About
This project was started by a Buddhist in Western Australia with a background in information technology.
The motivation is simple: many people are interested in the Buddha's teachings, but the original texts can feel difficult to approach without a lot of context, time, or access to a teacher. In places like Perth we are fortunate to have monasteries and retreats. In many places, people don't.
This site aims to make the suttas easier to discover and easier to understand, while staying rooted in the Theravada tradition and keeping the source texts visible.
This is an early-stage prototype, built iteratively. We hope to have monastic oversight in place soon, to help guide the project and keep it aligned in tone and direction. Until then, we're keeping things simple, transparent, and open to correction.
If you're a monastic or an experienced teacher and you'd like to help guide the project, you're welcome to get in touch.
Methodology
What this project is
This is a living library of Theravada suttas designed for ordinary lay readers. The aim is not academic perfection, but a clear and useful presentation of the Buddha's teachings that helps people practice.
A note on how this was made
Sahaya uses AI to generate Pāli-to-English translations and the accompanying Modern and Guidance layers for each sutta. Where interpretation is offered, it's clearly labeled and kept separate from the sutta text. We link to respected translations so you can compare sources. If you notice an error, we'd be grateful if you let us know.
Pāli source text (what we translate from)
All translations on this site are produced from the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka (CST4, Version 4.0) — a modern digital edition of the Pāli Canon prepared under the stewardship of Goenka's Vipassana Research Institute (VRI). This edition traces back to the "Sixth Buddhist Council" (Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana) held in Burma/Myanmar (1954–1956), and was later published in multiple scripts, including Roman script, and released electronically for study and research.
For our pipeline, we ingest the Roman-script CST4 XML (commonly referenced via tipitaka.org/romn), extract the text structure (including repetitions and standard formulae), and then generate fresh English renderings and companion guidance from that Pāli source.
Four ways to read each sutta
- Sutta — a faithful English translation presented as-is.
- Modern — a modern paraphrase in everyday language to make the meaning easier to grasp. (This is not the sutta text.)
- Guidance — warm, practice-oriented help for applying the teaching in daily life.(Also not the sutta text.)
- Pali+ — the original Pali and links to respected translations so you can compare sources.
Our quality approach
We aim for teachings that are:
- Representative of the sutta's meaning and purpose
- Consistent with core Theravada principles
- Helpful in real life and practice
- Transparent, with sources easy to check
Why we publish as we go
If we tried to triple-check every line against multiple sources before publishing, this project would take many years to appear in public — realistically, it could be close to a decade. Our aim is to make 5,000+ suttas available in a form that people can actually read and use. To do that, we can't treat every sutta like a long academic project before anyone is allowed to see it.
So we publish in stages, improve continuously, and correct issues when they're found.
A living project, improved with the Sangha
This is an early-stage prototype. Despite care taken, there may be occasional errors, awkward phrasing, or places where the Modern or Guidance layers could be improved.
When issues are found, they are corrected. This project is strengthened through the help of the wider community — especially the Sangha and experienced practitioners — who can suggest improvements and help keep the presentation aligned with the teachings.
How to help
If you notice a mistake or something that doesn't feel right, please use the "Report an issue" link on the page. Include what you saw and why it concerns you. Clear, specific reports help improvements happen quickly.