love to memorize sutta passages, should not be compulsory

 

Excerpt from Bk. Subhuti's blog on memorizing Dhammapada

https://americanmonk.org/memorizing-the-bhikkhuni-patimokkha/

Next on my list to memorize is 32,000 syllables worth of suttas (teachings of The Buddha).

  While it sounds difficult, the texts were geared for memorization and there are many repetitions.

  We are also memorizing the entire Dhammapada at II T during the next two years with a rate of one verse per day.

   Slowly but surely, the task will be fulfilled.

  While memorizing texts is not easy, nor is it my favorite thing to do as a monk, it is something that needs to be done.

  Generally speaking, I’m quite happy with my monk life and I feel so blessed for this bhikkhu life to the point that if I talk about my gratitude for this life long enough, my voice starts to quiver and tears start to roll.

  These tasks are a small debt to pay, and it is all part of the package.

  Furthermore, these learning exercises and achievements are mentioned by the ancient commentaries4.  

  They are wise and I can see the benefits.

Frankk: I find that really sad

Any kid in grade school  forced to memorize or study works they did not care for, like Shakespeare, or forced to play a musical instrument or play a sport they did not enjoy, can tell you with universal and timeless wisdom that this is not the best way to get people to appreciate a subject.

I memorized a few verses from Dhammapada, ones that resonated. 

I would definitely not appreciate having to memorize the entire collection.

The Dhammapada wasn't designed to teach a gradual step by step descriptive path to Nirvana.

Compulsory memorization of the entire Dhammapada simply for the sake of exercise, does not have much practical application, except as a party trick to pretend to be a  fortune cookie dispensing machine. 

I memorized the 5th chapter of Sutta Nipata, it took about a year, because that chapter resonates and is eminently useful for daily contemplation. 

I would not appreciate if forced to memorize the entire Sutta Nipata, not because it's not useful, but because I've already memorized much of the material it covers from other suttas. 

It would be a waste of valuable memory and mental capacity to memorize redundant material. 

I'm a big proponent of the oral tradition method, of memorizing important teachings, reciting and reflecting on them daily, hourly, continuously.

You learn and absorb Dhamma much more deeply this way.

But forcing people to memorize things they don't want to, is not the way.

The right way

The right way, is for the student to realize the value of the Dhamma, and realize the benefit that can be realized from memorizing important passages. 

No one should be telling you to memorize.

I regard the Dhamma as the greatest treasure, and memorizing crucial sutta passages is like memorizing a Dhamma treasure map. 

You wouldn't leave a treasure map in the library, just fuzzily memorize a general idea of the map, and retrieve the map from the library a few times a year would you? 

Someone else would have the treasure map borrowed when you needed it.

Someone else would steal the map from the library.

Some infidel would deface the map with graffiti, cut out crucial portions, and draw intentional mistakes on to it to lead you to fake treasure.

What would a sensible person do?

You would memorize the map in all its detail as quickly as you can, recite it and visualize and reflect on it daily. 

Then no one can take the Dhamma away from you.

If you're doing it right, Dhamma appreciation should produce pīti-sam-bojjhanga, awakening factor of rapture

The raft is the noble eightfold path for crossing over the ocean of suffering and reaching the island of Nirvana. 

The Dhamma you take with you on the raft should resonate, should be meaningful and useful to you every day, every moment, and it should bring you great joy.

The Raft ☸🚣‍