Palm leaf photo link wellcomecollection:1 Today I finished memorizing the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha in Pāḷi (the 311 Theravāda nun’s rules). While I did not recite the whole lot in a single session, I did memorize in chunks until the total was completely memorized at one time or another. That means, I would recite a chunk of rules in front of a teacher by memory and then work on a separate adjacent succeeding chunk for memory. After finishing the new chunk, I would recite those new rules by memory in front of a teacher and then move forward to another adjacent succeeding chunk. While this is not the best or ideal method, the chunks were quite large at times.

Title Page In America, the Rote Method of learning is belittled as “learning like a parrot” and rarely or never taught in the Western school systems. However, it is a useful brute force method for memorizing Pali texts and the only way to memorize longer word for word Pāḷi texts such as the Pātimokkha. This system is used extensively in Myanmar schools and Myanmar study monasteries. If you hear lots of noise in the classrooms, rote learning is what they are doing. This video explains both passive and aggressive Rote Methods for memorizing Pāḷi. May you be successful in your learning and practice!

I took a small poll among seasoned Buddhists to see who could list all eight factors of The Noble Eightfold Path in English from memory and not many did so well. How can one follow a Path that one does not know? These factors should be said to oneself daily if one truly wishes to walk on the Path. To help with Buddhist literacy, I made a basic video that helps people memorize The Noble Eightfold Path in English. May this help you in your Path. Click on the picture below to see in youtube, or click here.