A NOTE ON PALI WORKSHOP

PALI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE WITH BUDDHIST STUDIES

(DRAFT)

Prof. Yojana Bhagat

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 5^th 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 the buddhavacana 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 is akaliko- 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

PALI WORKSHOP: SIGNIFICANCE

Significance: (draft)

P. K. sasidharan:

It may be for the first time that a training programme in Pali language is being conducted in Kerala (perhaps in south India itself). Pali and Prakrit were some of the ancient languages spoken widely by the people of Indian subcontinent. Kosala and Magadha (present-day Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar regions) are considered to be the heartland of Pali. However, it has been observed that larger presence of Pali words still remain to exist in the south Indian languages, especially in Tamil and Malayalam. That means it is in south India that Pali continues to remain, at least, as a partial living language. At the same time, grammatically the Pali and Prakrit are more akin to the Sanskrit. Such a unique linguistic phenomenon seems to open up wider scope for research in different areas. The historical and cultural conditions in which Pali is found to be a constitutive factor of the south Indian languages are yet to be explored.

For the study of Buddhism and Jainism, Pali texts are considered as more ancient and authentic sources. Ancient inscriptions, which are found to be in Brahmi scripts bear the legacy of Pali. Many Sanskrit literatures are also found carrying portions conveyed the Pali within the devanagari script.

As far as the derivation or meaning of the word ‘Pali’ is concerned, scholars hold different opinions. Preaching of Buddha (Buddhavachana), Tripitaka canons, the language of Buddhist canons, doctrine of dharma, etc. are some of the meanings attribute to it. There are different views regarding its derivation. For some, it is derived from the word ‘palli’ (village), which signifies that Pali was the language of village people. For some others, it is derivation of the Sanskrit ‘padd’ (text). It is also related to the word ‘padaliputra’.

The above matters would suggest that a study programme of the Pali language could not be confined simply to its grammatical aspects. It has to be accomplished a through familiarization of different aspects enshrined in the language. Therefore, the present workshop proposes to include, besides the training in grammatical and scriptural aspects, some scholarly lectures on subject matters that are enshrined in the Pali language.

BRAHMI WORKSHOP

WORKSHOP ON

BRAHMI SCRIPT AND BUDDHIST CULTURE

By Prof. T. Pavaithran,

JULY 11-12, 2015.

at

SRADDHA HALL,

Oushaddhi Road, Thrissur.

For Details:

co-ordinators: Cultural Buddhism Collective.

K. G. Krishnakumar: 9645750216

Prof. M. Dasan-9447157268.

Programmes Under Planning:

*)  15-Day workshop on

Pali language and Buddhist Culture.

(During 3rd- 4th week, December, 2015)

*) International Conference on Buddhist Cultures.

January, 2017.

www.bouddhayaanam.blogspot.com

PROPOSED WORKSHOP ON PALI AND BUDDHIST CULTURES - concept note

WORKSHOP ON PALI LANGUAGE AND BUDDHIST CULTURES

(A TWO-WEEK COURSE PROGRAMME FOR LANGUAGE TRAINING AND CULTURAL ANALYSIS)

During the period of DECEMBER vacation, 2015

Department of Philosophy, Sree Sankaracharya University, Kalady.

(Draft)

The idea of this course programme stems from the deliberations on Buddhist cultures, which took place in the workshop on cultural Buddhism conducted recently by the department of philosophy. There had many presentations attempting to trace the vestiges and continued presence of Buddhist elements in the south Indian cultures. Exploration in tune to the specific topic of the workshop; ‘Buddhist-Matters of Kerala and Elsewhere: Learning(s) From Cultural Legacies’, it seems to have succeeded to impress upon the participants about the nature of future course of academics in this connection. Many presentations were found employing a kind of linguistic archaeological analysis for suggesting to the plausible Buddhist connections of different social institutions and cultural practices in south India. Buddhist connections are often attempted to establish by tracing the Pali etymological roots of many words that are seemingly integral to the prevailing cultures. This has sounded wider scope for linguistic explorations in order to have a better understanding of those cultural expressions that are otherwise accounted as belonging to cultural traditions other than Buddhist. As it has been surfaced in the deliberations, there is an urgent need of getting a familiarity with the phenomenon of Pali language as such. The factor of pervasiveness or admixture of Pali words, especially in Malayalam (the language of present Kerala) and Tamil languages seems to widen the scope of critical academics on cultural history of the region. It might provide substantial resource for challenging the received history of the region in general as well as the history of Buddhism of the region. Since the idea of cultural Buddhism has been considered by underlining the plurality of Buddhist cultures as against its perceptions as monolithic slab, visitations to the Pali sources of Buddhism also assume profound significance. To be able to equip for all these, a wider access to the Pali language needs to be created.

(To be concluded)

P.  K. sasidharan, co-ordinator.

CULTURAL BUDDHISM COLLECTIVE

MEETING OF CULTURAL BUDDHISM COLLECTIVE.

 ON 21, JUNE, 2015,

10 AM

AT

THRISSUR.


TOPIC OF DISCUSSION:

TOWARDS A COLLECTIVE ACADEMIC STUDY OF BUDDHIST CULTURES IN SOUTH INDIA

 

 (INCLUDING THE PROPOSED TWO-WEEK WORKSHOP ON PALI LANGUAGE AND BUDDHIST CULTURES)

Fro details, kindly contact:
Prof. M. Dasan-9447157268
Sri. K. G. Krishnakumar: 9645750216

COGNITIVE BUDDHISM

Giorgio De Martino:

Cognitive Buddhism (Link forwarded):

https://networks.h-net.org/node/6060/discussions/16305/conference-berkeley-buddhism-mind-and-cognitive-science

...............

Conference at Berkeley on Buddhism, Mind, and Cognitive Science

I would like to announce the following upcoming conference, which is open to the public.

Friday–Saturday, April 25–26, 2014
Buddhism, Mind, and Cognitive Science
Toll Room, Alumni House, University of California, Berkeley
This conference is made possible by a grant from The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation.
This conference is dedicated to the exploration of the methodological underpinnings of the current encounter between Buddhism and cognitive science. Recently, this encounter has been criticized for failing to take account of the historical and cultural complexities of Buddhist thought and practice, failing to reflect the most recent developments in cognitive science, neglecting the hermeneutic issues that complicate attempts to relate traditional Buddhist psychology to contemporary scientific theories, and neglecting traditional Buddhist epistemologies that are incompatible with the "neurophysicalism" that motivates some of the scientific research. Given such critiques, how might one proceed? Is there some way to mitigate the methodological (historical, hermeneutic, philosophical) quandaries that threaten to unravel the Buddhism-cognitive science dialogue? Is there a way to bring these disparate traditions into conversation without sacrificing the intellectual depth and sophistication of each? Or is such an endeavor misguided in principle? Is it merely another in a long history of attempts to legitimize Buddhism by claiming its compatibility with science? Our interest lies not in rehearsing the critique, but instead in exploring how, if at all, the encounter might move forward.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Toll Room, Alumni House
Session 1: 4:00 – 7:00 pm
Welcome and introduction to the conference:
•  Robert Sharf (Buddhist Studies), University of California, Berkeley
Plenary talks:
•  Evan Thompson (Philosophy), University of British Columbia
•  Clifford Saron (Neuroscience), University of California, Davis
Open discussion

Saturday, April 26, 2014
Toll Room, Alumni House
Session 2: 9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Chair: Robert Sharf (Buddhist Studies), University of California, Berkeley
Presentations:
•  John Dunne (Buddhist Studies), Emory University Antoine Lutz
•  Lawrence Barsalou (Psychology), Emory University
•  Antoine Lutz (Neuroscience), Neuroscience Research Center, Lyon
•  Rebecca Todd (Psychology), University of British Columbia
•  Laurence Kirmayer (Psychiatry), McGill University
•  Carol Worthman (Anthropology), Emory University

Saturday, April 26, 2014
Toll Room, Alumni House
Session 3: 2:00 – 6:30 pm
Chair: Evan Thompson (Philosophy), University of British Columbia
Presentations:
•  Christian Coseru (Philosophy), College of Charleston
•  Thomas Metzinger (Philosophy), Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
•  Dan Arnold (Philosophy of Religion), University of Chicago
•  Georges Dreyfus (Buddhist Studies), Williams College
•  Robert Sharf (Buddhist Studies), University of California, Berkeley
•  John Tresch (History and Sociology of Science), University of Pennsylvania

COMMUNISM AND BUDDHISM

Giorgio De Martino:

Communism and Buddhism (Link forwarded):

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/29/asia/china-buddhism-millenials/index.html?eref=edition

......................

Beijing (CNN)Five years ago, Beijinger Robert Zhao went on a trip to Tibet. What he encountered left him confused but intrigued.

A science graduate from China's elite Tsinghua University, he had been taught to mistrust superstition and religion, but in the culture and devotion of the Buddhists he met he found something worth knowing.
Now 25, he is considering giving up his job and becoming a monk.
"It means I will have to give up everything of the ordinary world," he told CNN.
While Buddhism has a long history in China, entering via missionaries from India during the Han dynasty, it was repressed during the Maoist era -- many monasteries and temples were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and monks actively punished for believing in "superstition."
But now, a growing number of Chinese are rediscovering the country's dormant Buddhist traditions.
Some, like Zhao, are looking for a spiritual anchor in a competitive, fast-changing society. Others take comfort in meditation and enjoy volunteering.

However, it's not always easy to combine Buddhist beliefs with the demands of modern life.

Zhao works as an assistant to the boss of an environmental company. His religion means it's difficult to entertain clients and partners -- a key part of the role.
"Not drinking, smoking or eating meat affects my socializing. So the company has to send someone else to go with me, which creates extra expenses," he says.
Zhao has not told his family about his desire to become a monk yet, fearing that they might oppose it.

Treated more favorably?

Fenggang Yang, the director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University, Indiana, says it's difficult to explain exactly why so many young people are turning to Buddhism.
Some discover it at university, where Buddhist groups are active and famous monks and lamas give lectures. Others have devout parents and grandparents.
He also says that the Chinese Communist Party policy has "moved toward treating Buddhism more favorably than other religions."
Christianity has also been growing in popularity in recent decades but church leaders say there has been a crackdown on Christians, with authorities demolishing churches and removing crosses from skylines.
READ: Christians in China scramble to save churches
In particular, it's the Tibetan strain of Buddhism, rather than the Chan (also called Zen) tradition once popular in China, that is attracting new converts, particularly students, young professionals and businesspeople, he says.
"It appears that both the chanting and the physical, spiritual practices of Tibetan Buddhism are appealing to some people," Yang added.

Lifestyle choice?

To what extent these new converts are committed to Buddhism as a religion, with its strictures and rituals, is an open question.
A former leader of a university Buddhism group, who didn't want to give his name, told CNN he thought its members were more interested in the religion as a lifestyle choice.
Activities that his group organized focusing on relaxation and stress relief were always more popular than reading groups and lectures that examined Buddhist scriptures, he added.
Yang at Purdue University says that for most people in China, Buddhism is treated more as culture than a religion.
They may visit temples or read Buddhist books, but few people treat it as a religion that requires serious commitment.
"Indeed, people who identify as Buddhists do a lot of non-Buddhist spiritual things, such as believing in feng shui, consulting fortune-tellers, practicing qi gong and sampling books and practices of other religions," he says.

Retreat

On a recent weekend, more than four hundred people attended the annual gathering of Beijing Ren Ai Foundation, a Buddhist charitable organization, at Longquan Monastery on the mountainous outskirts of the capital.

Zhong Ying, the group's 32-year-old deputy secretary general, said the group's most active volunteers were between 20 and 35 years old. In the past five years their numbers had doubled to 200.

For attendee Geng Hui'er, a 26-year-old who works and lives in Beijing, Buddhism was something she rediscovered after returning from studying abroad in England.
Growing up, her family had raised her Buddhist although she says she never really "felt it."
She now regularly attends meditation activities in monasteries or study groups organized by volunteers.
Geng says Buddhism has given her a fresh outlook on life and past difficulties. It's also helped her establish a network of people she can talk to and socialize with.
"We sit together, sharing things that have happened in our lives and how we dealt with them, which is more helpful than reading books", she says.
For Zhao, the aspiring monk, Buddhism has been a balm while dealing with poor health, as well as work and relationship problems.
"My life has been tough for years. (Buddhism) keeps me away from the negative thoughts, like a reminder that's always there, which has helped me a lot."
Journalist Dou Yiping contributed to this report.

.......................