Buddhist Publication Society

• 1. Introduction

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  The Buddhist Publication Society began in Kandy, Sri Lanka, in 1958 with a modest ambition: publish small, affordable books on the fundamentals of Buddhism. Three people set it in motion. A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera were Sri Lankan lay Buddhists. The third founder was Nyanaponika Thera, a European-born monk whose name would later grace the Society's most far-reaching charitable program. What started as a limited effort quickly outgrew its original vision. Readers responded, interest widened, and the Society expanded its scope to match. Today, BPS literature reaches subscriber members in 80 countries. How does a small publishing house in a mid-sized Sri Lankan city become a global distributor of Theravada Buddhist thought? The answer lives in the choices its founders made about what to publish, who should write it, and how to give it away.

• 2. Theravada on the Page

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  Every BPS title draws its authority from the Theravada denomination of Buddhism, rooting itself in the Pali Canon as its primary source. That is not a minor editorial preference; it shapes every book, booklet, and pamphlet the Society has ever released. The publications range from introductory guides aimed at newcomers to technical philosophical translations aimed at scholars and monastics. Authors include some of the most recognized names in twentieth-century Theravada writing: Bhikkhu Bodhi, Piyadassi Thera, Ledi Sayadaw, Mahasi Sayadaw, Ajahn Chah, Ayya Khema, and I. B. Horner, among others. The list also features Burmese scholar-monks, Western lay writers, and Sri Lankan missionaries, reflecting the breadth of Theravada's geographic reach. Titles cover specific teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, meditation and mind training, Buddhist history and culture, and translations directly from Pali texts. Among the full-size books, Bhikkhu Nanamoli's The Life of the Buddha stands out as the Society's most popular title.

• 3. The Wheel and Bodhi Leaves

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  BPS English-language publishing rests on two booklet series that have defined its output since the beginning. The Wheel publishes booklets measuring 4.8 by 7.2 inches, typically running 40 to 80 pages each. Since 1958, around 250 titles have appeared under that imprint, though not all remain in print. All Wheel publications have been digitized and are now being reissued in bound volumes; they are also available on the BPS website. The companion series, Bodhi Leaves, produced compact, roughly hand-sized booklets of 16 to 40 pages. Where The Wheel tended toward exposition, Bodhi Leaves leaned toward a more conversational style. That series has since been discontinued, but its back catalog is accessible in digital form on the BPS website. Together, the two series gave the Society a way to reach readers who could not afford or access full-length books, which was central to the founding idea of keeping Buddhist teaching affordable and available.

• 4. Sinhala Outreach

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  Starting in 1960, the BPS extended its publishing into Sinhala, producing a local-language counterpart to The Wheel called Damsak, a name drawn from the Pali term Dhamma-cakka. Piyadassi Thera, a Sri Lankan missionary monk, edited Damsak from its launch until his death in 1998. His assistant, A.G.S. Kariyawasam, then assumed responsibility for the Sinhala publications, overseeing them until his own death in 2005, at which point Mr. Senadheera succeeded him. Alongside Damsak, the Society produced a set of larger Sinhala-language books under the title Kalana Mithuru, from the Pali word Kalyanamitra, meaning a spiritual friend or good companion. The Sinhala program ensured that Sri Lankan readers, including those without English fluency, had direct access to the Society's output. Translations of BPS titles have also spread into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Hindi, and Chinese, extending reach well beyond Sri Lanka and the English-speaking world.

• 5. The Dhamma Dana Project

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  In 1993, the Society launched the Nyanaponika Dhamma Dana Project, named for Nyanaponika Thera, who served as the Society's first president from 1958 to 1988 and as its editor from 1958 to 1984. The project operates on a straightforward principle: 50 to 150 copies of each new BPS title are sent free of charge to libraries, monasteries, and Buddhist centers around the world. Copies of The Wheel are also distributed without charge to Buddhist temples and practice centers. The program carries Nyanaponika Thera's name as a deliberate honor, connecting the Society's charitable distribution work to one of its founding figures. Over 3,000 subscriber members in 80 countries now receive BPS literature, and the dana project extends that reach further still, placing books in institutions that may not have the budget to purchase them. The name Dhamma Dana translates roughly as "gift of the Dhamma," a phrase that captures the project's intent precisely.

• 6. Publishing Partnerships

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  In the late 1990s, the BPS entered co-publication agreements with Wisdom Publications in Boston, giving its titles broader distribution across the Americas and Europe. The relationship worked in both directions: BPS also co-published works originally issued by Western publishers, making those titles more accessible to Asian readers. A separate partnership with Pariyatti, a U.S. publisher and bookseller affiliated with the Vipassana Research Academy, produced a dedicated imprint called BPS Pariyatti Editions. That imprint has published American editions of several key BPS titles, including The Path of Purification, A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma, and The Noble Eightfold Path. Bhikkhu Bodhi, who edited for the Society from 1984 to 2002 and served as president from 1988 to 2010, shaped much of the editorial direction during the period when these international relationships were being built. P.D. Premasiri has held the presidency since 2011, and Bhikkhu Nyanatusita has served as editor since 2005, carrying the Society's work into its seventh decade.