In TheravÃÂda Buddhism, pariyatti, paá¹Âipatti, paá¹Âivedha (PÃÂli; "Learning; practicing; realizing") is the educational concept consisting of three progressive stages culminating in full understanding of the Buddha's teaching. Pariyatti refers to the theoretical study of the Buddha's teaching as preserved within the suttas and commentaries of the PÃÂli Canon; paá¹Âipatti means to put the theory into practice; and paá¹Âivedha means penetrating the theory or rather experientially realizing the truth of it, that is the attainment of the four stages of awakening. Traditionally, pariyatti serves as the foundation of paá¹Âipatti, and paá¹Âipatti serves as the foundation of paá¹Âivedha.
The PÃÂli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, PÃÂli, which serves as the school's sacred language and lingua franca. In contrast to MahÃÂyÃÂna and VajrayÃÂna, TheravÃÂda tends to be conservative in matters of the theoretical study (pariyatti) of the doctrine (Dhamma) and monastic discipline (Vinaya). One element of this conservatism is the fact that TheravÃÂda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared onwards).
According to U Ba Khin, pariyatti is the teaching of the Buddha, the arahats (fully awakened beings) and the ariyas (persons who have tasted Nibbana), who have really and in detail understood the Four Noble Truths and teach what they themselves know to be true, what they have seen to be true and real from their own experience. At times, when it is not possible to find noble people such as a Buddha, arahats or ariyas to revere and rely on, one will have to establish as one's teacher the teachings of the Buddha contained in the 84,000 sections of the scriptures. One has to practise (paá¹Âipatti) these teachings which lead to paá¹Âivedha, that is the path (magga) and fruition (phala) states and Nibbana.
U Ba Khin states, "When one meets with a Buddha, arahats and noble ariyas, it is truly possible to practise morality, concentration and insight and attain the paths and fruits of awakening by merely listening to and following their teachings, which are given based on firsthand personal experience and knowledge."
In the Pali Canon, the Buddha states that any monk, nun, male lay follower, or female lay follower who practices in line with the Dhamma (dhammÃÂnudhammappaá¹Âipanna) "honor, respect, revere, venerate, and esteem the Buddha with the highest honor." This kind of honour (puja) is primarily an "internal worship" for inner development (citta, bhÃÂvanÃÂ, and samÃÂdhi).
Honor by practices (paá¹Âipatti-pà «jÃÂ), or non-material honour, can be done by developing the practices of:
In the practice of prostration, one can find the chanting verse "Paá¹ÂipattiyàRatanattayapaá¹ÂÃÂma" chanted before each of the three prostrations:
The Buddha sometimes described the practice (patipatti) of his teaching as the gradual training (Pali: anupubbasikkhÃÂ) because the Noble Eightfold Path involves a process of mind-body transformation that unfolds over a sometimes lengthy period.
The emphasis on gradual training may be understood by the fact that, just as the human habits that give rise to suffering have been built up over a long period of time, those same habits similarly take a long time to undo, requiring a sustained effort achievable only with a genuine commitment to training.