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Hello,
A few days ago I was skimming this website and I came upon this diagram which I have attached. It outlines the path to Sotapanna Anugami and eventually Arahantship. First it seems I have to walk the Mundane Path first, and learn the basis of morality. This makes sense to me because in order understand the true Dhamma, one’s mind must be calm. Right now my mind is agitated, and only through walking the Mundane Path first, will I be able to settle my mind. It then seems that once one learns the correct Paticca Samuppada and comprehends it, one becomes a Sotapanna Anugami, which is my ultimate goal. The path is clear to me now, and I just wanted to confirm this with you before I proceed. Thank you!
-Damithu
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Yes. Those are excellent ideas.
1. One cannot get into a university without first completing primary, secondary, and high school, in that order. For you, your decision makes very good sense, to start at “Moral Living and Fundamentals.”
- After that, you can skim through other sections to decide on the next level. The “Living Dhamma” section is a possibility. Since you have a science background, the “Dhamma and Science” section is another possibility.
- Even once one understands the basics, it does not make sense to jump into deep suttas. This is what I have emphasized, especially over the past month or two, and I have started a new series of posts on such a systematic approach: “Buddha Dhamma – Systematic.” You should get there once you have a good idea about the basics.
2. Keeping notes is also an excellent idea.
- That way, you can see how you progress over time. Furthermore, you can keep revising earlier notes as you broaden your knowledge base.
- When I was in school, making notes was part of my learning process. Rather than just reading, concepts sink in better once one starts taking notes.
- P.S. In a way, I am continuing that practice with my study of Buddha Dhamma by writing posts on this website. It takes a lot of effort and study of suttas to write a post. I need to make sure what I write is consistent with the Tipitaka, so I try to cite the relevant suttas. There are many old posts on the website that need revision, but I am driven by trying to extend my understanding. So I keep postponing the rewrite of some old posts.
3. Another thing that could be helpful is to get familiar with the Pali language.
- Some Pali words do not have exact English translations. Many words have different meanings based on the context. See, for example, “Atta – Two Very Different Meanings.”
- It is good to learn to pronounce Pali words, too. In the late 1800s, European scholars adopted a convention to write Pali words in the English alphabet to avoid the words becoming too long. For example, anicca is pronounced ‘anichcha.’ Thus, the ‘ch’ sound is represented by only ‘c.’ Many people are not aware of this. Another example is ‘th’ is represented by only “t.’ Thus, the Pali word ‘gathi’ is written as ‘gati.’ See “‘Tipiṭaka English’ Convention Adopted by Early European Scholars – Part 1.”
- That last post is in the “Historical Background” section. That could be another section of interest.
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Thank you for your insight sir!
I will continue to take notes on the posts that I read. Here is the link to the google document that I have the notes on, just in case:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JK4bvzRxK6Z-Ao-XFc1A5HRicw8W_1YR7B6RAWBogs0/edit?tab=t.0
Today I am leaving the US on a trip to Sri Lanka for about 6 weeks, so I won’t be able to study Dhamma as much as I would like, but I will definitely practice wise reflection and mindfulness there.
As for the Pali language, some words are easy for me to pronounce and understand since I can speak Sinhala. For example, when I first saw the word “gati”, I instantly knew the meaning and the prounounciation since I understand Sinhala. Generally speaking, certain Pali terms seem oddly familar to me. But I still don’t know that much about the Pali language, and will work to become familar with them as you suggested.
Thank you again for this information!
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