How I learned Pali (Theravada Buddhism) and my Positive Experiences in the Field

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• published: 26 Jun 2015
• views: 5826

I taught myself Pali and lived for years in Theravada Countries in Asia. Learning the language is hard work, and this video may motivate you by discussing some of the positive outcomes of learning the language; I had a lot of positive experiences in both monastic and academic settings (and archives, museums, etc.) and most of my writing (on the internet) about learning Pali instead provides pretty "dry" advice (and, sometimes, some grave warnings). So, this is a relatively upbeat video, for people interested in the human reality of what it means to be a Pali scholar in the 21st century --an era when every Pali scholar is an autodidact. As is mentioned in the video, you can find the resources I created to help people learn Pali in various places, including Google Books (for free, of course): https://www.google.ca/search?tbm=bks&hl;=en&q;=eisel+mazard For some much more depressing, practical advice (on learning the Pali language), you can take a look at some of my written work, e.g., http://a-bas-le-ciel.blogspot.ca/2012/06/on-learning-pali-fascicle-1.html A useful essay for any beginner (both providing useful information, and warnings about misinformation in the field) can be found in both English and Chinese translation through the following links: http://a-bas-le-ciel.blogspot.ca/2014/03/canon-and-reason-complete-chinese.html You might also be interested in my more recent video (over 20 minutes long), on the question of, "What is the future of Buddhism?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbvtUrVhPwg