Visuddhimagga
Encyclopedia
The Visuddhimagga is the 'great treatise' on Theravada
Buddhist
doctrine written by Buddhaghosa
approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka
. A comprehensive manual condensing the theoretical and practical teaching of the Buddha, it is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka canon of scriptures. The Visuddhimagga′s structure is based on the Ratha-vinita Sutta ("Relay Chariots Discourse," MN
24), which describes the progression from the purity of discipline to the nibbana, considering seven steps.
(discipline); 2) Samādhi
(meditative concentration); 3) The land of wisdom; and 4) Pañña
(wisdom).
(U Sobhana Mahathera), an eminent Burmese master, composed a text in 1950 called The Progress of Insight (Visuddhiñana-katha) based on the Visuddhimagga, with the following stages of progress delineated:
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
doctrine written by Buddhaghosa
Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...
approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. A comprehensive manual condensing the theoretical and practical teaching of the Buddha, it is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka canon of scriptures. The Visuddhimagga′s structure is based on the Ratha-vinita Sutta ("Relay Chariots Discourse," MN
Majjhima Nikaya
The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
24), which describes the progression from the purity of discipline to the nibbana, considering seven steps.
Summary
It is composed of four parts, which discuss: 1) SīlaSila
Śīla or sīla in Buddhism and its non-sectarian offshoots, is a code of conduct that embraces self-restraint with a value on non-harming. It has been variously described as virtue, good conduct, morality, moral discipline and precept. It is an action that is an intentional effort...
(discipline); 2) Samādhi
Samadhi
Samadhi in Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali....
(meditative concentration); 3) The land of wisdom; and 4) Pañña
Panna
Panna can refer to:* Aam panna, an Indian drink made from mangoes* Panna, Madhya Pradesh, a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India* Panna district, a district in Sagar Division of Madhya Pradesh, India* Panna National Park, in Madhya Pradesh, India...
(wisdom).
- The first part explains the rules of discipline, and the method for finding a correct temple to practice, or how to meet a good teacher.
- The second part describes samathaSamathaSamatha , śamatha "calm abiding," comprises a suite, type or style of Buddhist meditation or concentration practices designed to enhance sustained voluntary attention, and culminates in an attention that can be sustained effortlessly for hours on end...
's practice, object by object (see KammatthanaKammatthanaIn Buddhism, is a Pali word which literally means the place of work. Figuratively it means the place within the mind where one goes in order to work on spiritual development...
for the list of the forty traditional objects). It mentions different stages of concentration. - The third part is a description of the five skandhaSkandhaIn Buddhist phenomenology and soteriology, the skandhas or khandhas are any of five types of phenomena that serve as objects of clinging and bases for a sense of self...
s (aggregates), ayatanas, the Four Noble TruthsFour Noble TruthsThe Four Noble Truths are an important principle in Buddhism, classically taught by the Buddha in the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra....
and the dependent origination (see: Pratitya-samutpadaPratitya-samutpadaDependent origination or dependent arising is a cardinal doctrine of Buddhism, and arguably the only thing that holds every Buddhist teaching together from Theravada to Dzogchen to the extinct schools. As a concept and a doctrine it has a general and a specific application, both being integral to...
). This part shows a great analytical effort specific to Buddhist philosophy. - The fourth part describes the practice of vipassanaVipassanaVipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...
through the development of wisdom. It emphasizes different forms of knowledge emerging because of the practice.
Seven Stages of Purification
This comparison between practice and "seven relay chariots" points at the goal. Each purity is needed to attain the next. They are often referred to as the "Seven Stages of Purification" (satta-visuddhi).- Purification of Conduct (sīla-visuddhi)
- Purification of Mind (citta-visuddhi)
- Purification of View (ditthi-visuddhi)
- Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankha-vitarana-visuddhi)
- Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What Is Path and Not Path (maggamagga-ñanadassana-visuddhi)
- Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Course of Practice (patipada-ñanadassana-visuddhi)
- Purification by Knowledge and Vision (ñanadassana-visuddhi)
The Progress of Insight (Visuddhiñana-katha)
The Venerable Mahasi SayadawMahasi Sayadaw
The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw U Sobhana was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk and meditation master who had a significant impact on the teaching of Vipassana meditation in the West and throughout Asia...
(U Sobhana Mahathera), an eminent Burmese master, composed a text in 1950 called The Progress of Insight (Visuddhiñana-katha) based on the Visuddhimagga, with the following stages of progress delineated:
- Purification of Conduct (sīla-visuddhi)
- Purification of Mind (citta-visuddhi)
- Purification of View (ditthi-visuddhi)
- Analytical Knowledge of Body and Mind (nama-rupa-pariccheda-ñana)
- Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankha-vitarana-visuddhi)
- Knowledge by Discerning Conditionality (paccaya-pariggaha-ñana)
- Knowledge by Comprehension (sammasana-ñana)
- Knowledge of Arising and Passing Away (udayabbaya-ñana) in its weak stage, involving the Ten Corruptions of Insight
- Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What Is Path and Not Path (maggamagga-ñanadassana-visuddhi)
- Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Course of Practice (patipada-ñanadassana-visuddhi) (including mature Knowledge of Arising and Passing Away)
- Knowledge of Dissolution (bhanga-ñana)
- Awareness of Fearfulness (bhayatupatthana-ñana)
- Knowledge of Misery (adinava-ñana)
- Knowledge of Disgust (nibbida-ñana)
- Knowledge of Desire for Deliverance (muncitu-kamyata-ñana)
- Knowledge of Re-observation (patisankhanupassana-ñana)
- Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations (sankhar'upekkha-ñana)
- Insight Leading to emergence (vutthanagamini-vipassana-ñana)
- Knowledge of Adaptation (anuloma-ñana)
- Maturity Knowledge (gotrabhu-ñana)
- Purification by Knowledge and Vision (ñanadassana-visuddhi)
- Path Knowledge (magga-ñana)
- Fruition Knowledge (phala-ñana)
- Knowledge of Reviewing (paccavekkhana-ñana)
- Attainment of Fruition (phalasamapatti)
- The Higher Paths and Fruitions
Printed Pali editions
- Hewavitarne Bequest edition, Colombo, Sri Lanka (SinhaleseSinhala alphabetThe Sinhala alphabet is an abugida used in Sri Lanka to write the official language Sinhala and also sometimes the liturgical languages Pali and Sanskrit...
script) - Hanthawaddy Press edition, Rangoon, Myanmar (BurmeseBurmese languageThe Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
script) - Royal Siamese edition, Bangkok, Thailand (ThaiThai languageThai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
script) - Pali Text SocietyPali Text SocietyThe Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by T.W. Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved...
edition, London, England (Roman script) - Harvard University Press edition, Harvard Oriental Studies, Vol. 41, Cambridge, Mass., 1950 (Roman script)
English translations
- The Path of Purity, Pe Maung (trans.), Pali Text Society, London, 3 vols., 1922-31
- Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa, Bhikkhu Nanamoli (trans.), The Path of Purification, BPS-Pariyatti Editions, Onalaska, WA (Buddhist Publication Society), 1999. ISBN 1-928706-01-0. * Visuddhimagga
- Buddhist Meditation, Edward Conze (trans.), NB: Partial translation, 2002, ISBN 81-215-0781-2
Other translations
- der Weg zur Reinheit, Nyanatiloka & Verlag Christiani (trans.), Konstanz, 1952 (German)
- Sinhala Visuddhimargaya, Pandita Matara Sri Dharmavamsa Sthavira, Matara, Sri Lanka, 1953 (Sinhalese)
- Le chemin de la pureté, Christian Maës, Fayard 2002 (Français)
- Il sentiero della purificazione, Antonella Serena Comba, Lulu.com 2010, seconda edizione (Italiano)
Other references
- Thanissaro BhikkhuThanissaro BhikkhuṬhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff, is an American Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order , Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a notably skilled and prolific translator of the Pāli Canon...
(trans.) (1999). Ratha-vinita Sutta: Relay Chariots (MNMajjhima NikayaThe Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
24). Available at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn024-tb0.html. - Upatissa, Arahant and N.R.M. Ehara (trans.), Soma Thera (trans.) and Kheminda Thera (trans.) (1995). The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0054-6.