Vimutti Magga , The Path of Freedom Vimutti Magga , The Path of Freedom. Read and group-discussed. Individual sections Sila-Samadhi-Pañña. The Vimuttimagga ("Path of Freedom") is a Buddhist practice manual, traditionally attributed to the Arahant Upatissa (c. 1st or 2nd century). It was translated into Chinese in the sixth century as the Jietuo dao lun 解脫道論 by Sanghapala. The original text (Possibly Pali or Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit) is no longer extant, but the work has survived in Chinese. The book was probably written in India and then later brought to Sri Lanka. The Vimuttimagga recommends various meditation practices such as Anapanasati, Kasina meditation and Buddhanussati - recollection of the virtues of the Buddha. The Vimuttimagga bears a striking similarity to the Visuddhimagga by Buddhagosa, and it is highly probable that it had an influence on Buddhagosa. While the Visuddhimagga is much longer work, both texts only differ on minor points. For example, Upatissa gives four categories of Śīla while Buddhagosa gives five. Upatissa gives four ways of cultivating Anapanasati, while Buddhagosa gives eight.

• published: 27 Jan 2014
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