Guide to
Tipitaka
9. What is
Abhidhamma Pitaka?
Professor Ko Lay
For free
distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
(a) Abhidhamma, the Higher Teaching of the Buddha
Abhidhamma is the third great
division of the Pitaka. It is a huge collection of systematically
arranged, tabulated and classified doctrines of the Buddha,
representing the quintessence of his Teaching.
Abhidhamma means Higher Teaching
or Special Teaching; it is unique in its abstruseness, analytical
approach, immensity of scope and conduciveness to one's
liberation.
The Buddha dhamma has only one
taste, the taste of liberation. But in Suttanta discourses, the
Buddha takes into consideration the intellectual level of his
audience, and their attainments in parami. He therefore teaches
the dhamma in conventional terms (vohara vacana), making
references to persons and objects as I, we, he, she, men, woman,
cow, tree, etc. But in Abhidhamma the Buddha makes no such
concessions; he treats the dhamma entirely in terms of the
ultimate reality (paramattha sacca). He analyses every phenomenon
into its ultimate constituents. All relative concepts such as
man, mountain, etc. are reduced to their ultimate elements which
are then precisely defined, classified and systematically
arranged.
Thus in Abhidhamma everything is
expressed in terms of khandhas, five aggregates of existence;
ayatanas, five sensory organs and mind, and their respective
sense objects; dhatu, elements; indriya, faculties; sacca,
fundamental truths; and so on. Relative conceptual objects such
as man, women, etc. are resolved into ultimate components of
khandhas, ayatanas, etc. and viewed as an impersonal
psycho-physical phenomenon, which is conditioned by various
factors and is impermanent (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and is
without a permanent entity (anatta).
Having resolved all phenomena into
ultimate components analytically (as in Dhammasangani and
Vibhanga) it aims at synthesis by defining inter-relations
(paccaya) between the various constituent factors (as in
Patthana). Thus Abhidhamma forms a gigantic edifice of knowledge
relating to the ultimate realities which, in its immensity of
scope, grandeur, subtlety, and profundity, properly belongs only
to the intellectual domain of the Buddha.
(b) The
seven books of Abhidhamma
The Suttanta Pitaka also contains
discourses dealing with analytical discussions and conditional
relationship of the five aggregates. Where the need arises
subjects such as the five aggregates, ayatanas, etc. are
mentioned in the sutta discourses. But they are explained only
briefly by what is known as the Sutta Method of Analysis
(Suttanta bhajaniya), giving bare definitions with limited
descriptions. For example, khandhas, the five aggregates, are
enumerated as the corporeal aggregate, the aggregate of
sensation, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of mental
formations (volitional activities) and the aggregate of
consciousness, They may be dealt with a little more
comprehensively; for instance, the corporeal aggregate may be
further defined as corporeality of the past, the present or the
future; the corporeality which is internal or external, coarse or
fine, inferior or superior, far or near. The Sutta Method of
Analysis does not usually go further than this definition.
But the Abhidhamma approach is
more thorough, more penetrating, breaking down each corporeal or
mental component into the ultimate, the most infinitesimal unit.
For example, Rupakkhandha, corporeal aggregate, has been analysed
into twenty eight constituents; Vedanakkhandha, the aggregate of
sensation, into five; Sannakkhandha, the aggregate of perception,
into six; Sankharakkhandha, the aggregate of mental formations,
into fifty; and Vinnanakkhandha, the aggregate of consciousness,
into eighty nine. Then each constituent part is minutely
described with its properties and qualities and its place in the
well arranged system of classification is defined.
A complete description of things
require also a statement of how each component part stands in
relation to other component parts. This entails therefore a
synthetical approach as well, to study the interrelationship
between constituent parts and how they are related to other
internal or external factors.
Thus the Abhidhamma approach
covers a wide field of study, consisting of analytical and
synthetical methods of investigation, describing and defining
minutely the constituent parts of aggregates, classifying them
under well-ordered heads and well-arranged systems and finally
setting out conditions in which they are related to each other.
Such a large scope of intellectual endeavour needs to be
encompassed in a voluminous and classified compilation. Hence the
Abhidhamma Pitaka is made up of seven massive treatises, namely,
(i) Dhammasangani, containing
detailed enumeration of all phenomena with an analysis of
consciousness (citta) and its concomitant mental factors (cetasikas);
(ii) Vibhanga, consisting of
eighteen separate sections on analysis of phenomena quite
distinct from that of Dhammasangani;
(iii) Dhatukatha, a small
treatise written in the form of a catechism, discussing all
phenomena of existence with reference to three categories,
khandha, ayatana and datu
(iv) Puggalapannatti, a small
treatise giving a description of various types of individuals
according to the stage of their achievement along the Path;
(v) Kathavatthu, a compilation
by the Venerable Moggaliputta, the presiding thera of the
third Great Synod in which he discusses and refutes doctrines
of other schools in order to uproot all points of controversy
on the Buddha dhamma;
(vi) Yamaka, regarded as a
treatise on applied logic in which analytical procedure is
arranged in pairs;
(vii) Patthana, a gigantic
treatise which together with Dhammasangani, the first book,
constitutes the quintessence of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. It is
a minutely detailed study of the doctrine of conditionality,
based on twenty four paccayas, conditions or relations.
(c)
Conventional Truth (Sammuti Sacca) and Ultimate Truth (Paramattha Sacca)
Two kinds of Truth are recognised
in the Abhidhamma according to which only four categories of
things, namely, mind (consciousness), mental concomitants,
Materiality and Nibbana are classed as the Ultimate Truth; all
the rest are regarded as apparent truth. When we use such
expression as 'I', 'you', 'man', 'Woman', 'person', 'individual',
we are speaking about things which do not exist in reality. By
using such expressions about things which exist only in
designation, we are not telling a lie; we are merely speaking an
apparent truth, making use or conventional language, without
which no communication will be possible.
But the Ultimate Truth is that
there is no 'person', 'individual' or 'I' in reality. There exist
only khandhas made up of corporeality, mind (consciousness) and
mental concomitants. These are real in that they are not just
designations, they actually exist in us or around us.