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translation-files/skills/translation/references/meditation-translation.md
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iacore dae6fd4944 skills: rename dharma-translation→translation, delete mpi-project-conventions, move references
- dharma-translation → translation: stripped conventions, kept only technique
- Deleted mpi-project-conventions: all content now in AGENTS.md
- References moved: meditation-translation, markdown-to-djot → translation/
  translation-pitfalls, proofreading-patterns → translation-review/
- Updated AGENTS.md, readme.dj, memory, pdf skill cross-reference
- 7 skills → 6 skills
2026-06-15 17:40:35 +08:00

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Meditation / Mindfulness Content Translation

When the source is a guided meditation script, exercise guide, posture instruction, or breathing practice (rather than a Dharma talk, sutra commentary, or teaching text), use a lighter workflow than the full dharma-translation pipeline.

Register

Default to warm, direct instructional voice (Thầy-adjacent):

  • Second-person address ("you")
  • Concrete images, sensory details
  • Oral rhythm, short sentences
  • Present tense, imperative mood

MB corpus consultation is NOT needed for register — this content type has its own well-established English conventions (yoga/meditation instructional voice).

Terms

Terms DB lookup for Buddhist-mindfulness vocabulary is useful but limited to key terms:

  • 正念 → mindfulness
  • 觉知 → awareness
  • 无我 → depends on context: "non-self" for philosophical/Dharma content; "selflessly" for embodied/movement instruction where the sense is no separate controller imposing on the action
  • 中道 → Middle Way
  • 丹田 → dantian (keep as-is; well-known in meditation/qigong)

Context-sensitive terms:

  • 心 (xīn): in meditation/movement contexts it often means "mind/attention" not emotional "heart." 持心 means holding the mind with focused attention, not holding with emotion.
  • 念 (niàn): mindfulness/attention/recollection — context between these.
  • Buddhist philosophical terms (无我, 空, 缘起) in non-philosophical contexts (movement instruction, body scans) may need practical/concrete translations rather than doctrinal ones.

Skip deep terms alignment unless dense Dharma vocabulary (emptiness, dependent origination, Buddha-nature, etc.) appears in the text.

Comparison files

Still create 对照.dj as usual. See comparison file format in this skill.

Pitfalls

  • Don't add formatting the source doesn't have: sub-section labels using 【】 in Chinese should become plain [label] in English, not *[label]* or **[label]**. Match the source's formatting level exactly.
  • **text** is Markdown, not Djot: Djot emphasis uses single asterisks (*text*). Never use double asterisks in .dj files.
  • 心 ≠ heart by default: in meditation/movement contexts, 持心 = holding the mind with attention, not holding with emotion. Translate based on context, not dictionary defaults.