Abhidhamma is the third great division of the Piṭaka. It is a huge collection of systematically arranged, tabulated and classified doctrines of the Buddha, representing the quintessence of this teaching. Abhidhamma means higher teaching or special teaching; it is unique in its analytical approach, immensity of scope and support for 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 attainment in pāramīs. He therefore teaches the Dhamma in conventional terms (vohāra vacana), making references to persons and objects as I, we, he, she, man, 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; āyatanas, five sensory organs and mind, and their respective sense objects; dhātu, elements; indriya, faculties; sacca, fundamental truths; and so on. Relative conceptual objects such as man, woman, etc., are resolved into ultimate components of khandhas, āyatanas etc., and viewed as an impersonal psycho-physical phenomenon, which is conditioned by various factors and is impermanent (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and is without permanent entity (anattā).
Having resolved all phenomena into ultimate components analytically (as in Dhammasaṅgaṇī and Vibhaṅgha) the Abhidhamma achieves a synthesis by defining inter-relations (paccaya) between the various constituent factors (as in Paṭṭhāna). 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.
The Seven Books of Abhidhamma
The Suttanta Piṭaka also contains discourses dealing with the analytical discussion and conditional relationship of the five aggregates. Where the need arises subjects such as the five aggregates, āyatanas, etc., are mentioned in the sutta discourses. But they are explained only briefly by what is known as the sutta method of analysis (suttanta bhājanīya), 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 formation (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 the 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, most infinitesimal unit. For example, rūpakkhandha (corporeal aggregate), has been analysed into twenty-eight constituents: vedanākkhandha (aggregate of sensation), into five; saññakkhandha (aggregate of perception), into six; saṅkhārakkhandha (aggregate of mental formations), into fifty; and viññāṇakkhandha (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.
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