Access to Insight app for iPhone and iPad


4.6 ( 416 ratings )
Reference Book
Developer: Bill Parousis
Free
Current version: 4.1.1, last update: 1 year ago
First release : 09 Jan 2010
App size: 278.99 Mb

Not so much "an eBook" as a huge library of eBooks, this might just be the best application about Buddhism on the App Store!

This is the entire offline version of John Bullitts widely recognized and highly recommended Access to Insight (www.accesstoinsight.org) web site, a massive compilation of material about Theravada Buddhism and Buddhism in general.

Herein are contained over 1,000 *actual suttas* (skt: sutras) from the Tipitaka (body of Buddhist canonical texts) translated into contemporary English with scholarly rigor and precision by recognized subject domain experts. Suttas are not simply modern essays and interpretations; they are actual written discourses historically attributed to Siddhartha Gotama, the Buddha, who founded Buddhism nearly 2,500 years ago.

A massive and thorough collection of essays by world-renound monks and scholars on the subjects of Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and practice is also included.

This is high quality material that is suitable reading for personal interest or academic study. Much of the material has also been published in printed form.

To aid the reader, indexes are available by subject, author, title, sutta title, proper name of historical figure, simile/metaphor, and even traditional numerical association.


Usability Features of the Software

The reader works much like a web browser. Double tap on the screen to hide or show the toolbar and status bar. Landscape and portrait modes are supported, as are bookmarks which save the current scroll position of the current page.


Network access not required!

Except for the search and audio features, network access is not required. The full text is stored locally on your device.


Audio

Many of the sutta translations also link to iPhone accessible online audio readings on suttareadings.net.


Excerpts from "What is Access to Insight?" by site owner John T. Bullitt:

"Access to Insight is an Internet website dedicated to providing accurate, reliable, and useful information concerning the practice and study of Theravada Buddhism, as it has been handed down to us through both the written word of the Pali canon and the living example of the Sangha."

"The readings assembled here represent just a selection of the Buddhas teachings. These are the ones that, over the years, Ive personally found to be helpful in deepening an understanding of Dhamma practice. This collection is not meant to be an exhaustive archive of Theravada Buddhist texts."

"Everything available at Access to Insight is offered in full cooperation with the authors, translators, and publishers concerned, with the clear understanding that none of it is to be sold. Please help yourself to whatever you find useful."

Pros and cons of Access to Insight app for iPhone and iPad

Access to Insight app good for

Great application with lot of features and a treasure of inspiring texts. Thank you very much - great work!
Thanks a lot for doing this app. It would be nice if the whole tipitaka would be inside, especially the suttas in different languages ( for example in Pali and German ). One more thing: An option to make the character fonts large- and small-sized would be nice.
Thanks for creating this app and offering it for free. Its a great gift for every meditator.
I was actually looking for this app one week prior to its release. Its great to have a copy of the Tipitaka and lots of great essays with me at all times. Thanks so much for putting this together. :) Suggestions for future updates: a search feature, ability to customize bookmark titles, and the ability to highlight and add notes.
This is really a grt app specially if u want to learn more about Buddhism. I really appreciate ur work. May we all achieve real peace.
This app is most appreciated!! Perhaps a "Deluxe" version could also be sold, which includes a Search function. A fair price would be $1.99, for this extra feature alone. This would make any tricky coding efforts (invested by the authors) "pay for themselves".

Some bad moments

Usually Access to Insight iOS app used & searched for

ati, insight meditation, and other. So, download free Access to Insight .ipa to run this nice iOS application on iPhone and iPad.