4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦
ez reader: sensible paragraph formatting standard for digital books
Why doesn't everyone do it the 'ez way'?
Back in the days of the printing press,
you cut down trees,
made paper,
printed text on paper.
So to save on costs,
you tried to jam as much ink and word count
into a single page as you possibly can.
Newsflash.
Most people don't read things on physical paper anymore.
On digital ink, you won't waste trees and physical paper
by arranging your digital text in an organized, readable manner.
Demonstration with real world example AN 10.3.
What's easier to read, and re-read as a reference looking for something particular:
Sujato's version:
“Mendicants, an unethical person, who lacks ethics, has destroyed a vital condition for having no regrets. When there are regrets, one who has regrets has destroyed a vital condition for joy. When there is no joy, one who lacks joy has destroyed a vital condition for rapture. When there is no rapture, one who lacks rapture has destroyed a vital condition for tranquility. When there is no tranquility, one who lacks tranquility has destroyed a vital condition for bliss. When there is no bliss, one who lacks bliss has destroyed a vital condition for right immersion. When there is no right immersion, one who lacks right immersion has destroyed a vital condition for true knowledge and vision. When there is no true knowledge and vision, one who lacks true knowledge and vision has destroyed a vital condition for disillusionment and dispassion. When there is no disillusionment and dispassion, one who lacks disillusionment and dispassion has destroyed a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom.
Or Frank's EZ-reader formatting?
1) “monks, an unethical person, who lacks ethics, has destroyed a vital condition for having no regrets.
2) When there are regrets, one who has regrets has destroyed a vital condition for joy.
3) When there is no joy, one who lacks joy has destroyed a vital condition for rapture.
4) When there is no rapture, one who lacks rapture has destroyed a vital condition for pacification.
5) When there is no pacification, one who lacks pacification has destroyed a vital condition for pleasure.
6) When there is no pleasure, one who lacks pleasure has destroyed a vital condition for right undistractible-lucidity.
7) When there is no right undistractible-lucidity, one who lacks right undistractible-lucidity has destroyed a vital condition for true knowledge and vision.
8) When there is no true knowledge and vision, one who lacks true knowledge and vision has destroyed a vital condition for disenchantment and dispassion.
9) When there is no disenchantment and dispassion, one who lacks disenchantment and dispassion
10) has destroyed a vital condition for knowledge and vision of freedom.
Free yourself!
Write digital text in an organized, easy to read manner.
Your readers will thank you.
You’ll thank yourself.
Your editors will thank you for the much easier job of proof reading and catching other kinds of logical errors.
Bonus tip
Don’t be afraid of numbering lists.
It’s not like you’re going to win a literary award or nobel prize just because you jam words in a huge paragraph in a prosey manner.
Your readers will thank you for presenting information in an easy to digest way.
Sutta and Dhamma book readers care about nirvana and easy to consult references.
They don’t appreciate outdated unreadable formatting styles for obsolete printing press technology.