Verses of Enlightened Nuns (Therigatha)

SuttaFriends.org; Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Verses of Arahant Nuns: Therīgāthā

The Buddha blesses the enlightened nun Subha ("Beautiful") Jivakavandavanika

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Therigatha (store.pariyatti.org)

The Therīgātha (the gathas or verses" of the theris or "female elders," i.e., nuns with ten or more rainy seasons standing in the Sangha, in this case enlightened nuns) is a collection of verses spoken by, to, or about fully enlightened nuns who lived in the time of the Buddha. It is uplifting to take time to get to know the lives of these great female "saints" or arahants. If one enjoys sutras about how women and others became enlightened, reached the stages of awakening, one is bound to enjoy the ancient collection of verses by male enlightened elders known as the Theragātha.

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Ajahn Chah: study, practice, and attain

Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org) via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Here, c'mon, have some fruit. Good to see ya!

With the Dharma, it’s like going to the home of friends or family and they give you fruit. When you take the fruit in your hand, you don’t know whether it’s sour, sweet, or unripe.

In other words, if you simply hold the fruit, you can’t know its taste. To know its taste, you have to bite into it and savor it. That’s when you’ll know that it’s sweet or sour or what its various flavors are, in line with your own perceptions.

It’s the same with the Dharma, the Truth the Buddha made known. In everything, the Buddha has you take yourself as your own witness. You don’t have to look to anyone else.

Three things lead to full enlightenment.

The affairs of other people are hard to judge because they are the affairs of other people. If something is your own affair, however, it’s easy—because the truth rests within us. It has you as its witness, not anyone else.

When you hear the Dharma -- strange, never-before-heard Truth -- you have to meditate on it to be complete in three things: study, practice, and attainment.

1. Study is pariyatti, to make the effort to know.
2. Practice is patipatti: After you know, you apply it.
3. Attainment is pativedha, when knowledge in line with the Truth we've studied and practiced arises within us [as certainty, as verified faith, so that we know our confidence in the Buddha was well placed].

If we simply listen, our knowledge is just perceptions and concepts [mental fabrications, ideas, assumptions, distortions]. If we talk about it, we speak in line with our concepts. We aren’t bringing the actual Truth out to talk about. This means we haven’t reached the Dharma, haven’t contemplated the Dharma.

Our heart isn’t Dharma, but we can speak the Dharma and act as if we were Dharma. This is called being incomplete according to the standards of the Buddha’s teachings.

Ajahn Chah: What can transcend suffering?

Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org) via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

There are various positions for meditation: recline, sit, stand, or walk (S. G. Seyone).

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Why won't this rope come unstuck?

The practice of Dharma is for leading the mind (heart) to the transcendence of suffering. The body can't transcend suffering — for having been born, it must experience pain and sickness, aging, and death.

Only the mind can transcend grasping and clinging. The Teachings of the Buddha, which we call pariyatti (theory), are skillful means (patipatti = practice) to this end (pativedha = realization).

To end all suffering

Being stuck sucks (CSP)

Trying to end suffering without first understanding the cause is like pulling on a rope that's stuck. We pull this end of the rope over here.

The other end of the rope is still stuck over there. So it never comes. What can we do to make it come over here?

It does not come free because we never seek out the source, the root of its being stuck. We get lost in pulling this end. What's it stuck on?

It must be stuck on something, and that's why it doesn't come. Go to the source, untangle the knot, and be free.

Pāli grammar at the Pariyatti bookstore

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The diamond seat (or Vajrashila) at the Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodhgaya, Bihar, India. The seat, believed to be placed by Emperor Ashoka, marks the place under the Bodhi tree where the Buddha reached enlightenment. Bodhgaya is part of the itinerary of the Along The Path pilgrimage.

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Kaccāyana Pāli Grammar I & II

Pursuing it’s mission to bring people into contact with the teachings of the Buddha, Pariyatti provides resources in a variety of media formats in the Theravāda tradition and on Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka. Pariyatti also supports Pāli language students in different ways. Besides facilitating several residential workshops each year (at our main workshop venue in California as well as at other locations around the world) and hosting an online Learning Center on our website, we offer an array of Pāli study books and dual language titles/dictionaries.

For the next two weeks we are offering a 20% discount on Kaccayana Pāli Grammar I & II, two study books that will set you up to grasp this classical and liturgical language profoundly. Volume I contains the complete ancient grammatical text of the Pāli language that has been used as a handbook for Pāli studies for centuries. It is in a format accessible to contemporary readers, using Roman and Devanagari scripts for the main text. Volume II contains the eight chapters found in the original Pāli text complemented by an introduction, footnotes and appendices, as well as explanation of brief grammatical rules, Pāli prefixes and the system of how verbs are formed.  These Pariyatti Press titles are quality prints, with ergonomic page size and easy-to-read font, and a sturdy spine.

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Residential Pāli workshops

Since our Pāli workshop program started in 2012, we have served a total of 300 students in 20 workshops held in the USA, Mexico, Chile, Israel and Spain. Pariyatti’s Pāli workshops are open for old students of S.N. Goenka, who practice Vipassana meditation regularly.    The daily schedule of activities is similar to that of a 10-day Vipassana course with the three daily group sittings and morning chantings included. However, there will be both study and meditation periods throughout the day. The expenses are met by donations from past students and the Pāli Workshop Fund. Goenkaji emphasized that Pāli workshops are very beneficial as they help meditators develop inspiration and understanding of the theoretical aspect of Dhamma (Dharma), which corresponds with the feedback we have received from participants over the years.

Upcoming Pāli workshop dates

By Klaus Nothnagel (California, USA) Introductory: March 14 to 27, 2019 * By Adriana Patiño (Malaysia) Introductory:  March 23 to 31, 2019 * By Sean Salkin (California, USA) Introductory:  September 21 to Oct 1, 2019 Intermediate:  October 1 to 5, 2019

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Bilingual Pilgrimage India & Nepal

Bilinguale Pilgerreise Indien & Nepal

We have added new dates to our pilgrimage schedule. A bilingual Along the Path pilgrimage (in English and German) will take place in India & Nepal from October 31 to November 21, 2019. Applications will open on December 1, 2018. Wir haben neue Termine in unserem Pilgerreisenkalender. Vom 31. Oktober bis zum 21. November 2019 findet erstmals eine zweisprachige Pilgerreise "Den Pfad entlang" nach Indien & Nepal statt (auf Englisch und Deutsch). Anmeldungen sind möglich ab dem 1. Dezember 2018.   Included in the itinerary are the birthplace of the bodhisatta (Lumbinī), the place where the Buddha attained Enlightenment (Bodhgayā), the place where he first taught the way to Enlightenment (Sarnath), and the place where he attained parinibbāna (Kushinagar). Auf der Reiseroute liegen die Geburtsstätte des Bodhisatta (Lumbinī), der Ort, an dem der Buddha Erleuchtung erlangte (Bodhgayā), wo er zum ersten Mal den Weg zur Erleuchtung gelehrt hatte (Sarnath), und der Ort, an dem er in's Parinibbāna (Kushinagar) eingegangen war.

The Maha Devi Temple, Lumbini, Nepal marks the place where the Bodhisatta was born.

"The highlights, for me, were the group sittings at the various sites and the several one-day courses at Indian Vipassana centers. These helped us bond as meditators, and anchored the pilgrimage in its proper mission." "Die Höhepunkte für mich waren die Gruppensitzungen an den verschiedenen Orten und die zahlreichen Ein-Tages-Kurse in indischen Vipassana-Zentren. Diese halfen uns dabei, uns als Meditierende zu binden und stärkten die Pilgerfahrt in ihren wesentlichen Aspekten."​

Other pilgrimage dates

The Golden Path – Burma 金色之旅 –缅甸朝圣 (English/Chinese Bilingual - 中英文双语) February 9 to February 26, 2019 (applications open) 2019年2月9 - 26日 (applications open) Along the Path - (North India & Nepal) February 28 to March 21, 2019 (applications open)

Learn more / Apply for one of these inspirational journeys

More than a Bookstore

The summer of 2018 has proved to be anicca in Onalaska, Washington. The veggie patches have been cleared and the fog has rolled in to show us that autumn has truly arrived.   It’s the perfect weather to nestle on one of our comfortable couches and dive into the many Dhamma books we have on offer. Don’t forget to pay us a visit when driving home from a course at Dhamma Kuñja, or traveling between Seattle and Portland, Oregon!

Store hours: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday - Friday 7:30 to 11.30 am on days (usually Sundays) courses end at Dhamma Kuñja. Every Tuesday Pariyatti hosts a group sitting from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm, followed by a potluck dinner. Old students more than welcome! 867 Larmon Rd. Onalaska, WA 98570, USA

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Daily Words

Dhamma Verses Jīvana meṅ āte raheṅ, patajhaḍa aura basanta. Cita vicalita hove nahīṅ, maṅgala jage ananta.  Listen In life there keep coming autumns and springs. If the mind does not waver, you enjoy infinite happiness.  –S.N. Goenka

Pāli nibbhaya —  free from fear or danger, fearless, unafraid. Free guide to Pāli pronunciation & grammar. To listen to the pronunciation in audio, download the PDF to your computer by loading it in your web browser and clicking the download arrow right at the top. Open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (with Flash Player).