The Visuddhimagga is a systematic 5th-century treatise by the commentator Buddhaghosa, organizing the entire path to awakening around the three trainings — virtue (sīla), concentration (samādhi), and understanding (paññā) — across twenty-three chapters. It is arguably the single most influential work of Theravāda scholasticism outside the Pali Canon itself: a comprehensive manual covering ethical conduct, forty meditation subjects in systematic detail, and the stages of insight leading to the four supramundane paths.
A note on why this series has no full text. The Visuddhimagga's Pali original is public domain. But the only complete English translation, Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli's The Path of Purification, remains under active copyright (Buddhist Publication Society, copyright 1975/1991/2010, all rights reserved) — freely downloadable in PDF form, but not open-licensed for republication or excerpting. Every chapter guide here is therefore original commentary in Ru-Yi's own words, never a reproduction of that translation, with links to the legitimate free PDF and the public-domain Pali original for readers who want the complete translated text.
Chapters
23 of 23 chapters
Author
Buddhaghosa, 5th century CE
Pāli source
Public domain; available on SuttaCentral
English translation
Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, The Path of Purification (BPS) — under copyright, linked but not reproduced
This guide
Original commentary written for Ru-Yi Meditation Center
The chapters
Linked rows have a published reading guide. Unlinked rows are listed for context and are being added in order.
