Visuddhimagga

The Path of Purity

De: Buddhaghosa

Narrado por: Ratnadhya

‘Visuddhimagga’ or ‘The Path of Purity’, is among the most important scholarly works of Theravada Buddhism and, indeed, of the whole Buddhist tradition. It contains a survey of the main teachings of the historical Buddha, while also preserving some of the earliest commentaries on the Pali Canon.

Written by the scholar monk Buddhaghosa in the 5th century CE, it is divided into three distinct sections, Part 1: Of Virtue, Part 2: Of Concentration, Part 3: Of Understanding. The author’s achievement can be seen by the fact that it has remained a comprehensive and trustworthy guide to the Buddhist path down to the present day.

The Pali Canon, the oldest source we have for the Buddha’s teachings in his own words, was only written down in Pali in the first century BCE following centuries of purely oral transmission.

When Buddhaghosa came to the ‘Great Monastery’, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka from his native India, he was tasked with bringing order to what was by then a vast collection of teachings and commentaries on the Canon that had accrued over the nine centuries separating him from the time of the Buddha. Among his Herculean efforts was this monumental work, ‘Visuddhimagga’, also translated as The Path of Purification.

By focussing on ethical practice (Virtue), meditation techniques (‘Concentration’) and insight (Understanding), the work follows the ‘Threefold Path’ as taught by the Buddha. Having said that, it is not a basic introduction to the Buddha’s Dhamma, for Buddhaghosa broadened his scope by incorporating numerous quotations and ideas from later commentaries on the Buddhavacana (the voice of the Buddha).

Written in the tradition of the Abhidamma, there is considerable detail requiring the listener’s close attention. And yet there are times when Buddhaghosa, through stories and metaphors, goes straight to the heart of a particular issue. It is a text to come back to many times for elucidation and enjoyment.

The first complete English translation of the Visuddhimagga, by Pe Maung Tin, was first published in 1922 by the Pali Text Society. It has been extensively revised for this Dharma Audiobooks recording by the reader, Ratnadhya.

©1975, 1991, 2010 Buddhist Publication Society (P)2025 W.F. Howes Ltd

amazing, but dense!

What is this book?

it's a meditation manual written by Buddhist monks for Buddhist monks over a thousand years ago.

what is it's style?

dense, kind of reads like a complicated users manual or textbook. It's partially based on the extremely systematic abhidharma treatise (a vast, although bare-bones amalgam of Theravada Buddhism's entire philosophic system;) partially a practical and theoretical manual that would have been used as reference or as a teaching manual for a skilled operator. Lots of jargon from Buddhist religion and philosophy, interspersed with periods where the writing is lucid and understandable. Plenty of mythical/religious digression. technical points where the discussion beers into what sounds like modern semiology but isn't. in short, it wasn't written with modern sensibilities in mind.

who would like it most?

this will probably appeal most to meditation nerds, (armchair) Buddhist scholars, yoga theorists, fans of comparative religion and cultural anthropology—anyone who likes reading oblique, somewhat esoteric treatise more than a few centuries old—that type.

Is it good?

short answer: yes. long answer: this is a book to study and if you are a creative type, great: there's basically no living person who can tell you exactly how you would practice this in real life.

but is it good?

yes, there's a lot of stuff going on, but it's good. it's systematic, but at first it's hard to follow the systems, you have to explore the text to find your way around. it isn't the kind of book you read from start to finish.

how to read it then?

pick an interesting chapter title from the second part of the book. drawing awareness to the breath seemed like a nice place to start.

generally information is front loaded in the introductions and first sections of any group. sometimes it's easier to listen to a shorter treaty, and then go back and listen to a longer one with some idea of what to look for. I personally started with the 40 objects of contemplation. then the part about calming the breath. then the one on the earth device. next I will read the large section on the contemplation of the Buddha. I think I would start with calming breath, then listen to the 4o objects of contemplation, then the earth device, intro, and then the Buddha contemplation, if I were to do it again.

other books to read if this one has any appeal?

the secrets of Buddhist meditation and it's companion Chan before Chan by Eric m Greene is a great physical book to accompany this one since it shows another meditation system for reference + an interesting method for conceptualizing meditation in pre-modern, even ancient societies.

Tantric Theravada Meditation is available here on audible and also provides some good context on why this manual is now (more or less) obsolete. Boran Kammathan is the name of the old meditation system of Theravada Buddhism that scholarship is just now catching up with (lots of great scholarship on this'll available online!)

any books that might make this one intelligible?

there are some great intros to the abhidharma here on audible, also not easy listening, but easier than the abhidharma itself.

"a comprehensive manual of abhidharma" is probably a necessary companion, I believe available only in print, I'm sure there is a digital version out there somewhere. owning the entire abhidharma is not necessary or even helpful, this is the one you want to own. pretty sure bikkhu bhodi does the translation and commentary do you know it's as good as it can get.

what if I want to read real Buddhism but I can here by mistake?

the dhammapada is the best one to start with, hands down.

the heart sutra by red pine, too

Besides that, the sutta pitaka is a pretty good book to have, or early Buddhist discourses, an ugly brown book with great, early Buddhism.

any complaints?

my main complaint is that the chapters could be broken up even further. the sections are sometimes over an hour long, but having the ability to skip to sections would be great for those times where you're not sure you should be listening or checked out. Ukemi makes great audiobooks consistently, but they are not always labelled best (please fix anatomy of melancholy.) this one at least has chapter titles, but still, with a book like this, the ability to jump to relevant sections would turn this from a 7 to 8 out of 10 to an 11/10

last word:

enjoy, if you're the type who wouldn't even if you're not sure, this is pretty cheap for the Visudhimagga/the path of purity, your path could lead you back to it at some point.