pali lesson: memory technique - acronyms, sati and smrti

Examples of acronyms I use to help memorize new pali vocabulary, and phrases of pali words:

Example #1: the 3 a.m. (akusala mula, raga, dosa, moha)

From AN 3.16, we know that the proper time to sleep and wake up, is typically 10pm - 2am, or 11pm through 3am.

Here's a little mantra (pali = manta) that I like to recite:

At 3 a.m., we wake up to do battle with the 3 a.m. (akusala mula, raga, dosa, moha)

3am 😈🌱= 3 a-kusala mulani = 3 un-skillful roots, The Unholy Trinity

Example #2: 5 ariya bhavita indriya

= 5 ariya bhavita indriya = Noble one's developed faculties, 5 masteries of perception, ariya iddhi superpower.

The acronym "abi" (representing 3 pali words) looks like the english word "ability".

So the 5abi, are like 5 kind of important special abilities

Example #3: It ain't Sammā Samādhi unless it contains A PASS to Nirvana

A PASS = ariya pañca-aṅgika sammā-samādhi = noble five-factored righteous-undistractable-lucidity (title of the sutta AN 5.28)

When you think of SS (Sammā Samādhi), what probably comes to mind first is SS = 4j (four jhānas), as defined in SN 45.8. That's canonical, and it's not wrong, but there are some problems with that definition. (doesn't explicitly say that right samadhi must be used for the sake of realizing nirvana, not for trivial purposes).

Example #4: Sati and Smrti (sanskrit)

Sati is memory

elephant and bodhi tree The elephant never forgets.

SMRTI = You (S)uppose to (M)emorize and (R)ecollect (T)errific (I)deas.
SATI = You (S)uppose to (A)ctualize (T)errific (I)deas
☸Dhamma = those (T)errific (I)deas.

sati remembers ☸Dhamma. Always.

The lesson is:

Use your own imagination and creativity to harness the power of acronyms to help you memorize pali words and phrases.

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'Viveka', Sanskrit dictionary Primary meaning is ‘discrimination’. Other meanings: (1) true knowledge, (2) discretion, (3) right judgement, (4) the faculty of distinguishing and classifying things according to their real properties’. Wikipedia (sanskrit dictionary entry 'viveka') Viveka (Sanskrit: विवेक, romanized: viveka) is a Sanskrit and Pali term translated into English as discernment or discrimination.[1] According to Rao and Paranjpe, viveka can be explained more fully as: Sense of discrimination; wisdom; discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the self and the non-self, between the permanent and the impermanent; discriminative inquiry; right intuitive discrimination; ever present discrimination between the transient and the permanent.[2]: 348 The Vivekachudamani is an eighth-century Sanskrit poem in dialogue form that addresses the development of viveka. Within the Vedanta tradition, there is also a concept of vichara which is one t...

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