Buddhaghosa

5th-century Indian Theravada Buddhist commentator, translator and philosopher

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Lived 401–500, aged 99India

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39 languages
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Era
401–500
Aged 99

Summary

Updated 2026-08-18

A 5th-century monk whose systematic reading of Buddhist scripture became the standard interpretation for an entire tradition — a thousand years later, his framework still shapes how Theravādin monastics understand meditation and doctrine.

Biography

About

Buddhaghosa was a Sinhalese scholar working at the great monastery in Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka, in the 5th century. He saw himself as part of the Vibhajyavāda school and the lineage of the Sinhalese mahāvihāra. His project was synthesizing older Sinhala commentaries on the Theravāda scriptural canon into a coherent philosophical system. The result was the Visuddhimagga, the "Path of Purification" — a comprehensive guide that became the principal Theravāda text on meditation. By the 12th century his interpretations had hardened into orthodoxy. Western scholars and Theravādin Buddhists alike reco…

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