Saturday, October 10, 2015

PALI WORKSHOP - structure and content

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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