Mahathera Ledi Sayadaw - Abhidhamma.com

life or in the one immediately following; and the Insight of the Dhamma, moreover, cannot be
acquired in any perfection save by long and continuous practice.
Turning to the details of the actual translation, the expositions being a blend of metaphysics and
ethics, I have ventured to confine every word to its main or original import, and to steer a mean
course between the dangers of being too literal on the one hand and too free on the other.
Repetitions of words and small groups of nearly synonymous words have a tendency to spread
themselves, as it were, in the obligation I am under to follow the peculiar style adopted by the
Mahathera.
Notwithstanding all the pains I have bestowed on this translation, I am well aware of its falling far
short of the degree of excellence that might be attained; and therefore in a rendering of this kind,
where perfection lies at so great a distance, I have thought it best to limit my ambition to that
moderate share of merit which it may claim in its present form, trusting to the indulgence of those
for whose benefit it is intended.
U NYANA,
Patamagyaw.
The terms are explained in the body of the work. Meantime, the following brief definitions may
be helpful.
o vipallasa - hallucinations.
o mannana - fantasies, consciously feigning things to be that which they are not .
o abhinivesa - firmly rooted beliefs, basic stages of consciousness from which other states
develop.
o gati - stage of going, re-newing, faring on.
o sacca - truth, relative and absolute.
o abhinna - supernormal knowledge.
o parinna - profound insight.
Aggamahapandita is a title of honour, meaning "Chief Great Pundit".