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Newbie question

MichelleMichelle Explorer
edited April 2006 in Buddhism Basics
Hello,

I have hestitated to post this question - and I hope it doesn't sound ridiculous.

How on earth do you learn to pronounce all of the words in Buddhism?! I have started reading Awakening the Buddha Within and I definitely feel like I am reading a foreign language. Even when I sound them out - how the heck do I know if I'm right?

I ordered a Buddhist dictionary and I'm hoping that will help.

Thank you & Blessings,
Michelle

Comments

  • MagwangMagwang Veteran
    edited April 2006
    Not ridiculous! I was just thinking that myself. (unless i'm ridiculous too)

    I'm also looking for aids in pronunciation of common Buddhist terms in Pali and Sanskrit.

    Anyone who knows of a good online resource, please post.

    ::
  • dkodedkode
    edited April 2006
    that is actually a very good question. I have begun to read alot of different stuff on wikipedia and other sites and I am having a hard time figuring out how to pronounce certain words.

    I'm sure i'm butchering them throughly :D
  • MagwangMagwang Veteran
    edited April 2006
    ::

    Here's a thread with some pointers:

    http://www.newbuddhist.com/forum/showthread.php?t=749

    ::
  • BrianBrian Detroit, MI Moderator
    edited April 2006
    Don't worry about it too much, ultimately it doesn't matter if you're pronouncing them correctly, as long as you get the message.

    When the time comes to learn the correct pronunciation, you'll learn it :D

    (When the student is ready, the teacher will appear, etc.) :p
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited April 2006
    Michelle,

    That's an excellent question and Brian, what a great response! LOL!
    I'm always trying to figure out how things are pronounced. For example, when I was listening to Pema Chodron give a talk on CD I was surprised to hear that Rinpoche was pronounced Rinpochay with the accent on the chay.

    Audio is the best way to hear how these words are pronounced when you don't have a teacher or other resource, like a temple or Dharma center. Buying CD's of talks is a good resource and AudioDharma online is a good free source.

    www.audiodharma.org/

    Here are a few others:

    www.dharmastream.org/dharmatalks.html

    www.dhammatalks.org.uk/index2.htm

    www.tathagata.org/archive/audio/audioByMonks.html

    www.bodhimonastery.net/talks_audio.html


    I hope this is useful.

    Brigid
  • MichelleMichelle Explorer
    edited April 2006
    Thank you all for your help and great advice.

    I will stop worrying about pronunciation and just continue my studies. I trust that I will say them correctly when the time is right :).

    The links are excellent , Thank you!!

    Blessings,
    Michelle

    p.s. Received my dictionary today - it does not contain pronunciations. LOL - guess I'm really not meant to know at this time.
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