say that, of all my projects that have come to the initial stages of fruition through the kindness of so many, the most important of all is the Mirror of Wisdom Archives [now called Vimala]… In my opinion, there is no greater way to serve the doctrine or sentient beings than through the Dharma of scripture and transmission. This is, in fact, the life of the Dharma. Mirror of Wisdom is the structure and support for this because it preserves all of the great teachings given to us by the greatest teachers of our time.

“This organization will bring benefit to countless future generations for as long as the Archives is updated and preserved as a vehicle through which the Dharma remains present in our world. All the teachings and translations, the videos and documentation, that it holds are the single most important aspect of my work in the West. The temples, statues, stupas, prayer wheels, and so forth are important, of course, but they cannot compare with the blessing and value of the actual direct words of the teachings. Therefore, all of the teachings that have been given must be carefully guarded and preserved. They must be made available to interested students without bias or discrimination. Everyone who offers to assist Mirror of Wisdom must continue in a spirit of oneness because it is the speech of the Buddha. This is our opportunity. It was the prayer of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche himself that Yeshe Nyingpo [Mirror of Wisdom] serve all traditions and, in particular, all lineages of the Nyingmapa tradition, including Dorje Drag, Mindrol Ling, Palyul, Khatok, Dzogchen, and Shechen…. Serving the Dharma is the only possibility for permanent virtue, so we must always do our best with body, speech, and mind.

“Remember that, for me, the essence of all of this is Mirror of Wisdom Archives, for the reasons that I have mentioned. For example, we all know how wonderful it is to actually see the videos of the Karmapa and Dudjom Rinpoche. Just imagine what it would be like if we could see videos of Guru Rinpoche and the twenty-five disciples at Samye Monastery! For the future generations, what we record on video right now will mean that much to them. This is not for ourselves; this is for all beings who will follow us. We need to make sure that we have served our gurus well so that they would be proud of us, that our faith is always increasing, and that the two levels of merit are always being accumulated. The real representative of our gurus, the actual tulkus, are found within the Archives, because therein is contained the speech of Buddha without any alteration.”

~ Excerpted from Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche’s article in the 2004 Mirror of Wisdom Newsletter ~