Hi Bill,

BG> Has anyone here read the Patisambhidamagga - Path of Discrimination (2nd
BG> Edition,1997) published by the Pali Text Society? I am referring to the
BG> English translation.

I have read it partly. It's not expensive if you order it directly
from PTS.

Patisambhidamagga contains some essential elements of early Buddhist
practice, not preserved elsewhere. It is a good companion to
Vimuttimagga and suttas.

However extracting those fine points of practice from
Patisambhidamagga requires good basic knowledge of the subject, and
meditation experience.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the classical commentary
to Patisanbhidammagga on which translation is based, is often
mistaken. Besides some Pali terms are misinterpreted, and it seems
that English translator had limited knowledge of meditation, and translated
text literally. Yet such are most Pali-English translations.

The structure of the text is mostly tabular, i.e. big tables of data
are described line by line. Unfortunately the translator has not
drawn these tables.

If you have enough patience to extract the jewels hidden in
Patisambhidamagga, despite all difficulties mentioned above, then
acquiring the book will be wothwhile.

Best wishes,
Dimitry

http://dhamma.ru/sadhu/