Dear Bhante Pesala & friends,
Bhante Pesala has done a great job of editing Ledi Sayadaw's Uttamapurisa Dipani. As
many of us know, he (and other Burmese teachers) have written many useful tracts and
guides giving very insightful explanations of Pali teachings. I have myself most of
Sayadaw's books (like the Manuals of Buddhism) myself and value them.
Burmese devotees have put in much effort in translating such works. However, in most
places, I find that the English could be more modern and clearer. This is where
Bhikkhu Pesala has done us a great favour in his translation of Uttamapurisa
Diipanii.
PROPOSALS
I would like to propose some suggestions so that such books can better serve the
intended audience, and also useful to others.
(1) Please give references for all citations. For example, Ledi Sayadaw's notes on
the 4 kinds of faith (confidence) are from various Commentaries (DA 2:529; MA 3:325 f
= AA 3:257). Without such references, one might attribute this to Sayadaw instead of
Buddhaghosa. This is a tedious but most compassionate task. Perhaps one could do this
in a new edition, and in stages, and people her could help identify such passages.
(2) Please add the imprint page: place of publication, publisher, edition year(s),
etc. For the Uttamapurisa Dipani tr, I had to cull this from the Preface, and make
this entry in my biblio to my Pubba,ko.t.thaka Sutta translation:
Ledi Sayadaw
1998 A Manual of the Excellent Man: Uttamapurisa Diipanii [1900]. Tr U Tin Oo
(Myaung), 2nd ed 1969. Ed Bhikkhu Pesala, 1998. Free download from:
http://www.aimwell.org/assets/A%20Manual%20of%20the%20Excellent%20Man.pdf
[Please check if the years are correct.]
With such info, the librarians would be very grateful when they assess and classify
the book. Then we seekers would be able to locate the book easily. And thereby
benefit its wisdom. (The local libraries here have a good stock on Buddhist books
both in reference and lending sections, and even have 2 sets of the latest
Encyclopedia of Buddhism ed Buswell.)
(3) Please do not omit any Pali citations made by Sayadaw.
The kind of people who would benefit most from reading such books as the Sayadaw's
include scholars, researchers and scholars, and impossible pedants like myself.
Scholars usually make use of such materials but dare not quote them because of the
stilted English, lack of references and poor editing (leaving only the pious
sectarians to swear by them). But we need to re-package these valuable teachings so
that they reach out to those who can best make use of them: the scholars. After all,
these are written teachings (not oral tradition) and as such should receive all the
honours of editing and presentation commensurate to sacred texts. Otherwise, we are
likely to have only the Buddhism of the academic scholars in printed form to swear
by, I mean, to quote.
Many of the generous sponsors who donate to the printing of such books do not
actually read them. The motivation is that it is meritorious to give (I know some,
like the early Mahayanists, who actually worship such texts!), and that giving
towards the printing of sacred books would spread the religion. Thanks to such
generosity we do get such valuable works free of charge: this is one great thing
about being a bookish Buddhist in the east.
Having said that, I appeal that we do not omit any passages (quotes etc, esp
formidable ones) in translations. Formidable Pali quotes are what would turn out
valuable to us: please give us s'attha.m sa,vya~njana.m kevala,paripu.n.na.m.
However, Pesala's abridged translation of Miln is useful in the sense that the
original text can be difficult reading for some.
I invoke the memory of the great arhat Mahaa Kaccaana that he inspires us in this
great adventure of Sutta study and teaching, and self-awakening.
Subham atthu.
Piya Tan
--------------
Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:
> >From where did you download the Anapanasati Dipani? Not from my site, I am
> sure, though some of my PDF's may not have the right font embedded. In
> fact, that was the reason that I recently updated the Uttamapurisa Dipani.
>
> It is easy to do. Contact the webmaster and let them know. If they have
> the MyTimes font installed on their PC, they won't be aware that other
> people have problems. You could also install the MyTimes font, if you can
> find it. That will solve the problem.
>
>
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