Buddhaghosa

fl. 5th century CE · Theravada Buddhist scholar-monk · author of the Visuddhimagga

Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Indian Theravada commentator who worked at the Mahavihara in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. His masterwork, the Visuddhimagga (“The Path of Purification”), systematizes Theravada doctrine and meditation, and it is there — not in the Buddha’s own sermons — that the vivid image of seizing a live coal to strike another appears. His writings shaped Theravada thought for centuries, but they are interpretive commentary written roughly a millennium after the Buddha’s death.

Traced to source

1 quote we’ve traced

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned”

Disputed

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