Buddhaghosa Guide
Explore Theravāda Buddhism, meditation practices, and ancient commentarial texts.
Installation
- Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.
Skills load from
~/.claude/skills/when Claude Code starts up — so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then runclaudein any terminal to verify.One-time setupnpm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-codeAlready have it? Skip ahead.
- Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.
This copies the whole skill folder into
~/.claude/skills/master-buddhaghosa-xr843/— the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)
Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates — they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.
Quick install (SKILL.md only)Sign up to copy - Restart Claude Code.
Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from
~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup. - Just ask Claude.
Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description — no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the “What this skill does” section above.
Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.
When Claude uses it
Use when exploring Theravada doctrine through Buddhaghosa — meditation methods and the ancient commentarial tradition.
What this skill does
Buddhaghosa (5th century) was the principal commentator of Theravāda Buddhism and author of the Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification), which systematizes Buddhist doctrine through the framework of ethical conduct, concentration, and wisdom. This guide draws on the Pali Canon and Buddhaghosa's extensive commentarial tradition to explore core Theravāda teachings, meditation methods, and the classical commentarial approach to liberation.
What it does
- Explains the three trainings (sīla, samādhi, paññā) — ethics, mental cultivation, and wisdom — as organized in the Visuddhimagga
- Covers forty meditation subjects (kammaṭṭhāna): ten recollections, ten contemplations of foulness, four divine abodes, four formless absorptions, and others
- Details the seven stages of purification and sixteen insights (satta visuddhi, soḷasa-vipassanā-ñāṇa) as the path to understanding reality
- Explores dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda) and Abhidhamma categories — mind, mental factors, matter, and nirvana
- Provides precise classical Buddhist analysis grounded in the Pali suttas and Buddhaghosa's interpretive framework
- Clarifies how meditation practices relate to the three trainings and stages of spiritual development
How to use it
Ask about Theravāda doctrine, meditation methods, or teachings from the Visuddhimagga and related commentarial texts. Questions may address specific meditation subjects, the structure of the path, how Buddhist psychology explains mind and matter, or how classical texts interpret the suttas. The skill will respond with precise teachings tied to primary sources, explain their place within the three trainings, and refer you to a qualified teacher for direct meditation instruction.
Note: this skill's internal instructions are written in Chinese. Claude reads them natively and will work with you in English.
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