Theravāda
The Pāli Canon's own commentarial tradition — beginning with Buddhaghosa's 5th-century Visuddhimagga, translated here directly from the Pāli, question by question, chapter by chapter.
Why a new translation
Every existing English translation of a Pāli text this old is either in copyright or, where it is old enough to be free, shows its age. This section exists to translate directly from the Pāli original — with the source text alongside our English on every page, and reading notes grounded only in the text's own internal logic and the general, uncontested conventions of Pāli commentarial literature, not in any single modern scholar's introduction or footnotes.
Visuddhimagga — The Path of Purification
Buddhaghosa's systematic manual of virtue (sīla), concentration (samādhi), and understanding (paññā) — the most complete surviving guide to the Theravāda path, still studied and taught today.
Enter →Abhidhamma — Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha
Ācariya Anuruddha's classical synopsis of the whole Abhidhamma Piṭaka — consciousness, mental factors, matter, and conditionality, condensed into nine chapters traditionally learned by heart. Translated here directly from the Pāli.
Enter →Therī-apadāna — Past-Life Accounts of the Senior Nuns
Forty verse narratives from the Khuddaka Nikāya, in which the Buddha's most senior bhikkhunīs recount the small act of generosity or devotion that set each of them on the road to full awakening. No accessible English translation of this text exists elsewhere; translated here directly from the Pāli.
Enter →The Pāli Course
Learn to read the language the translation above is made from — script and pronunciation, grammar, and a reading track that grows to draw directly on our own Visuddhimagga translation as it progresses.
Start learning →Looking for a plain-English overview instead? Ru-Yi's 23-chapter reading guide to the Visuddhimagga summarizes the whole work's structure, key terms, and self-check quizzes — a good place to start before working through the Pāli original here.