dear Bhante Sujato,

i thought your name sounds familiar. didnt you give a talk on the
structure of buddhist scriptures some time ago?

actually i dont have anything against study (studying the dhamma,
that is). i love reading the suttas, they put me at ease. sometimes
when it's too hard to sit, i just get out the suttas to read, or
listen to some dhamma talk when i get sick of reading. and because
english translations often vary, i do think some knowledge of pali
will be helpful. i think i may have sounded like i planned to
completely give up pali, actually it was just a passing mood. though
i probably wont get into all the different kinds of tenses (vocative,
nominative, etc), but i think i will familiarize myself with some
pali, not to become specialized in it, but just enough to better
understand the suttas.

as for people who study without practice, i dont have anything
against them either...i myself wouldnt study without practice but i
think study is better than nothing.

actually i think we can meditate while we study. just keep some
awareness on the breath at the same time, right? its just lately i
have an urge to go to some secluded place to practice meditation.
i'll be careful, as people warn me its dangerous. but i think you
know how it is, right? when all else fails lower your
standards...hehe. before i sit to meditate, i say, ok, i'm going to
sit for an hour and a half. and then twenty minutes go by, and i
already want to get up. so...yeah. but theres something about it, i'm
just so attracted to the meditative life.

thank you for talking to me. you sound very knowledgable. you're
right, a parallel is good, you need some study to support your
practice, otherwise, we wont know what we're doing. im just sick of
thinking lately i think. because thats what ive been doing the past
20 years or so, so i need a break.

i love ajahn brahm. i start to like meditation because of him. its
become so peaceful and enjoyable. otherwise its always been a drag to
meditate.

do i talk too much? i also plan to stop using the computer soon, its
going to happen anytime now. its just so hard because i think its
become so much a part of my life.

nice talking to you!

june

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "Bhante Sujato" <sujato@...> wrote:
> --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "junet9876" <junet9876@...> wrote:
> > i am starting to think its easier to just sit and watch the
> breath. i
> > find pali requires too much brain usage.
>
>
> hello Junet
>
> My teacher, Ajahn Brahm, said that the first time you go over the
> Pali books with all the grammar it seems impossible. The second
time
> it starts to make a bit of sense. The third time you wonder what
the
> problem was.
>
> I've been both studying Pali and watching the breath for over ten
> years as a monk now, and trust me, the breath is much harder,
> precisely because it requires, not brain, but heart.
>
> I think it's one of the great shames in Buddhism sometimes that
> there is an artificial opposition set up between study and
practice,
> when in fact they should support each other. It always seems to me
> that when there is a balance and harmony between pariyatti and
> patipatti this will create the most lasting and secure grounds for
> what's really important - pativedha.
>
> never say die
>
> Bhante Sujato