MN 131 important pali learning technique, voice record yourself regularly

 

 ✴️MN 131 Bhadd'-eka-ratta: 🔗🔊 

ratta = night

eka = one

Bhadda = auspicious

Bhadd'-eka-ratta sutta = auspicious single night  discourse

The verse section of this sutta seems to be pretty important. 4 of the 152 suttas in MN give commentary on the verse section. 

✴️MN 131 Bhaddekaratta:
✴️MN 132 Ānanda-­bhadd-eka-ratta :
✴️MN 133 Mahākaccāna-­bhadd-eka-ratta:
✴️MN 134 Lomasa­kaṅgiya­-bhadd-eka-ratta:  

The verse section, which I've translated nearly word for word pali order. 

“Atītaṃ nānvāgameyya,	“(The) Past, (one) should-not-chase.
Nap-paṭi-kaṅkhe an-āgataṃ;	Nor-have-expectations [for time] not-arrived (yet).
Yad-atītaṃ pahīnaṃ taṃ,	That-past (has been) left-behind.
ap-pattañca an-āgataṃ.	Un-attained (is the) not-yet-arrived [future].
Pacc-uppannañ-ca yo dhammaṃ,	[Presently]-arisen-** ** Dharmas,
Tattha tattha vi-passati;	[right]-there, [right]-there (he) lucidly-sees.
A-saṃhīraṃ a-saṃkuppaṃ,	Im-movable, un-shakeable,
Taṃ vidvā manubrūhaye.	That is how you develop the heart.
Ajjeva kiccam-ātappaṃ,	Today, (in one’s)-duties-(one should)-ardently-strive.
ko jaññā maraṇaṃ suve;	who knows? death tomorrow?
Na hi no saṅgaraṃ tena,	** indeed no bargain can-be-made
Mahā-senena maccunā.	(with the) great-army (of) death.
Evaṃ-vihāriṃ ātāpiṃ,	Thus-dwelling ardently,
Ahorattam-atanditaṃ;	Day-and-night,-relentlessly,
Taṃ ve bhadd-eka-ratto-ti,	that indeed (is) {one}-auspicious-night,
santo ācikkhate muni.	(the) peaceful ******** sage {declared}.

 

An easy way to memorize this important verse:

Record yourself reciting three different versions of this:

1. English

2. Pali

3. Pali + English interlaced.

Then play the pali recording several times a day and try to recite along with it by memory.

The 3rd version is good training tool (prior to having the passage memorized)  for practicing your dharma vitakka and vicara while you're reciting, investigating and understanding what you're reciting.

The English recording is a good test to see if you can translate the English back into pali. You'll really appreciate my translation style of trying to match pali and english word for word in order when you try this exercise.

Here's a sample of me doing it: MN 131  🔗🔊 

You could just use my recordings, or Ven. Jiv's recordings, but you're better off recording your own voice in the long run, so you get used to your own pace and rhythm, leaving space and time for vitakka and vicara, and refining your pali pronunciation skills.  Specifically, re-record your voice readings as your pronunciation gets better, and adjust the spacing between phrasing and words for V&V.

A helpful tip if you use Ven. Jiv's recordings or mine:

With archive.org, or popular mp3 players like VLC, you can set the playback speed. For example, if my readings or too fast, play it at slow speed. Or for another example, when I listen to Ven. Jiv's recordings, I play it speeded up so it's closer to conversational speed. 

Proof of concept

This short sutta for example,

 SN 47.2 - 🔗🔊 Sato: And how is a monk rememberful? (by practicing 4sp)

when I decided to memorize the sampajano definition (about 60 seconds worth of data), it was definitely much faster to memorize using the technique described above, than traditional brute force method of reading the text visually, learning each word, and then adding more to the memorized passage gradually.

Playing the prerecorded correct passage pronunciation allows your mind to pick up more memory cues from audio, and drill it accurately and repeatedly, whereas when you do it by visual reading, you make mistakes, doubt yourself, and keep checking the visual text to confirm you're remembering correctly.