Buddhism
Q&A for people practicing or interested in Buddhist philosophy, teaching, and practice
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Is there a free (libre or open) version of Visuddhimagga in a digital text or HTML format?
I can't use the _Path of Purification_ [PDF version][1] of AccessToInsight.org because ... 1. I want to restructure/retranslate Visuddhimagga into english. 2. I want to add the reference link in each word of Visuddhimagga to the source in tipitaka. 3. I want to make the link **directly** to the expe...
I can't use the _Path of Purification_ PDF version of AccessToInsight.org because ...
1. I want to restructure/retranslate Visuddhimagga into english.
2. I want to add the reference link in each word of Visuddhimagga to the source in tipitaka.
3. I want to make the link **directly** to the expected page of Visuddhimagga and make the highlight to the expected text when I answer or make an article.
... so I want the computerised text version, to publish in HTML format on the internet.
It requires a very long time to do a new translation of it all, because English is not my native language -- and I require a very long time as well to translate pāli even in my native language -- and so I think it would be faster and more effective to restructure from another's version/translation.
Therefore:
1. Is there a free (i.e. [libre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_versus_libre) or [open](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source)) version of Visuddhimagga in a computerized text format?
2. Is there a computerised text version of the Budaedu's Visuddhimagga version ?
Or can you tell me about obtaining permission (and the data) from a copyright holder?
---
I'm principally looking for something like [a license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/) which allows:
- Distribution and
- Creating a derivative work
... and a corresponding text format which can be converted to e.g. HTML.
Bonn
(6386 rep)
Jan 11, 2019, 07:50 AM
• Last activity: Oct 3, 2025, 06:26 AM
2
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7
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Why are they called "old kamma"?
The sutta below states that eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are old kamma. Why are these called old kamma (*purāṇakammā*)? Is it because of rebirth? Or could there be other reasons? If rebirth is the only reason, then I feel that this explanation seems too simple. From [SN 35.146][1]: > And...
The sutta below states that eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are old kamma.
Why are these called old kamma (*purāṇakammā*)?
Is it because of rebirth? Or could there be other reasons?
If rebirth is the only reason, then I feel that this explanation seems too simple.
From SN 35.146 :
> And what is old kamma?
>
> The eye is old kamma. It should be seen as produced by choices and
> intentions, as something to be felt.
>
> The ear … nose … tongue … body … mind is old kamma. It should be seen
> as produced by choices and intentions, as something to be felt.
>
> This is called old kamma.
>
> And what is new kamma?
>
> The deeds you currently perform by way of body, speech, and mind.
>
> This is called new kamma.
(I replaced "action" with "kamma")
ruben2020
(41194 rep)
Jul 10, 2020, 05:09 PM
• Last activity: Oct 2, 2025, 12:55 PM
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Does the Buddha address varied predispositions toward suffering among different individuals?
Does the Buddha acknowledge that some people, without the Dharma, suffer more than other people, without the Dharma? I remember a monk talking about how it's a fact that some people are more skilled, better looking, more innately peaceful than others, and that especially those lacking in material at...
Does the Buddha acknowledge that some people, without the Dharma, suffer more than other people, without the Dharma?
I remember a monk talking about how it's a fact that some people are more skilled, better looking, more innately peaceful than others, and that especially those lacking in material attributes should seek to transcend their suffering.
I wonder if there's a basis for this opinion in the suttas.
Gondola Spärde
(502 rep)
Sep 30, 2025, 04:52 PM
• Last activity: Oct 1, 2025, 11:13 PM
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Fundamentally Speaking, is Western Mindfulness a Zazen or Insight Meditation Based Practice?
I've always been fascinated by MBSR. It includes Vipassana techniques of breathing, but also Zen philosophy of non-judgmental awareness. Jon Kabat-Zinn himself had training in both Zen and IMS. Fundamentally speaking, is the whole MBSR thing derived from Zen or Vipassana?
I've always been fascinated by MBSR. It includes Vipassana techniques of breathing, but also Zen philosophy of non-judgmental awareness.
Jon Kabat-Zinn himself had training in both Zen and IMS.
Fundamentally speaking, is the whole MBSR thing derived from Zen or Vipassana?
BRAD ZAP
(209 rep)
Sep 29, 2025, 12:32 AM
• Last activity: Sep 29, 2025, 12:48 PM
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Why is sustained attention toward a thought bad?
We can focus on thoughts or lay attention on them. It is advised not to do that. Why should there be a return of focus on breathe, or current action, or the like? Why should we not pay prolonged attention to thoughts?
We can focus on thoughts or lay attention on them. It is advised not to do that.
Why should there be a return of focus on breathe, or current action, or the like?
Why should we not pay prolonged attention to thoughts?
Gondola Spärde
(502 rep)
Sep 28, 2025, 04:21 PM
• Last activity: Sep 29, 2025, 10:03 AM
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What is the relationship of namarupa and appearance?
i read [this][1] on a website: "...Nama is the appearance of Rupa, 'what it looks like' and not 'how it is',.." is it correctly said? [1]: https://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha262.htm
i read this on a website:
"...Nama is the appearance of Rupa, 'what it looks like' and not 'how it is',.."
is it correctly said?
āḷasu bhikhārī
(1 rep)
Jun 7, 2024, 06:50 PM
• Last activity: Sep 29, 2025, 08:35 AM
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Is it ideal to be a stream entrant(Sotopanna) before you begin the practice of Anapanasati?
**Are there Pali Sutta teachings or other Buddhist teachings that suggest:** - Anapanasati is an ideal practice for non-stream entrants (beginners) and it can lead them to stream entry? - Attainment of stream entry is a prerequisite for Anapanasati's proper or 'ideal' practice? - Other practices are...
**Are there Pali Sutta teachings or other Buddhist teachings that suggest:**
- Anapanasati is an ideal practice for non-stream entrants (beginners) and it can lead them to stream entry?
- Attainment of stream entry is a prerequisite for Anapanasati's proper
or 'ideal' practice?
- Other practices are prescribed as an ideal path for attaining stream entry, separate from Anapanasati?"
Also, I assume that Satipatthana is a form of Anapanasati, is that true?
Lowbrow
(7468 rep)
Sep 29, 2025, 12:32 AM
• Last activity: Sep 29, 2025, 06:16 AM
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1
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Why do we sustain attention toward a thought?
What's the core driver or mechanism behind the tendency of focusing on thoughts, or any particular thought? Why would a person in daily life be stuck in their head, thinking about things that aren't there? What makes a person do that, according to Buddhism?
What's the core driver or mechanism behind the tendency of focusing on thoughts, or any particular thought?
Why would a person in daily life be stuck in their head, thinking about things that aren't there?
What makes a person do that, according to Buddhism?
Gondola Spärde
(502 rep)
Sep 28, 2025, 04:23 PM
• Last activity: Sep 28, 2025, 08:52 PM
1
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1
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What does this prayer flag say?
I don't know much about Buddhism. Sorry if this is off-topic. Where I live, Buddhism is rather uncommon, but in recent years, Tibetan prayer flags have become more and more widespread. These ones were installed close to my workplace, and made me curious. For what I've learned, these are _lungdhar_ o...
I don't know much about Buddhism. Sorry if this is off-topic.
Where I live, Buddhism is rather uncommon, but in recent years, Tibetan prayer flags have become more and more widespread. These ones were installed close to my workplace, and made me curious.
For what I've learned, these are _lungdhar_ or _lung ta_, and the design involves the _lung ta_ horse in the center, as well as the "four mythical animals, tiger, snow lion, dragon and Garuda" in each corner.
But there is one thing I have found little information about, and it involves the text. I've read they are supposed to be mantras, but I have a (composite) question about the meaning:
**What exactly do they say?** Is the text always the same, or it varies from one to the other? If the latter is the case, **I'm particularly interested in this specific flag**. I believe they are written in Tibetan script, but Google translate wasn't able to tell the language or give a translation.
I'm sorry for the low quality of the photo. I know I just cut the text, but I hope it's enough to identify at least some of the general meaning (if the text is different from flag to flag).
Rafael
(113 rep)
Apr 5, 2024, 12:07 AM
• Last activity: Sep 28, 2025, 05:07 PM
2
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3
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Origin of craving and attachment
Does the Buddha explain anywhere why the mind is capable to be unskillful and cause suffering for itself in the first place? Specifically, why do we become attached, and why do we crave things? Does the Buddha ever acknowledge that these mechanisms can be helpful? Does he ever describe our ability t...
Does the Buddha explain anywhere why the mind is capable to be unskillful and cause suffering for itself in the first place?
Specifically, why do we become attached, and why do we crave things?
Does the Buddha ever acknowledge that these mechanisms can be helpful?
Does he ever describe our ability to become attached or to crave things as mere design errors?
Or are these things just left unjudged and taken as axiomatic starting points, without ever trying to describe their origin or their larger place in the world?
reign
(428 rep)
Sep 24, 2025, 06:46 PM
• Last activity: Sep 26, 2025, 03:12 PM
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What's the point of teaching 12 Nidanas?
In my personal practice, I've come to see that the inner voice craving for external things can be acknowledged and contemplated on, and ultimately stilled. The result is that entanglement with the external world is minimized. I'm trying to be more mindful of this internal voice, and I'm trying to im...
In my personal practice, I've come to see that the inner voice craving for external things can be acknowledged and contemplated on, and ultimately stilled. The result is that entanglement with the external world is minimized.
I'm trying to be more mindful of this internal voice, and I'm trying to improve my contemplation, so I try to understand more things in Buddhism.
One thing I do not understand, is the big importance attributed to dependent origination and the 12 Nidanas.
I do not understand why the Buddha goes into such depth explaining sense organs and sense objects and contact, and the like.
Contact of cocaine with nose causes a sensation that you can come to crave, thus resulting in suffering.
I'd also say that I was relatively clear on things being interdependent. You get good grades if and only if you study well.
Hoping someone can give me a hint to how I could gain any value from the 12 Nidanas.
Gondola Spärde
(502 rep)
Sep 25, 2025, 03:32 PM
• Last activity: Sep 26, 2025, 05:53 AM
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How do different Buddhist traditions avoid the charge of epistemological nihilism while still affirming emptiness (sunyata)?
In Madhyamaka and other Buddhist schools, emptiness (śūnyatā) is a central doctrine: all phenomena are said to lack inherent existence. But at the same time, many Buddhist traditions place significant emphasis on knowledge and valid cognition (pramāṇa), as developed in the epistemological works of D...
In Madhyamaka and other Buddhist schools, emptiness (śūnyatā) is a central doctrine: all phenomena are said to lack inherent existence. But at the same time, many Buddhist traditions place significant emphasis on knowledge and valid cognition (pramāṇa), as developed in the epistemological works of Dignāga, Dharmakīrti, and their followers.
This raises an important philosophical issue: if all phenomena including concepts, perceptions, and inferences too are ultimately empty, Would this not imply epistemological nihilism , where no knowledge of any sort of 'absolute truth' is possible?
Are there specific texts or commentaries where Buddhist philosophers explicitly address the concern that asserting emptiness might undermine knowledge itself? I’m looking for explanations that clarify how Buddhism maintains a coherent epistemology without contradicting its central teaching of emptiness.
user31584
Sep 20, 2025, 01:20 PM
• Last activity: Sep 23, 2025, 01:56 PM
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What does one contemplate to become a sotāpanna?
What does a Buddhist practitioner, based on the 8 fold path, and deepening practice contemplate to become a sotāpanna (a stream-enterer)?
What does a Buddhist practitioner, based on the 8 fold path, and deepening practice contemplate to become a sotāpanna (a stream-enterer)?
Bhikkhu111
(671 rep)
Nov 23, 2024, 04:22 AM
• Last activity: Sep 23, 2025, 07:14 AM
2
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3
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How can Buddhism deny the existence of souls yet affirm the existence of ghosts and spirits?
The doctrine of anattā denies any soul or self, yet the suttas mention beings like petas, yakkhas which are supposed to be Ghosts and spirits. If there is no soul, what is said to persist as a ghost or spirit?
The doctrine of anattā denies any soul or self, yet the suttas mention beings like petas, yakkhas which are supposed to be Ghosts and spirits. If there is no soul, what is said to persist as a ghost or spirit?
MAITREYA
(69 rep)
Aug 20, 2025, 03:42 PM
• Last activity: Sep 22, 2025, 08:23 PM
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Is there an ultimate self according to zen masters such as Dogen?
Is there an ultimate self according to zen masters such as Dogen? I think that in the scholastic tradition of the mahayana, that is not the standard interpretation of the sutras etc.. I guess I mean what I am all along, rather than something "fixed". The snake was merely a rope all along, rather tha...
Is there an ultimate self according to zen masters such as Dogen? I think that in the scholastic tradition of the mahayana, that is not the standard interpretation of the sutras etc.. I guess I mean what I am all along, rather than something "fixed".
The snake was merely a rope all along, rather than nothing whatsoever or nothing more than the illusion of a snake/myself.
user27316
Sep 21, 2025, 10:45 PM
• Last activity: Sep 22, 2025, 02:56 PM
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Buddhist Divination
I am curious whether Buddhist divination is known (like ancient Greek say) to produce "orphic" predictions, ones that are liable to be misunderstood because they are cleverly ambiguous. I believe I have found an example (in China in 328 AD) but I would like to know if this a general thing that has b...
I am curious whether Buddhist divination is known (like ancient Greek say) to produce "orphic" predictions, ones that are liable to be misunderstood because they are cleverly ambiguous. I believe I have found an example (in China in 328 AD) but I would like to know if this a general thing that has been discussed (like in the case of Ancient Greece).
Attila the Pun
(1 rep)
Sep 21, 2025, 06:06 PM
• Last activity: Sep 22, 2025, 06:02 AM
2
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1
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Deep meaning of Phassa in the Mahānidāna Sutta?
How would one explain when Buddha said in Mahānidāna Sutta, that "rūpakāye adhivacanasamphasso" and "nāmakāye paṭighasamphasso". The meaning of this?
How would one explain when Buddha said in Mahānidāna Sutta, that "rūpakāye adhivacanasamphasso" and "nāmakāye paṭighasamphasso".
The meaning of this?
Gamini
(21 rep)
Apr 28, 2024, 02:57 PM
• Last activity: Sep 21, 2025, 06:02 AM
1
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Is death the sort of thing that is ever now?
Please don't move this to the Philosophy stack unless absolutely necessary. My personal belief in an afterlife is based on: 1. Being indefinite about "what is now?" 2. I assume that "my death" is semantically precise in some way, it's clear what we all mean by that 3. Linking these two, in terms of...
Please don't move this to the Philosophy stack unless absolutely necessary.
My personal belief in an afterlife is based on:
1. Being indefinite about "what is now?"
2. I assume that "my death" is semantically precise in some way, it's clear what we all mean by that
3. Linking these two, in terms of the impossibility of vague identity.
Some people might object to my version of time or death, so while I am more interested in understanding 'vague identity', I cannot yet get started rhetorically.
What's going on here? Which of these moves are allowed in the language game?
user27316
Sep 19, 2025, 03:09 PM
• Last activity: Sep 20, 2025, 01:01 PM
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Sacca-pabba Is the reason that commentary commented "Viññāṇa is Jāti and Paṭisandhi," right?
In [saccapabba][1] of mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta: Jāti is "khandhānaṃ patubhāvo" and "āyatanānaṃ paṭilābho". Khandhānaṃ patubhāvo included viññāṇa-khandha. Viññāṇa-khandha is viññāṇa-paṭiccasamuppāda. Rūpa-paṭiccasamuppāda is rūpa-khandha. Nāma-paṭiccasamuppāda is vedanā-, s...
In saccapabba of mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta:
- Jāti is "khandhānaṃ patubhāvo" and "āyatanānaṃ paṭilābho".
- Khandhānaṃ patubhāvo included viññāṇa-khandha.
- Viññāṇa-khandha is viññāṇa-paṭiccasamuppāda.
- Rūpa-paṭiccasamuppāda is rūpa-khandha.
- Nāma-paṭiccasamuppāda is vedanā-, saññā-, saṇkhāra-khandha (cetana, phassa, manasikāra; see: sammādiṭṭhisuttaṃ).
- Those nāma- and rūpa-paṭiccasamuppāda are piyarūpa/sātarūpa.
- 60 piyarūpa/sātarūpa: 6 outer āyatana, 6 āyatana-paṭiccasamuppāda, 6 viññāṇa-paṭiccasamuppāda, and 42 nāma-paṭiccasamuppāda (6 vedana-paṭiccasamuppāda, 6 saññā-khandha, 6x5 saṇkhāra-khandha [phassa-paṭiccasamuppāda, cetanā-paṭiccasamuppāda, vitakka, vicāra, taṇhā-paṭiccasamuppāda]).
Bonn
(6386 rep)
Aug 15, 2017, 02:31 PM
• Last activity: Sep 19, 2025, 09:35 PM
3
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Is it possible to follow the Buddha’s core teachings while rejecting supernatural beliefs like gods, ghosts, reincarnation, heaven and hell realms?
Is it consistent to identify as a Buddhist while setting aside belief in supernatural elements described in the Pali canon such as devas , asuras , heavenly and hellish worlds, petas (ghosts), reincarnation etc.? Could one still be regarded as a follower of the Buddha if one adopts the Four Noble Tr...
Is it consistent to identify as a Buddhist while setting aside belief in supernatural elements described in the Pali canon such as devas , asuras , heavenly and hellish worlds, petas (ghosts), reincarnation etc.?
Could one still be regarded as a follower of the Buddha if one adopts the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and the cultivation of insight, but considers devas, ghosts, hell realms and rebirth as allegorical or as cultural elements of ancient India rather than literal truths?
Have there been respected teachers or schools that legitimized such a pragmatic or symbolic interpretation, and are there canonical sources that suggest the path can be followed to its end without subscribing to a literal acceptance of devas, ghosts, or rebirth?
Or would such a position necessarily be viewed as heretical or heterodox within the Buddhist fold?
user31584
Sep 18, 2025, 02:55 PM
• Last activity: Sep 19, 2025, 02:59 PM
Showing page 16 of 20 total questions