I’m asking how can I develop better understanding on the suttas. i usually try to read them with repeat but the teachings doesn’t stuck at all, and mostly i get bored and don’t continue the learning. so i found out that monkes understood the teachings cause they were chanting it in pali , prakrit languages , i tried to chant some lines as a test it stuck a little bit but is that necessary for learning the suttas cause that’s very hard as it’s the only way made me understand little lines chant the pali words , save each syllable meaning. and how can too i develop samadhi and focus , and not getting bored easily.
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Hi dharma1,
I am new to studying the Suttas and I find this same problem. I don’t have any advice for you, but I am keeping my eye on this thread, in case there are any good tips. Though, one thing that has helped is, I’ve been listening to some Sutta studies recorded on the Buddhist Society of Western Australia. The Ajahns use a lot of Pali words during the teachings. I find that hearing the words then the translations close together has helped me understand a little better when I’m reading.
Good luck to both of us. 
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Either you see, that your present life as you live it is very unsatisfactory, or not.
Now, regarding your own happiness who could be more helpful to you than the Buddha? The question: “what should I do, how can attain lasting happiness?” surely isn’t question about boring matters.
So it seems, you have to increase your faith, that Suttas can help you.
Regarding study itself, you don’t have read Suttas page after page, but by topics or some specific term. After reading all the Suttas from MN about it, you search other nikayas.
To understand the meaning it is best to read them in a language you understand clearly. Reading and reciting in Pali is nice once you understand Pali, or for group recital but for understanding meaning a language that you know well is better.
Generally I recommend starting with the Majjhima Nikaya from MN2. The first sutta is bit complicated for a new reader. I would find a good sutta class recording and listen along. BSWA have most suttas, and Bhante Sujato did a course many years ago at Santi.
Reading Faithfully is a great resource for tips on reading the suttas.I would recommend using the Sutta Practice Reading Plan to make sure that you keep going. If you don’t have time to read at your allotted time, then you might like to listen to PaliAudio instead - it’s in English, don’t worry.
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If you want something a bit more structured, there’s Bhikkhu Bodhi’s course on “The Buddha’s Words”.
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Which was redone by Ajahn Brahm
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There are several good tips on the SuttaCentral main site. Generally, rather than only relying on books and online courses, I would recommend finding a teacher or just people with whom to study and discuss together. That’s such a wonderful thing!
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Ah no, that’s a different one. This one was originally by the German monk Venerable Nyanatiloka.
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Definitely preferred where possible!
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I suspect that OP is in a far flung place. In which case there is a weekly sutta discussion group run online at 7pm Eastern US Time on Sundays by @Bhikkhu_Jayasara, Ayya Sudhamma and myself. Contact Bhante Jayasara via DM if interested.
For anyone in Sydney, I am running monthly Sunday Sutta Sessions in Concord. DM me for details or check the Metta Centre’s WhatsApp.
Thanks for the correction. That’s what happens when I have a coffee mishap,
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My only advice would be to avoid strongly forcing yourself to read them. Some nudging of the mind may be required at times, but not to the point that reading them becomes a burden.
Splitting your reading into the different “genres” of sutta may help. There are the narrative suttas of DN and MN, the inspiring poems of the Theragatha and Therigatha, the short pithy passages of the Dhammapada, and so forth.
You could also read different genres of Dhamma books, e.g. biographies of Buddhist masters (there are many from the Thai Forest tradition), books taking a more scholarly approach such as Venerable Analayo, books about metta or whatever subject interests you right now, etc.
Basically, read and listen to Dhamma you’re interested in and you’re less likely to get bored. I think you’ll naturally come back to the suttas again and again because they’re the foundation of all of it.
Unfortunately, reading the suttas and understanding them isn’t a simple progress like one has with maths. In learning maths, you really do need to fully understand things in a progressive way to move from basic arithmetic to advanced calculus. Suttas aren’t like that at all.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to understand them. However we shouldn’t have the expectation that we will understand them as soon as we read them. And how boring would it be if the wisdom they contained was so simple that we got everything all at once.
I was lucky I got two really good pieces of advice. First, never get hung up on not understanding things. Second, be excited that there are deeper and deeper things waiting to be fully understood in the future as our own wisdom and faith deepens.
In fact, if anyone tells me that they understand everything they read I’m going to be quite suspicious.
So basically I see it as a mindset problem. If you feel like you have to understand everything and remember everything then you are all but guaranteed to be disappointed and probably give up.
I do hope the ideas and suggestions on readingfaithfully.org are helpful.
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I know that your topic here was how you can learn the suttas. I don’t know if you are meditating or not, but if you’re new to Buddhist meditation, here is a really good series to get started in the right direction according to the suttas.
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Bookmarked! Thank you. I love me some Brahmali. I don’t know how I missed this series on BSWA.
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I’m watching this one right now. Ummm…the one Ajahn Brahm did in 2023-2024.
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Not going to give up.
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Fortunately! We’re very fortunate that we have suttas which appear deep and are deep! Which richly reward reading and rereading 
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Right. I meant unfortunately in the worldly/ordinary sense. The other side is what my second point was meant to address.
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Unfortunate in the sense that we (delusional beings) are so slow to learn 
諸佛留藏經，
“All the Buddhas have left us their scriptures
只為人難化。
Only because people are so hard to change.”
~ Shídé (拾得), ~8th c. China
I gotchya 
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