Customer Reviews

The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga

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(I am assuming this book is almost identical in substance to the copy I have by the same translator, Bhikkhu Nanamoli, published by the Buddhist Publication Society in 1991. My apologies if it is not.)

This book is, indeed, "The Classic Manual of Buddhist Doctrine and Meditation". Written by Buddhaghosa in the Fifth Century in Sri Lanka, and known by its Pali title, Visuddhimagga, it is the fundamental manual for the Theravadin school of Buddhism, upon which the popular Vipassana meditation is based. But it is ever so much more than merely a Vipassana manual. Divided into three main sections covering the three "baskets" of Buddha's teaching, it first addresses Virtue (Sila) and a brief chapter on acceptable ascetic practices. Next there follows a large and wonderful section on training in Concentration (Samadhi) based on the forty traditional meditation subjects. Finally, it concludes with a large section on Understanding (Panna), the wisdom teachings of the Abhidhamma. If anyone has ever tried to learn and understand the Abhidhamma merely through study of the original texts (available in English through the Pali Text Society), then you will clearly appreciate the need for a commentary, and Buddhaghosa's commentary in the Visuddhimagga is one of the best. In general the book is comprehensive and profoundly helpful to one's practice, and to one's appreciation of the roots of Buddhist tradition as well.

This translation by Bhikkhu Nanamoli is wonderful. For years I had loved a translation by Pe Maung Tin, put out by the Pali Text Society. The language in that translation was more poetic, but I gradually grew to appreciate Bhikkhu Nanamoli's more approachable and practical language, and now I seldom refer to the other. There is for me, a Mahayana practitioner, something very beautiful and attractive in the bare, almost dry purity of Theravadin writings and practices, and this translation captures that quiet beauty very well. It is interesting to note that Bhikkhu Nanamoli, an Englishman who ordained in Sri Lanka at age 43 in 1949, and who then spent most of the rest of his remaining years in study and retreat, wrote this translation solely for his own use, because there were no available copies of the only other extant translation: only later did someone request him to publish it. We are fortunate that he did. I cannot recommend it highly enough to the serious practitioner or student.

This is it, the masterful commentary on Buddha's path that is one of the cornerstones of Theravada Buddhism. Although dense and difficult, the effort you put forth to understand this great beast of a book is well rewarded. Read the notes,stop after each paragraph and reflect, and you'll make you're way through. When you're finished, you'll be changed enough that you can go back to the beginning and get new insights on a second trip through.
Everyday, after I get off my meditation cushion, I chew my way though a few pages... It's good to be alive in a time when excellent English translations of this and other great Buddhist works are readily available.

The book is technically a manual of commentaries and sub-commentaries stemming from the Sutta Pitaka. As such it addresses each aspect of the Buddha Sasana in an extremely coprehensive way not to be found in the original teachings of the Buddha. Most topics are described in terms of characteristic, manifestation, function and proximate cause in order to describe them both in themselves and in relation to the surrounding conditions. The book itself is divided in three parts each devoted to one of the three fields of practice: Sila or morality, Samadhi or Meditation and Panna or Wisdom. The first section, the easiest to read and understand, describes an extremely wide range of behaviours in terms of their wholesomeness in various circumstances; the second describes instead the various kinds of styles of meditation nad the different object attanaible by meditating; the third part, the most difficult, deals with the matter of the Abhidhamma, namely rupa, citta, cetasika and nibbana. So I would suggest to read this part only after having studies some easier commentary of the Abhidammha itself.

All in all a wonderful but very demanding book.

Buddhaghosa's Path of Purification is a classic text of Pali Buddhist literature, requiring no commentary for any serious student of Buddhist thought. Edward Conze cites another edition of this text many times in his famous work "Buddhist Thought in India," commenting frequently on the questionable translation and remarking that he hopes for a superior translation in the future. Perhaps Bhikkhu Nanamoli's (aka Osbert Moore, 1905-1960) translation is the one to fulfill Conze's wish----I am not qualified to make this judgment.

Instead, I wish only to address the physical quality of the hardbound edition of this text. Readers who are unfamiliar with Pariyatti Publishers and the BPS Pariyatti series may be concerned, as I was, about the quality of a text of this size (over 900 pages) and scope. I recently received my hardbound copy and I was pleased to see that the text is of extremely high quality---it is simply first rate in every aspect. The text is bound in durable, high-quality red cloth with gold lettering, the signatures are sewn, the acid-free, wood-free paper is of very good density and high quality (the book was printed in China), the typesetting is impeccable and easy on the eyes, and the book is wrapped in a an attractive, semi-glossy dust jacket (the reproduction on Amazon does not do it justice). In an age when publishers of college textbooks routinely sell $150+ texts that appear designed to fall apart after one year's use, a reasonably priced book of such high quality, clearly designed to last through many years of use, is a refreshing surprise, recalling distant times when quality was still important to producers of durable goods. I commend Pariyatti Publishing for producing quality editions of these classic and contemporary Buddhist texts. Prospective buyers may purchase without concern over the quality of the physical text; I will let others who are more qualified comment on the quality of Moore's translation.

Venerable Buddhaghosa wrote this meditation manual in the
5th century AC. No-one have made a better one yet...
It covers all aspects of Buddhist Meditation.
Is complete and profound.
A must have!
Enjoy!

Bhikkhu Samahita, Ceylon.

The Visuddhimagga is an essential text for any serious Buddhist practitioner who wants to delve much deeper than what is popularly offered in the mass market reading materials on meditation and mindfulness. As such, this is certainly not a text for beginners on the path as the text is highly 'technical' and would require the reader to already possess a certain level of knowledge and understanding about Buddhist teachings.

This ponderous book has already answered so many of my 'advanced' questions, that I had to give it 5 stars. It a difficult style of writing, but it's also obvious the writer is very far along the Buddhist path. I'm only half-way through, but I know when I get to the last page I will start reading again. I bought it because I'm going to Thailand to meditate and wanted to know Theravada philosophy.
Just the concept of meditation, using concentration and absorbtion, are worth the time devoted to this book, for me. I agree with another reviewer that we are blessed to have information like this available in our lifetimes. Peace.

This is a Pali text giving guidance on maintaining Buddhist monastic discipline and on meditation. I ignored the monastic part, but the greater part of the text deals with many aspects of meditation in exhaustive detail.

Some of the discussion is annoying in that it does word-analysis involving Pali words. Puns by definition do not translate, so this part is not fun. But the treatment of meditation from the Theravadin side is very valuable. When I was not using a teacher, I found out a lot from this text. One lifetime is not enough to spend on this text.

First, I would only recommend , this book to those who have been meditating and those who have been studying Suttas. If you are a beginner or even intermediate I would not recommend this book because it would not be a help to your practice, and it might even be a hindrance. To be able to fully appreciate this book I would first recommend gaining some background in buddhism as a whole (I would recommend what the buddha taught by Walpola Sri Rahula.

That said, Those who have a foundation in buddhist thought and have some foundation in meditation practice, i would highly recommend this book. It contains a guide on all the 40 meditation objects and how to meditate on them. It contains an extensive section on samatha (tranquility) practice and the jhanas. The most important and largest section of this book is the section on vipassana meditation; I would buy this book just for this section alone. This is a very difficult book and I would recommend reading it slowly and asking your meditation teacher any questions you might have. Also, a great site to discuss this book is at DhammaWheel it is a forum for Theravadin Buddhists

this book covers a number of topics. it is a manual explaining how to meditate, how to practice buddhism, what certain buddhist things mean, and more. it is written very clearly considering how old it is. i didn't find it at all hard to read. it answered many questions about meditation for me that no one or no other book has. it also covers how to meditate on every type of meditation the buddha taught: charnel ground meditation, mindfulness of breathing, analysis of the four elements, etc. furthermore it expands on some specific things said by the buddha to make them more clear.