While there is much debate about the language spoken by Lord Buddha, most of Lord Buddha’s suttas were written and preserved in Pāli (in the “Tipitaka” or the “Pāli Canon”), and therefore Pāli is considered to be a sacred language in Buddhism.
What you will learn
The Pāli class is conducted in English using Romanized English Pāli characters which covers vowels, consonants, pronunciation, all grammars (Pali has no native script, so it may be written in various alphabets). Pāli grammar is quite complex consisting of verbs (present, past, and future tenses), adverbs, adjectives, nouns (consisting of 3 genders – masculine, feminine, and neuter).
Classes
Date: Sundays (odd dates)
Time: 11.00 am – 12.30 pm
Venue: Abhidhamma Room at Mezzanine Floor, Wisma Dharma Chakra (WDC)
Photo: One of 729 double-sided Tipitaka marble tablets in Kuthodaw Pagoda, Myanmar, displaying the Buddhist Tipitaka in ancient Pali (in Burmese alphabet inscriptions), originally in gold ink.
“Kuthodaw Pagoda, Mandalay” by ReflectedSerendipity is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Profile of Instructor:
Brother Alfred Keoy Swee Huat was in the computer and technical field for over three decades until his retirement in 2010. His road to Buddhist education began in the early 80s. He was visiting a Thai Buddhist temple in Padang Sera, Kedah, when the ChowKun (chief priest) told him that he is interested in enrolling for the monkhood program and was advised to visit Buddhist Maha Vihara (BMV) to learn the Dhamma. Brother Keoy Swee Huat took the Chowkun’s advice, and since 1984, he has been frequenting the BMV to attend Friday Dhamma talks by the late chief and learn Buddhism. He studied meditation under the meditation master Sayadaw U Dhammapia in 1987 at the Malaysian Buddhist Meditation Center, Penang. He self-taught and learnt the Dhamma by reading the 4 Nikayas.
