Dear Frank,

> Part of the problem is even when devout Buddhists want to
> explore Visuddhimagga and see what it has to offer, it's
> difficult to overcome some major barriers. The work is very
> lengthy,

Well, it does have to summarise 84,000 teachings into one book... and it is
still shorter than Bhikkhu Bodhi's Majjhima translation, I think.

> it goes into great detail on aspects that don't seem
> to have immediate bearing on suffering and the path to its
> cessation,

Really? If by that you mean it deals with things outside of siila, samaadhi
and pa~n~naa, I don't think I agree.

> and the English translation is written in a way
> that feels like one is reading a foreign language.

Hey, I can read it, and I can't even spell pedagogical correctly.

> What would be awesome is if proponents of Visuddhimagga could
> make an online, hypertext version written in a more modern
> accessible English, good hypertext links so one could easily
> look up unfamiliar words, link to commentary, subcommentary,
> easily distinguish what is original pali sutta, and a primer
> explaining which parts of the Visuddhimagga are of particular
> importance and value.

I've often felt the same about putting it on-line. But, I still defend the
translation by Nyanamoli as perfectly accessible and well worth the read.

Best wishes,

Yuttadhammo