About True Dhamma
A library you can study in, and a hall to talk in
True Dhamma brings the Theravāda canon and a discussion community into one place, so that every conversation can rest on the texts themselves.
What is here
- The Library: 7,288 texts of the Pāli Tipiṭaka, 4,693 of them with an English translation, aligned sentence by sentence.
- Study Paths: short, ordered readings on a single theme, each step with a note on why it matters.
- Community: a forum organised the way a good Dhamma hall is: study circles, practice, traditions, and questions, with citations that link back to the texts.
How to use the reader
- Choose English, Pāli, Side by side or Line by line in the toolbar. Your choice is remembered on this device.
- Turn on § Numbers to see segment numbers and Pali Text Society page references in the margin.
- Click any sentence to copy a link to it, copy a ready-made citation, or start a discussion about it.
- Numbered superscripts open the translator’s notes. The ∥ marks show passages that have parallels.
Sources and licences
The Pāli root texts are the Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka. The English translations are by Bhikkhu Sujato, Bhikkhu Brahmali and other translators working in SuttaCentral’s Bilara system. All of these, together with the names, summaries, notes and parallels used here, are dedicated to the public domain under CC0 and published by SuttaCentral. We are grateful for their generosity and their decades of work.
Texts whose translations carry other licences are not republished here. Where a text has no English translation yet, the reader shows the Pāli only.
Community guidelines
- Speak truthfully, usefully and kindly. Criticise ideas, never people.
- When you say what the Buddha taught, cite the passage.
- Write in your own words. Posts generated by AI tools are not accepted; say so if a tool helped you translate your post.
- For serious meditation difficulties, see a qualified teacher.
- No advertising without a moderator’s approval.
What comes next
- Accounts, posting and notifications in the live forum.
- Full-text search across every translation.
- Tap a Pāli word to see its meaning, once a dictionary with a suitable licence is in place.
- Reading offline, for retreats and monasteries without a connection.