Navakovada

Navakovada by Somdet Phramaha Somanachao Khrom Phraya Vajirananavarorasa. Navakovada is a simplified synopsis of elementary Dhamma and Vinaya. So we must study Navakovada until we understand the Vinaya.

Navakovada is useful as a basic reference but as a textbook it is inadequate and can indicate some of the things that are wrong with the way monks are educated.

A good deal of the monks education has depended on rote learning and this has often led the monks to study and memorize reference books such as dictionaries and fixed passages specified for certain pali examinations instead of reading works that attempt to give a more holistic presentation of the dhamma. If we examine the structure of navakovada we can see that it essentially contains the traditional list of dhamma teachings and does not integrate these into any coherent whole. This tendency to learn list and isolated terms has been an obstacle to a more comprehensive conception of what the Buddha taught.
The writer has a systematical way of presently the things step by steps. He first shows us Planes then the four Modes of Birth, then Rebirth which comes with abhidhammic idea and Good and Bad Births. This first chapter of the book shows us about our own life.