ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Dhammapala

Dhammapala is a big word that comes from Buddhism. In Buddhism, there are special people called monks and nuns who have special knowledge about how to be happy and peaceful. Dhammapala was one of these special people who lived a long time ago in a place called Sri Lanka.

Dhammapala believed that the Buddha, who was the founder of Buddhism, taught people how to be happy by following certain rules called "the Dharma." Dhammapala wrote many books that explained these rules in easy-to-understand ways so that people could learn about them and follow them too.

One of Dhammapala's most famous books is called "The Commentary on the Pali Canon." This book is a really long explanation of all the teachings that the Buddha gave to his followers. Dhammapala wrote this book so that people could read it and understand what the Buddha was trying to teach them.

Dhammapala's writings help people to understand that the most important thing is to have a kind heart and to treat others with kindness and respect. He also taught that we should try to develop qualities like wisdom and compassion because these things help us to be happy.

So, in summary, Dhammapala was a wise monk who wrote books to help people understand the teachings of the Buddha and how to be happy by being kind and developing good qualities like wisdom and compassion.