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how to succeed in learning pali: the secret

One simple secret to success in 2017

1. Practice everyday. I would say at least a minimum of 30 minutes a day. If you're too busy some days to set aside 30 minutes, then  set aside at least 5 minutes of daily chanting of your favorite pali memorized passages, so you have an ingrained habit of learning pali. 30 minutes a day should be enough to keep you from backsliding and forgetting what you've learned, and making gradual improvements and new understanding. 5 minutes a day minimum to ensure you never lose this good habit.  

Suggested program:
a. 5:30am in the morning, or some regular morning time, chant your favorite sutta passages. Invite the devas to listen. If they like your chanting, you might find sometimes you'll get woken up exactly at the time in the morning you chant even when you want to sleep in. 
b. spend time listening to correct pali chanting (Ven Jiv's sutta recordings on lucid24.org and audtip.org), and reading new sutta passages you're interested in. 


2. review old lessons, especially the things you're unclear about until they become clear.  I've designed all the lessons to be short, bite sized, fun, so they're easy to engage and help you develop a habit of spending at least 5 minutes each day learning about pali.

3. remember why you're learning pali. If you're properly motivated, and you realize the importance of what you're doing, it will be hard to drop a great daily habit. 

4. Don't just chant - think and evaluate  (V&V💭 ) about what you're reciting, and equanimously observe (upekkha with 3rd jhana  quality of samadhi) what you're chanting. Your understanding of Dhamma will deepen in ways you can't imagine. 


If you realize the importance of this practice, have fun and enjoy doing it, then before you know it you'll have a lifelong love and habit of learning and improving in pali and deepening your understanding of Dharma.

Another great practice is to combine pali chanting and reflection with good physical exercise, like brisk walking, slow jogging, or shake and bake 🏃👨‍🍳🥧 for 30 minutes. So you feed two birds with one scone. Improving the health of your body, and mind. 



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