Wisdom Publications is dedicated to making available authentic Buddhist works for the benefit of all. We publish translations of the sutras and tantras, commentaries and teachings of past and contemporary Buddhist masters, and original works by the world’s leading Buddhist scholars. We publish our titles with the appreciation of Buddhism as a living philosophy and with the special commitment to preserve and transmit important works from all the major Buddhist traditions.
Wisdom Publications is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization, and all profits are reinvested into the creation of new works. Our titles are distributed worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty foreign languages. We have a backlist of over two hundred titles in print, with over twenty new titles appearing each year.
Wisdom’s beginnings were inspired in the late 1970s by Tibetan Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-84), a teacher renowned for his warm-hearted humor and his grasp of the idiom and mindset of the Western seeker. Lama Yeshe, along with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, founded the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international network of affiliated teaching centers, hospices, and other Dharma organizations. Wisdom’s earliest titles included Wisdom Energy: Basic Buddhist Teachings, and Advice from a Spiritual Friend. With a formalization of publishing operations in London in 1983, the press immediately demonstrated its commitment to publishing important works from all the Buddhist traditions, and developed a reputation for high production values. In 1987, Wisdom published its first translation of the Pali scriptures with Maurice Walshe’s translation of the Digha Nikaya.
Operations moved from London to Boston in late 1988 when Tim McNeill, the current Publisher, was appointed. Wisdom spent several years renting space on the corner of Newbury Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, where it ran a successful mail-order business with a comprehensive catalog of Buddhist literature. In 1997, with the growing success of its own publishing activities, Wisdom decided to focus on publishing full-time, and purchased its current headquarters at 199 Elm Street in Somerville, near the city of Boston.
Wisdom reached out to scholars in 1998 with the advent of its peer-reviewed academic series, Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. In 2004, it inaugurated its relationship with Thupten Jinpa’s Institute of Tibetan Classics with the first volume in the Library of Tibetan Classics, and in 2008, launched the Classics of Indian Buddhism series. In 2005, Wisdom’s worldwide trade distribution was picked up by Publisher’s Group West (PGW), the largest exclusive distributor of independent publishers in North America. Also in 2005, Wisdom began serving its direct-mail customers through PSSC, a warehousing and order fulfillment company not far from our offices.
Affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), Wisdom’s editorial mission is thoroughly ecumenical. We at Wisdom are grateful to be able to work with the Dharma on a daily basis and to play a role in the introduction of Buddhist ideas to the English-speaking world.
To contact our offices, visit the Contact Us page on the Wisdom website.
I love your site. Keep it up !
Keep up the good work. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
michael j
Conshohocken, PA USA
Thank you sir! We will.
Hi, I have reread the book ‘razor wired dharma’ again and I enjoy it immensely. In fact I am curious about the author – I was wondering how he is and whether he is already out of prison.
It would be great if you could tell him that I enjoy his book very much. It is an inspiration to me and the many others I have given this book to. I hope he is okay!
I received the WISDOM publications Fall 2010/2011 Catalog and was delighted to read that Wisdom will publis eBooks that will be available for reading on various types of e-readers. Thank you.