By Dr. Alexander Berzin | Founder and Author of Berzin Archives
We have reached the end of a challenging year, one in which we all have had to endure many restrictions, much hardship and, for some of us, terrible loss. But it has also given us a valuable chance for spiritual growth. Restrictions give us the opportunity to reflect on impermanence and put into practice flexibility and patience. Loss of loved ones or economic security, indescribably tragic and difficult to bear, tests our resilience not to lose hope. As for hardships, Shantideva expressed it nicely:
“Furthermore, there are advantages to suffering: with agony, arrogance disappears; compassion grows for those in recurring samsara; negative conduct is shunned; and joy is taken in being constructive.”
What could be a greater incentive for practicing compassion for all sentient beings than a global pandemic and economic crisis which, in fact, affect us all? When the scope of our concern is limited to just ourselves and our loved ones, and the strength of our fear builds emotional walls within which to hide from others, our hearts and minds remain closed and we suffer terribly. But when the scope of our concern becomes unlimited and extends to all beings, and the strength of our compassion builds a loving connection with everyone on this planet, our hearts and minds stay open and our peace of mind and happiness grow. With the strength and self-confidence that compassion brings, let’s look back on this epic year and rejoice in how much we have grown, and reaffirm our dedication to continue wishing for and working toward the benefit of all.
Let me share with you what we’ve accomplished during this amazing year. In 2020, we have had more than 1,160,000 users of the website (up an incredible 40% from last year), who've read almost 2.7 million articles (up 31%) in our 31 languages. This impressive increase in readers is certainly aided by our efforts in bringing ten brand new Asian language sections to the website. Altogether, we produced more than 4325 translations of articles and subtitles, which is nearly 12 every single day! Almost 66% of our users visited the site on a mobile device, while 30% visited on a computer and 4% on a tablet.
We now have a grand total of 10,640 articles on the website. Around 1/3 of our users read our English content, while two out of three people read articles in one of our 30 other languages. The most popular are Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese and Hindi, as well as Tibetan and Mongolian. One out of six readers come from the US, while the rest come from 226 other countries. The most popular of these are India, Germany, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia, while Italy, Turkey, Mongolia, Mexico and Vietnam come close behind. We truly are reaching the entire world.
The community on our Facebook channel grows on a daily basis, with around 10,000 newcomers interested in learning about the wisdom of Tibet joining this year. We now have over 44,000 followers, an increase of 25% from last year. Our posts have been viewed 4.6 million times (up 86% compared to last year) and our videos have been watched for the equivalent of 630 days.
Our YouTube channel is also enjoying great success, with us reaching 22,000 subscribers, up 77% from last year. We now have a total of 392 videos, consisting of interviews with 28 of the world's leading experts on Buddhism and the mind today.
Over on SoundCloud, an increasing number of people are finding and enjoying our wide range of audio material. We now have 2,033 followers, up 20%. We now have a total of 1,510 tracks. They’ve had 190,000 plays and 6,700 downloads. Our top listeners come from the USA, Australia, the UK, Germany, and Canada, and a newcomer in this category: Slovakia!
All of our work, from maintaining the website and creating new material, to producing video content and translating thousands of subtitles and articles, relies upon you, the public, and your donations. So, I wish to thank you all for your continuing support. Please share with your loved ones and friends our project, or anyone who might be interested in the wisdom of Tibet but does not know of our website and might like to help support our work. Together we shall “Make the Ageless Wisdom of Tibet Available to All.”
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