Santi Forest Monastery

Have you always wanted to be able to read the Buddha’s words in
the(ir) original Pali? Do you need a supportive environment to learn?
Are you intimated by learning a new language? Well here is your
opportunity to achieve your goal.

Over 20 Saturdays Bhante Sujato, Pali Scholar and Abbott of Santi
Forest Monastery has generously offered to be our guide and
introduce the basics of Pali to enable us to read Buddhist suttas.

The design of the course is based on learning Pali by reading Buddhist
suttas. From the first class the aim is for you to begin to read and
gradually comprehend suttas in Pali. By matching our motivation (to
read Suttas) with the challenge of learning a new language the aim is
to create an enjoyable and practical experience. Our goal is for each
participant to gain a sense of accomplishment through reading and
understanding Pali Suttas.

Course Details

Due to the very limited numbers we can accommodate (8 to 10) we would
prefer people who can commit to most and ideally all 20 Saturdays. The
classes will run from Saturday February 25th to Saturday 7th July. (While
classes will run on all Saturdays, Bhante Sujato will not attend all
of them due to prior commitments/availability.) Bhante’s role is to answer
questions and guide students – motivated self-learning is required.
Depending on interest, more / continuing courses will be offered in the future.

About the teacher

As well as being a meditator and teacher, Bhante Sujato is a scholar
of early Buddhism. You can view his body of work (books and essays) here or his blog.

Textbook

You will need to purchase the textbook for the course: Pali – Buddha’s
Language: A complete teach yourself course for beginners in 10 simple
lessons by Kurt Schmidt.

For those whose who feel that their knowledge of grammar needs
refreshing, we recommend “Pali Grammar for Students” by Steven
Collins. This is optional and at your own discretion. Both texts are
available from Amazon website.

Where is it?

Australian Buddhist library in Camperdown.

When is it?

Saturday 9 – 10 am.
Dates: Saturday 25th February – Saturday 7th July 2012.

Cost

By Donation.

Bookings

If you wish to attend please email sam[dot]jerga[at]hotmail[dot]com.
For any further queries, please call 0435 723 264

Due to very limited space successful applications will be
on a strictly first come basis

Bhante Sujato will be teaching a metta retreat this Easter from Friday, 6th to Monday, 9th of April at the retreat centre “Quest for life” in Bundanoon. The cost for the three night accommodation and meals is $412.50 (including GST).
As space is limited it is highly recommended to register soon.

Registration can be done either online or by mail.
For online registration make an direct deposite to our bank account (details bellow). Please write your name and “metta retreat” in the place for a description.Then fill up the form down bellow. (Do it in this order because you are asked to confirm payment on the registration form).

Account details:
Account Name: Santi Forest Monastery Inc.
BSB Number: 012-739
Account Number: 3488-68601
Bank: ANZ Bank
Address:

The other option is to download the brochure, fill up the details in the registration form there and send it along with a cheque for the exact amount due, to:

Important: Please DO NOT use the online donation on our website.

It is also possible to fill up the online form and send a cheque by mail and vice versa, make a direct deposit and send a registration form.

For enquiries please call Pat Denny 02 4393 6546
or email: santifinance@gmail.com

Bhante Sujato is teaching in the local town of Bowral. It’s organized and supported by Ome and Suchin, proprietors of Bowral Thai Restaurant. They have kindly made their premises available for Dhamma teachings.

When is it?
Tuesday, 7-8.30 pm.
January 10, February 7, March 6, April 3, May 1, June 5.2012

Where is it?
Bowral Thai

MAP

Contact
Ome, 0413-922-558

Bhante Sujato is giving a series of talks, usually on the second Saturday of the month, in Parramatta. Meditation and coffee – what could be better? These talks are organized by Deepika and Radha Weerakoon, the proprietors of one of the Gloria Jeans outlets in Parramatta. They have kindly made their premises available for Dhamma teachings.

When is it?
Saturday, 4-6pm.
January 14, February 11, March 10, April 14, May 12, June 9, 2012

Where is it?
Gloria Jeans

MAP

Contact
dpkweerakoon[at]yahoo[dot]com[dot]au

Bhante Sujato will be giving a Dhamma talk in Adelaide on “Mindfulness in Daily Life” this Wednesday 16th November 2011 from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. The event will take place at the Community Room, Fullarton Park,Community Centre, 114 Fullarton Road, Fullarton.

Ajahn Brahm’s talk on 12 August 2011 at Carlingford is now available to download from Dhammanet

as an audio or video.

Time: Thursday, 14th July 2011 at 7.00PM

Place: Buddhist Library, Camperdown

Panel: Bhante Sujato, Winton Higgins and Lizzie Turnbull as MC

Price: $20 for those who can afford it. All proceeds will go towards Buddhist Library’s Project Cambodia

For decades a growing number of lay individuals and groups have been practising, studying and teaching the dharma outside Buddhist institutions, and without rituals and received beliefs. More recently some of those involved have claimed – or had affixed to them – the ‘Secular Buddhism’ label. And they have thereby attracted considerable criticism from those claiming to represent and defend ‘true’ Buddhism. So what is secular Buddhism all about? It’s not a school, still less an orthodoxy, but can we discern some major themes that might make the label meaningful and allow for informed evaluation?

So far the debate has generated a great deal of heat (and bad manners), but very little light. During the evening we intend to remedy that by exploring this emerging secular tendency and its relation to older forms of Buddhism in a spirit of mutually respectful inquiry, so that we might learn from each other.