ON STRUCTURE AND CONTENT:
15-DAY WORKSHOP ON PALI LANGUAGE AND BUDDHIST CULTURES
Prof. Yojana Bhagat: (Main Resource Person)
Why learn Pali?
Contribution of Indian and Western scholars to Pali and so on
in English along with the PPT presentations and Assignments and
Homework for better understanding.
The aims and objectives are:
- to see the impact of the Pali
language on the regional languages of south India or specially Malayalam.
- to inculcate the interest of Pali
learning and Buddhist culture in the academic and social field.
- to spread awareness regarding the
role of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in the revival of Buddhism in India.
- to study the contemporary issues in
the society in the light of Buddha's Teaching.
Keeping the above objectives in focus
the workshop would be designed.
Time Table would be something like
Morning 09.00 am to 11.30 am Pali Language learning
11.45 am to 1.00
pm Lectures by Scholar on related topics
01.00 pm to 2.00
pm Lunch
02.00 pm to 4.00
pm workshop on Pali Learning
04.30 pm to 6.00
pm Public Lectures on Buddhist culture/ art/ architecture.
Observation:
From the responses I can see that
people are eager and ready to know more about the language and literature of
Buddhism.
Thus taking into consideration the
interests of the people in general we should conduct the workshop accordingly.
more of different information,
exploration of different ideas of how Buddhism and Pali language was prevalent
in south India specially Kerala.
We would be needing simple Pali grammar
books for the basic study. i am also preparing the basic information notes
which we can give the students in photocopies.
PPTs should be prepared to give
information on Buddhist archaeological sites of India. Papers on the topics of
contribution of south India to Buddhism is necessary for better understanding.
i am working on these areas. Kindly let
me know any topic you think would be of interest to the people, to create more
interest in Pali and Buddhist studies.
What is Canonical and Non-canonical Pali Literature.
PALI LANGUAGE AND
LITERATURE WITH BUDDHIST STUDIES
Introduction: Pali
is one of the ancient languages of India and is the MOTHER of most of the
languages spoken in India today.
The importance of
the Pali language lies in the fact that ‘Pali has protected the buddhavacana-
that is the words of the Buddha’- and hence it is called Pali. The name Pali is
given to the language in the 5th CE by acariya Buddhaghosa thera, prior to that
Pali was known by the name of Magadhi.
As we all know that
Buddha used the lingua franca the local language of the people to give the
dhamma- the teachings, so that it reaches all.
We have references
in the Pali literature where Buddha admonished his disciples who wanted to
translate the teachings in the Chandas language, Chandas being the name of
Sanskrit prior to its modification by Panini. We thus understand that learning
Pali or the original words of the Buddha is more relevant to know the dhamma
than the gist of the dhamma through translation.
The traditional
learning of Pali is with Pariyatti, Patipatti and Pativedhana, where Pariyatti
is listening to the dhamma, reading the books, discussions on the subject and
so on, the Patipatti means genuine efforts to walk on the path of the dhamma,
that is following the precepts, being aware of oneself through meditational
practices and so on and the last is the Pativedhana- which means the
experiential knowledge of the teachings of the Buddha, which develops your
insight- the Panna.
Each and every word
of the Buddha can be experienced and that is the beauty of the teachings of the
Buddha.
We donot learn Pali
through translation, because no language of the world has the richness or the
strength of the words to hold or carry the meanings or experience which the
Pali words carry. That is the reason the most of thebuddhavacana cannot be
translated in any other language and remains the same in Pali as the Buddha,
the Dhamma, the Sangha- the Vipassana and so on.
Learning Pali is
very important today because- Pali has the teachings of the Buddha and whatever
written on the teachings of the Buddha for 2500 years. Pali has the Dhamma- and
the characteristic of the dhamma is it isakaliko- that is not bound by time.
The teachings of
the Buddha were true 2500 years ago, are true today and will be true 2500 years
henceforth. That is the reason; the scholars all over the world are learning
Pali to find answers to the contemporary issues faced by the society today. The
problem could be personal or social; the answer is in the teachings of the
Buddha.
Buddha is called
the Management guru, who gave the principles of Management which still governs
the Sangha after 2500 years, Buddha is called the Mahabhessajja guru- the
greatest doctor, who not only cured the illness, but showed the path to
eradicate completely the suffering, Buddha is called the greatest
psychotherapist who explained that Mind is the sixth sense, Buddha is the
greatest leader who showed the right path to the millions and gave the principles
of democracy and equality. Buddha is the greatest teacher the world has ever
seen.
Thus when one
learns Pali, it is not just the language- it is the way of life.
THINGS WE CAN DO AT
THE 15 DAYS WORKSHOP ON PALI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE WITH BUDDHIST STUDIES.
Introduction to the
Pali Language and Literature
Recitation of
the Pali suttas
Workshop on Brahmi
Script and Pali Language
Relation of Pali
language and Buddhist Art and Architecture
Places of Buddhist
interest and Buddhist Pilgrimage
Contemporary Issues
and the Teachings of the Buddha
Decline and Revival
of Buddhism in India
Flower Arrangement
and the Teachings of the Buddha.
Buddhist Education
and Culture
Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar and Buddhism
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