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Chapter
IX
(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.
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