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In the Words of the Buddha: Pali and Mindfulness Practice Course Begins

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Throughout the Winter Retreat period at Deer Park we will be offering a reading and practice course in Pali, one of the early scriptural languages of Buddhism. The course will focus on readings from the Mindfulness of Breathing Sutta, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Sutta, and the first discourse of the Buddha, the Setting in Motion of the Wheel of the Dhamma Sutta. Study and concrete practice of concepts learned will be emphasized.

What
  • Course
When 2008-11-18
from 07:30 pm to 09:00 pm
Where Deer Park Monastery Ocean of Peace Hall
Contact Name Brother Phap Luu
Contact Email
Contact Phone 760-291-1003x100
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Following the course in Buddhist Sanskrit offered during last year's Winter Retreat, this year monastic and lay residents of Deer Park as well as commuting friends from nearby are invited to participate in three months of introductory study in Pali, the principal scriptural language of the Theravada school of Buddhism. The course will focus on both language acquisition as well as practice, with short meditation sessions included along with Pali chanting. We will concentrate on learning the grammatical structures of Pali, with exercises from De Silva's Pali Primer and readings from the Anapanasati Sutta (Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing), the Satipatthana Sutta (Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness) and the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Discourse on Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma). Subhasitas, or "good sayings," will be presented in each class for regular translation and recitation practice. Intellectual learning through study of the original language of the texts and concrete practice of concepts learned go hand in hand. No previous language study is required.

The course is currently structured to be offered for 70 minutes three times a week during the three months of the Winter Retreat, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings beginning at 7:30 pm. Everyone who would truly like to establish a foundation in the language should plan to be present for all classes. Commuters and weekend guests who may only be able to attend one class in a week may attend the Saturday class only, which will be offered in such a way that they may benefit from close study of the text without the detailed grammatical analysis included during the weekday classes.

With motivation and diligent study students will be able, upon completion of the three month course, to read, pronounce, and translate simple suttas from the Pali Canon on their own with the aid of a dictionary.

To register for the course please contact Brother Phap Luu at shresident@dpmail.net. This course is offered on a dana (donation) basis.

Brother Phap Luu received training in Sanskrit grammar and translation at Harvard University before ordaining as a monk at Plum Village in 2003.

Required Course Book:

  • Pali Primer, Dr. Lily De Silva, Vipassana Research Institute.

Encouraged Additional Texts and Study Aids:

  • Introduction to Pali CD. Venerable H. Saddhatissa. Pali Text Society  2003. For help with Pali pronunciation, this is a companion to the book Introduction to Pali, 3rd edition, by A.K.Warder.

 

 

 

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