hello!
i'm going to be a dasasila mata, that's why i'm learning pali. i'm going to sri lanka for training, that's why i'm learning pali in sinhala script. my pali teacher insists that i learn sinhala script. i have a big paritta book in sinhala script and there's a buddhist library that have some books in sinhala script in the philippines. it wil not be a problem, i think, if i learn the sinhala script as well as the roman letters.
aside from the first reason, i also wanted to translate suttas in my native tongue. my country are mostly christians. buddhism are limited to few chinese communities (most of them doesn't even truly comprehend what buddhism really is). i want my countrymen to understand Buddhism through our language. and by translating the suttas to our native tongue, i believe will help my countrymen understand what Buddhism is.
after learning the basics of Pali, i am planning to go to sri lanka to study there, aside from becoming a dasasila mata. there are no opportunities to study in my country. monasteries and temples here are Mahayana and Tibetan tradition. and they are not really into the studying of the dhamma, only pujas and rituals, etc. besides, the monks and nuns here are cannot communicate both in English and Filipino, only Chinese or Tibetan.
i was just fortunate to meet a Sri Lankan monk, who has been here in my country for 7 years. he's very willing to teach dhamma and pali.
anyway, i have written too much. i'll ask if i will encounter any problems regarding my study.
thanks!
metta,
chela
D C Wijeratna <
dcwijeratna@...> wrote:
Dear Chela,
This is in reply to your e-m to the Pali group
I thought I would respond to it because I am from Sri Lanka.
I notice that that you have been asked to use Sinhala script. That is a good
idea. But one fact you need to consider is the availability of books in
Sinhal scrip in your country. The other point is in an international
setting, Pali in Sinhal script may not be very useful. What is considered
the most authoratitave collection of Pali literature is that published by
the Pali text society. It is in Roman characters with diacritical marks.
They also have a system of writing Pali without diacritical characters. If
you visit their Website [PTS] you can get the necessary information. On the
other hand the whole of Tipitaka and the commentaries and even some other
texts are available in many scripts—Sinhala, Thai, Burmese, Roman etc. from
Vipassanaa research Institue. They too have a website.
I am also like you a beginning student of Pali. Only a couple of weeks ago I
joined the Pali Study Group. What is your interest in learning Pali as a
student of linguistics or you want to study Pali literature?
Any way, if there is any help I can do please let me know.
With mettaa, (This is a Pali word meaning friendliness)
D. G. D. C. Wijeratna
_____
From:
Pali@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
Pali@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Maradhita Kumari
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 9:06 AM
To:
Pali@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Pali] hello!
hello!
I'm chela sanchez, from the Philippines. i'm a new Pali student. i
have just started to study a few weeks ago. A Sri Lankan monk is
teaching me, but we do not meet that often enough. so i'm basically
studying on my own.
so far, the only difficulty that i encounter is the pronunciation of
the words. my native language has only 5 vowel sounds, all of which
are open and long vowels. so the difficulty lies in the
pronunciation of the short vowels.
as for the grammar, i have not much difficulty, as i have learned
latin, which is very useful as a foundation to the word inflexions.
anyway, since i do not often meet with my Pali teacher, he told me
to practice writing and reading pali using the Sinhala script. its
not that difficult. i just need some time getting used to the
script.
that's my experience of pali so far.
Many buddhists in my country are saying that learning pali is a
waste of time. but i think they are just turned off because they
find it difficult to learn this beautiful language. for me, no
language is difficult if you find it beautiful and deep with
meanings. i have tried to learn different language. pali is the
most challenging so far. but its difficulty will not stop me from
learning this.
anyway, i hope that by joining this group, i'd be able to learn pali
quickly.
metta,
chela sanchez
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