The Visuddhimagga (Pali; English: The Path of Purification; ; Sinhala: විශුද්ධි මාර්ගය), is the 'great treatise' on Buddhist practice and Theravāda Abhidhamma written by Buddhaghosa approximately in the 5th century in Sri Lanka. It is a manual condensing and systematizing the 5th century understanding and interpretation of the Buddhist path as maintained by the elders of the Mahavihara Monastery in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

It is considered the most important Theravada text outside the Tipitaka canon of scriptures, and is described as "the hub of a complete and coherent method of exegesis of the Tipitaka."

Background

Structure

The structure of the Visuddhimagga is based on the Ratha-vinita Sutta ("Relay Chariots Discourse," MN 24), which describes the progression from the purity of discipline to the final destination of nibbana in seven steps. The Visuddhimaggas material also strongly resembles the material found in an earlier treatise called the Vimuttimagga (c. 1st or 2nd century).

Reflecting later developments

The Visuddhimaggas doctrine reflects Theravada Abhidhamma scholasticism, which includes several innovations and interpretations not found in the earliest discourses (suttas) of the Buddha. Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga includes non-canonical instructions on Theravada meditation, such as "ways of guarding the mental image (nimitta)," which point to later developments in Theravada meditation.

Kasina-meditation

The Visuddhimagga concerns kasina-meditation, a form of concentration-meditation in which the mind is focused on a (mental) object. According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "[t]he text then tries to fit all other meditation methods into the mold of kasina practice, so that they too give rise to countersigns, but even by its own admission, breath meditation does not fit well into the mold." Abilities such as flying through the air, walking through solid obstructions, diving into the ground, walking on water and so forth are performed by changing one element, such as earth, into another element, such as air. The individual must master kasina meditation before this is possible.

Influence

Traditional Theravada

The Visuddhimagga is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka canon of scriptures, According to Nanamoli Bhikkhu, the Visuddhimagga is "the hub of a complete and coherent method of exegesis of the Tipitaka, using the ‘Abhidhamma method' as it is called. And it sets out detailed practical instructions for developing purification of mind."

Contemporary Theravada

The Visuddhimagga is one of the main texts on which the contemporary vipassana method (and the vipassana movement itself) is based, together with the Satipatthana Sutta. Yet, its emphasis on kasina-meditation and its claim of the possibility of "dry insight" has also been criticised and rejected by some contemporary Theravada scholars and vipassana-teachers.

According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "the Visuddhimagga uses a very different paradigm for concentration from what you find in the Canon." Bhante Henepola Gunaratana also notes that what "the suttas say is not the same as what the Visuddhimagga says [...] they are actually different," leading to a divergence between a [traditional] scholarly understanding and a practical understanding based on meditative experience. Gunaratana further notes that Buddhaghosa invented several key meditation terms which are not to be found in the suttas, such as "parikamma samadhi (preparatory concentration), upacara samadhi (access concentration), appanasamadhi (absorption concentration)." Gunaratana also notes that Buddhaghosa's emphasis on kasina-meditation is not to be found in the suttas, where dhyana is always combined with mindfulness.

Bhikkhu Sujato has argued that certain views regarding Buddhist meditation expounded in the Visuddhimagga are a "distortion of the Suttas" since it denies the necessity of jhana. The Australian monk Shravasti Dhammika is also critical of contemporary practice based on this work.

However, according to the Burmese scholar Venerable Pandita, the postscript to the Visuddhimagga is not by Buddhaghosa.

Editions

Printed Pali editions

  • Caroline A. F. Rhys Davids, Visuddhimagga Pali Text Society, London, 1920 & 1921. (Latin script)
  • Warren, H. C. & Kosambi, D. D. Visuddhimagga of Buddhaghosâcariya, Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 41, 1950.(Latin script)
  • Hewavitarne Bequest edition, Colombo, Sri Lanka (Sinhala script)

South-East Asia

;Sinhala

  • Sinhala Visuddhimargaya, Pandita Matara Sri Dharmavamsa Sthavira, Matara, Sri Lanka, 1953 (Sinhala)

;Burmese

  • Hanthawaddy Press edition, Rangoon, Myanmar (Burmese script)

;Thai

  • Royal Siamese edition, Bangkok, Thailand (Thai script)
  • คัมภีร์วิสุทธิมรรค (Khamphi Wisutthimak), Somdej Phra Buddhacarya (Ard Asabhamahathera), sixth edition. Bangkok: Mahachulalongkornrajvidyalaya University, B.E. 2548 (2005).

English translations

  • The Path of Purity, Pe Maung (trans.), Pali Text Society, London, 3 vols., 1922–31 Part 1: Of Virtue , Part 2: Of Concentration & Part 3: Of Understanding
  • Bhikkhu Nyanamoli (trans.), The Path of Purification, Visuddhimagga, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy 2011, .
  • This translation is available in several digital formats (PDF, HTML, ePub) from https://eudoxos.github.io/vism
  • Buddhist Meditation, Edward Conze (trans.), NB: Partial translation, 2002,

Other European translations

  • Der Weg zur Reinheit, Nyanatiloka & Verlag Christiani (trans.), Konstanz, 1952 (German)
  • Le chemin de la pureté, Christian Maës, Fayard 2002 (Français),

See also

  • Buddhaghosa
  • Vimuttimagga
  • Patisambhidamagga
  • Śīla
  • Samatha
  • Vipassanā

Notes

References

Sources

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  • Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1999). Ratha-vinita Sutta: Relay Chariots (MN 24).
  • Mahasi Sayadaw, The Progress of Insight (Visuddhiñana-katha)
  • Ve. Matara Sri Nanarama, The Seven Stages of Purification & The Insight Knowledges
  • The entire Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purification by Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa tr. by Ñānamoli Thera
  • The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga) by Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa
  • Guide through the Visuddhimagga by U Dhammaratana
  • Vimuttimagga and Visuddhimagga by P. V. Bapat