Ven. Piya Tan wrote: "(Anyone still thinking of conversing in Pali :)
But, no, we still could."

First us neophytes need to become familiar with useful phrases.
And then write some dialogues so that people can gain familiarity.
Edited and monitored by an experienced Pali reader.

Simple dialogues would be useful for fluency building.

There must be a copy of "Aids to Pali Conversation" somewhere in
Thailand. I can find it and then start posting to a blog, phrase of
the day from the book. Someone who is still a beginner in Pali can
only cite the work of others like this.

There must be dialogues of a more casual sort that can be extracted
from works such as the Dhammapada Commentary (which i notice has
always been prominent in Pali exams) and presented, in addition to the
usual more philosophical abstruse and weighty monologues of the Suttas.

Sincerely,
Jon Fernquest

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "Piya Tan" <dharmafarer@...> wrote:
>
> Decades back, as a monk, I remember reading the Pali Bible, and feeling
> deeply
> joyful at the Pali, but not what is thrusted upon it. It's like
pasting a
> copy of Hieronymus
> Bosch onto a beautiful Chinese nature line-painting, or blowing a
trumpet in
> a
> sensitive rendition of sitar music!
>
> In a sense, we can say that a language is heavily influenced by the
message
> it
> habitually carries. Pali, being a language specially put together to
pass on
> the
> Dharma, is thoroughly coloured by it.
>
> Similarly English is often deeply coloured by Christianity, but since
> English is a
> living language, it is constantly evolving. Pali has attained
nirvana as it
> were, so
> it is unlike to undergo much change, if any! (Anyone still thinking of
> conversing in
> Pali :) But, no, we still could.
>
> The upadhi-struck minds of some Christians never cease to amaze me.
They are
> as appropriative as ever. In Singapore, it is not uncommon to see
permanent
> banners outside churches, shouting: "Jesus is Lord" and there is a "City
> Harvest
> Church" promising prosperity to believers. So we are sheep to the
Shepherd,
> fishes for the Fisher of men.
>
> The Buddha: "let go, and you will be free!"
>
> With metta and mudita,
>
> Piya Tan
>
> On Feb 2, 2008 10:13 PM, Gunnar Gällmo <gunnargallmo@...> wrote:
>
> > --- George Bedell <gdbedell@... <gdbedell%40yahoo.com>> skrev:
> >
> >
> > > Gunnar,
> > >
> > > In your Paliforum post of 1/27, you mentioned 'the
> > > Pali Bible'. After some investigation online, I
> > > found reference to a New Testament in Burmese script
> > > attributed to Tolfrey and de Thomas and published in
> > > Colombo in 1835. Is this the one you were referring
> > > to? Whether it is or not, do you have any idea how
> > > to obtain a copy? I would appreciate any
> > > information.
> >
> > Actually, I don't know any details; I have heard
> > several times that either the Bible, or perhaps only
> > the New Testament, have been translated into Pali to
> > convert bhikkhus. I have also heard that this
> > translation have given some knowledgeable bhikkhus a
> > great joy, but of a quite different kind than the one
> > intended.
> >
> > I have heard similar stories about other Bible
> > translations (such a choosing the wrong synonym for
> > "love"...)
> >
> > Some Christians tend to boast about how many languages
> > the Bible has been translated into. I always wished to
> > know how many of these translations are of an
> > acceptable quality - but I suppose there's no-one who
> > could check that.
> >
> > Gunnar
> >
> > http://metrobloggen.se/esperanto
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
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